New furnace - A Tale of Two Winters

[Onkel Neal]

Man, a tale of woe. Over the last two winters, when I have to use my furnace, there is an usettling BOOM when it lights. Yeah, I know :dead:

How unsettling? Well, I'm used to it and I know it's not a good thing, but when my folks or any friends are over and the furnace lights and goes BOOOOM! they usually jump and exclaim at the same time, "What was that?!" I shrug and say, "That's my furnace lighting."

Being unemployed, I'm not sure what's worse, having to spend $2000 on a new furnace or dying in my sleep due to CO poisoning... alas. I decided to call the Heat & A/C people. Naturally the guy says something like the heat exchanger is cracked, going to need to replace the whole unit--$2000, someone is going to Vegas for the weekend.

I called my buddy Jesse to whine. My biggest complaint is, furnaces are really old technology. The darn things are nothing more than a few pieces of pipe in a metal box. I can get a new hi tech computer for $500 and furnace costs $2000? Jesse said, "Why don't you take your computer and put it in the attic?" Not much help, that guy. :88)

The worse part, the Heat & A/C guy wouldn't put the unit back together. The coldest winter spell in recorded Texas history (thanks, Al Gore!) is coming in 10 hours and here I am without heat. When I mentioned this he shrank back in mock horror and exclaimed, "That unit is not safe! I could go to prison if your house burns down, or if you die in your sleep." (I mentioned that to Jesse, he said to buy a CO detector and leave a window cracked). I said, "Come on, man. I ride a motorcycle, I used to date Russian women, I'm used to a foolhardy lifestyle. I'm not used to freezing." But he wouldn't budge.

So, I have devised a new plan. I am going to go round the town and pick up any homeless people I can find and park them in the living room. I figure if I get 10 or so, the collective body heat will sustain the house temps about 60 degrees. Plus I will be giving back to the community. Win-win, right? I just hope they will leave when spring comes.

[SteamWake]

LOL I had one of those oil fired furnaces and yea it would go "wooomp" when it started.

Nothing like having a raging blast furnace beneath your house.

Anyhow I replaced it with a new high efficency heat pump. Only problem is we did not have a big enough electrical service to the house to connect the heat strips :oops:

Heater works okay except when its cold out :haha:

I got one of those hydronic radiators that plugs in and they will warm a room quite nicely.

http://www.nextag.com/filled-heater-oil-radiator/shop-html

[Sailor Steve]

I called my buddy Jesse to whine. My biggest complaint is, furnaces are really old technology. The darn things are nothing more than a few pieces of pipe in a metal box. I can get a new hi tech computer for $500 and furnace costs $2000? Jesse said, "Why don't you take your computer and put it in the attic?" Not much help, that guy. :88)
But that's what friends are for, to give you stupid but realistic answers! I've met Jesse, and I think he knows more than you do.

The homeless idea is a good one, until you see how much it costs to feed them. I think the new furnace might end up being cheaper.

How about this: Open the door to that nice connected garage you have, start the car and the bike and go to bed. You won't be warmer, but you'll suffocate a lot quicker and that will solve the problem, won't it?

Just remember to leave the latest GF to me in your will.:sunny:

[AVGWarhawk]

Yeah, I had the craps of a new furnace a few years back. $2500.00. I had a friend handle it though. I got a larger outside unit to cool/heat better. I have a heatpump. These suck but hey it is what it is. I feel your pain. I would recommend getting a nice portable unit. Large as you can find. Maybe two. These should handle the heating in your home. At least it is less expensive then the furnace and a quick fix for now.

In my basement I have one of those oil portable electric heaters. It keeps my kids warm and believe it or not the heat comes up the split foyer stairs and heats the second floor. It has actually kept the heat pump from working all the time when it hits 30 degrees or less.

[OneToughHerring]

LOL I had one of those oil fired furnaces and yea it would go "wooomp" when it started.

Nothing like having a raging blast furnace beneath your house.

Anyhow I replaced it with a new high efficency heat pump. Only problem is we did not have a big enough electrical service to the house to connect the heat strips :oops:

Heater works okay except when its cold out :haha:

I got one of those hydronic radiators that plugs in and they will warm a room quite nicely.

http://www.nextag.com/filled-heater-oil-radiator/shop-html

I used to have one of those, what they do is warm the air in one part of the room and create this circulation effect, warm air goes up and draws cool air in. Meaning there will be this draft-like moving of the air. Although my student flat was pretty drafty anyway.

My advice is insulating your house well. You can save up in electric bill a lot if you just put in some effort to locate where the heat 'escapes' from your place. Put extra attention to the rooms where you spend most of the time.

[longam]

The oil filled electric models are the best I have seen. They radiate heat real well. A couple of these and you should be set.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/20/20a04b4d-7b40-40bb-b5d7-e5b396310917_300.jpg

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100685921/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[Jimbuna]

Dear Mr Neal Rothschild Stevens

I believe your needs would be better served if you simply converted some of your financial assets into cash $ and relocated into a newer property.

If you insist on behaving in a miserly manner, might I suggest you spend the winter in the hot club located at the rear of your ranch for longer periods than you have been accustomed to of late.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5926/thumbsupfs6.gif

[Onkel Neal]

Just remember to leave the latest GF to me in your will.:sunny:
I'll leave you my last three GFs if you can spare some matches. ;) Maybe one of them slut busses will break down in front of my house, that could solve all kinds of problems for me...


Dear Mr Neal Rothschild Stevens

I believe your needs would be better served if you simply converted some of your financial assets into cash $ and relocated into a newer property.

If you insist on behaving in a miserly manner, might I suggest you spend the winter in the hot club located at the rear of your ranch for longer periods than you have been accustomed to of late.

http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/5926/thumbsupfs6.gif


Hey, that's a good idea, I can go sit a spell in the hot tub when I get cold. But it sure is gonna be rough when I get out all wet. :arrgh!:

Now, excuse me, I have to visit the neighbor's yard to chop some firewood.

[Catfish]

Hi,
bad luck .. so do you at least have a wood-fired oven ?

When we began to build this house we forever thought about which oven/furnace whatever we should buy and install, to be most independent from those "good-willed" gas- and oil distributors, and there were quite some ideas:

1. Buy a wood fired oven, with water filled pipes to support or even exchange the "normal" furnace. You could also buy an "all-burner" or whatever the right expression is in english, and burn all kinds of advertising magazines and papers, newspapers, coal, wood or whatever. You certainly need a fire-proof chimney for this. And you need a hot water buffer reservoir.

Bad part is you will always need wood or something to burn, and electricity for the circulating pump(s). You could certainly use a stirling engine for pumping (driven by the heat of the oven), but i would have to build one myself, nothing on the market.


2. Get a combined heat and power unit (called Block-Heiz-Kraftwerk, or BHKW in Germany), this is being supported in Germany financially, basically an engine which heats water via exhaust (heat exchanger) and produces electricity as a side effect, which is sold and paid for.

The engine is noisy, will have to be maintained, and you also need stuff to run it, but at least you can choose from Diesel, petrol, plant oil, natural or compressed gas, or whatever. You will also need a buffer reservoir for hot water.

If the house is too small, or well insulated, the engine will not run long enough to produce enough electricity to pay off its existence and maintenance costs - but would have been a good idea (house too small and too well insulated - get a warmed swimming pool and heated plastered car entrance against snow in winter, and it will work all the time lol.)


3. Oil or gas furnaces - you are completely dependent on the companies providing it, but it is the cheapest solution to get any furnace.
Oil: You will need stinking storage tanks which take room.
Gas: If anyone decides to cut you off the supply for whatever reason that's it.

4. Geothermal energy - but ... even a hundred meter borehole for a snall one-family house is expensive, and you need circulation pumps (electricity) and a compressor (electricity) to bring the water temperature up to the desired level.


We ended up with a cheap gas furnace (combined hot water and heating system), but big hot-water reservoir supported by solar collectors. The whole thing costed about 5000 Euros, installation of radiators etc. included, but it is quite efficient and we have very low gas costs. We also plan to get a wood-fired oven with water pipes to support or replace the furnace, but we only built the chimney for this as yet.


I would go for a combined system in the long run, maybe with some solar collector support for warming up service water, and a burner that eats everything, combined with a heated water pipe system, and a well-insulated big buffer reservoir for hot water.


I know it does not help you now, but repairing old technology is mostly more expensive than thinking about a new solution that will work for 20+ years :-?

Greetings,
Catfish

[AVGWarhawk]

The oil filled electric models are the best I have seen. They radiate heat real well. A couple of these and you should be set.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/20/20a04b4d-7b40-40bb-b5d7-e5b396310917_300.jpg

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100685921/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


Yep, that is what I have in my basement. Works great, it is safe and efficient. :yeah:

[antikristuseke]

get a decent sleeping bag, problem solved :D

[jimbob]

Long term plan:
Insulation of the house is the key.
Then a little bit extra heating if needed.

But, that won't help you right now so here's my short term plan:
Get cozy with teh GF.

:haha:

[Letum]

The oil filled electric models are the best I have seen. They radiate heat real well. A couple of these and you should be set.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/20/20a04b4d-7b40-40bb-b5d7-e5b396310917_300.jpg

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xr5/R-100685921/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053


I have the same model sat next to me.
Heats the room great, but is very expensive to run.

[SteamWake]

I have the same model sat next to me.
Heats the room great, but is very expensive to run.

They dont really draw all that much power and most have a dual setting of 1,000 or 2,000 watts.

But yea leaving one on day/night is going to rack up a bill.

Here we have been cutting off the heat pump once the temprature reaches the freezing point as it is pointless to run in below that.

So we try to warm the house up as much as we can during the day and try to ride out the night. Though it is quite chilly in the morning it was about 45F inside my house yesterday morning.

[Oberon]

My biggest complaint is, furnaces are really old technology.

That's modern compared to our technology:

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/7734/0000283.jpg

Still, it keeps one room of the house nice and warm, hot water bottles, blankets, and costly electric heaters keep the other rooms just about habitable.

[Catfish]

Hi,
just reread your post - is the furnace already dismantled, or does it still work ?
Because it may well be possible that there is something (heat exchanger) cracked, but the big "boom" when igniting usually points to a too late ignition - fuel build up, not sufficient spark/delayed iginition and ... boom - you get the idea.
But this has nothing to do with the heat exchanger itself - the latter one will only lead to losing a bit of water/pressure in a few days.
And there is no imminent danger of a CO2 build-up.

Greetings,
Catfish

[Jimbuna]

I have the same model sat next to me.
Heats the room great, but is very expensive to run.

I run a convector with thermostat and timer in the conservatory and find it much cheaper to run than the 'oilers'

http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/a56ecd481f.jpg (http://www.freeimagehosting.net/)

[SteamWake]

Whats a convector?

[Jimbuna]

Whats a convector?

Basically, instead of heating oil, it heats air from an electrical element and distributes it around the room.

"A convection heater is a heater (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Heater) which operates by air convection (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Convection) currents circulating through the body of the appliance, and across its heating element (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Heating_element). This heats up the air, causing it to increase in area.
A convection heater may have either an electrical heater element, hot water coil, or steam coil. Because of the natural ventilation, they are quieter in operation than fan heaters (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Fan_heater)".

[AVGWarhawk]

I have the same model sat next to me.
Heats the room great, but is very expensive to run.

Actually, for me, running the oil/electric portable with the heatpump saves me money. It keeps the heatpump from running two fan motors plus the compressor. It does save over time.

I also have a back up of 100 gallons natural gas that supplies a woodburning type stove. So if my electric goes out I can still warm the house.

[AVGWarhawk]

Basically, instead of heating oil, it heats air from an electrical element and distributes it around the room.

"A convection heater is a heater (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Heater) which operates by air convection (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Convection) currents circulating through the body of the appliance, and across its heating element (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Heating_element). This heats up the air, causing it to increase in area.
A convection heater may have either an electrical heater element, hot water coil, or steam coil. Because of the natural ventilation, they are quieter in operation than fan heaters (http://www.subsim.com/wiki/Fan_heater)".

That is very dry heat. Effective but dry.

[Jimbuna]

Can't honestly say I've ever noticed :hmmm:

Probably because I'm generally always upstairs in the pooter den :DL

[longam]

I run a convector with thermostat and timer in the conservatory and find it much cheaper to run than the 'oilers'

There both convection heaters, the oilers just have to heat up the oil inside the unit before the heat transfers to the outside. Once this is up to temperature it is a more steady heat source. I always run mine at 600W, it does the same thing just more lag time to heat the room.

[AVGWarhawk]

There both convection heaters, the oilers just have to heat up the oil inside the unit before the heat transfers to the outside. Once this is up to temperature it is a more steady heat source. I always run mine at 600W, it does the same thing just more lag time to heat the room.


Yes, more lag time but very good once the oil is warmed. Then it starts the cycle. The oil holds the heat for a good long time thus shutting down the heating elements. It is very safe as well.

[August]

Wood stove is the way i'd go, especially down there in Texas when you only need heat a few weeks a year. We keep one stoked in the basement and my oil furnace has hardly come on all winter. Also wood is, at it's most expensive, still half the cost of home heating oil. Usually you can get good burnable wood for free.

[longam]

@Neal, check this out. You can still get the 80% furnaces, and there pretty cheap, well cheaper the $2k

http://www.ventingdirect.com/fedders-f80a100-3-80-efficient-all-position-gas-furnace-with-100-000-btus-and-3-ton-1-200-cfm-blower/p905794?source=ntg_905794

[AVGWarhawk]

Just remember Neal that Obummer said we can not drive our SUV's anymore, eat all we want and keep our homes at 72 degrees. So, feel good that you are chipping in. Enjoy the 65 degree weather in your livingroom. Oh, it costs $75000.00 to operate Airforce One. I do not see the sacrifice at the White House. But hey, doing your part is appreciated.

[Jimbuna]

There both convection heaters, the oilers just have to heat up the oil inside the unit before the heat transfers to the outside. Once this is up to temperature it is a more steady heat source. I always run mine at 600W, it does the same thing just more lag time to heat the room.

Yes, more lag time but very good once the oil is warmed. Then it starts the cycle. The oil holds the heat for a good long time thus shutting down the heating elements. It is very safe as well.


Well by the time you've paid the charge for the 'lag time' my room is already well heated and at a lot lower cost than you'll have to pay.

It's quite simple really.....wire the bugga up to the street lighting beyond your garden wall. :sunny:

[AVGWarhawk]

Well by the time you've paid the charge for the 'lag time' my room is already well heated and at a lot lower cost than you'll have to pay.

It's quite simple really.....wire the bugga up to the street lighting beyond your garden wall. :sunny:

The deal is once the oil is warm and the lag time over you keep the heater on. Attempting to reheat the room over and over will kill you for sure. Get it up to temp and let it keep a constant temp. One may turn it down when they go out but turning it off is not wise. It will have to work hard to get it back to a comfortable temp. Keep it on, this is were it works well. However, plugging up to the neighbors or the street lamps is a great idea! :yeah:

[Jimbuna]

The deal is once the oil is warm and the lag time over you keep the heater on. Attempting to reheat the room over and over will kill you for sure. Get it up to temp and let it keep a constant temp. One may turn it down when they go out but turning it off is not wise. It will have to work hard to get it back to a comfortable temp. Keep it on, this is were it works well. However, plugging up to the neighbors or the street lamps is a great idea! :yeah:

That is what the thermostat is for.

Besides...I'm a pensioner ya know and every little helps :DL

[Oberon]

It's quite simple really.....wire the bugga up to the street lighting beyond your garden wall. :sunny:

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/usa/images-2/city-in-blackout.jpg

[longam]

The deal is once the oil is warm and the lag time over you keep the heater on. Attempting to reheat the room over and over will kill you for sure. Get it up to temp and let it keep a constant temp. One may turn it down when they go out but turning it off is not wise. It will have to work hard to get it back to a comfortable temp. Keep it on, this is were it works well. However, plugging up to the neighbors or the street lamps is a great idea! :yeah:

I'd say its a wash because when you turn off the unit it still keeps heating with the stored heated oil. 600watts - most PC's consume that much power.

[Skybird]

, but is very expensive to run.

Right that. These things should be considered only as a provisional solution for limited time, in times of emergency, or really no other solution available. Over longer time, the costs for operating them are beyond reason and discussion. We once had one of these running in our old big appartement in Berlin, in a room with no regular heating. We ran it only for one winter. When we got the electricity bill for the year, we decided to never use that damn thing again, but reduce the using of that room in the cold season. These things, together with glowing radiators, are easily the most expensive way to heat your flat.

Get your regular installation repaired/replaced, Neal. In the longer run, it is cheaper. Plan the 2010 Subsim meeting taking place in Houston, and you already have saved money for flight tickets and hotel room, and probably that way already have won most of the money a new furnace would cost. ;)

[ReallyDedPoet]

Wood stove is the way i'd go, especially down there in Texas when you only need heat a few weeks a year. We keep one stoked in the basement and my oil furnace has hardly come on all winter. Also wood is, at it's most expensive, still half the cost of home heating oil. Usually you can get good burnable wood for free.

Yeah wood is good :DL

We have an airtight in the basement, and burn about 2-3 cords a year. Mainly on weekends, some evenings and holidays ( it was on 24\7 over Christmas ).
Even at that it makes a difference. Oil is our main source. For now anyway.

[Letum]

I run a convector with thermostat and timer in the conservatory and find it much cheaper to run than the 'oilers'


:o If you are heating a conservatory, I don't suppose efficacy is high on your priorities anyway.

[ReallyDedPoet]

Also, somebody mentioned insulation, that is very important, at the top of the list really. In other words, worry about keeping the heat in first, then how you heat second.

[Skybird]

Also, somebody mentioned insulation, that is very important, at the top of the list really. In other words, worry about keeping the heat in first, then how you heat second.

Depends on the substance of the building you live in. It can get overestimated very often. In fact, it does. Before I spend a 5 digit sum of money (or more) into isolating an appartement house, I would check the projected financial calculations for the coming 20 years over and over and over again. However, it pays off if the substance is really bad, of course.

[Platapus]

Maybe we can all chip in and buy Neal a Snuggie?

https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next

[August]

Yeah wood is good :DL

We have an airtight in the basement, and burn about 2-3 cords a year. Mainly on weekends, some evenings and holidays ( it was on 24\7 over Christmas ).
Even at that it makes a difference. Oil is our main source. For now anyway.

This is my first winter in the house but i'm figuring on burning about 4-5 cords over the season pretty much 24/7 and keep us down to only one tank of oil. That's the plan anyways.

For those who don't know much about it there are a few more things I'm finding I like about wood heat.

It's labor intensive. I get a good 20 minute workout once per week filling the basement wood bunker. And it gets me up out of the lazyboy once an hour at night to stoke the fire.

It's cheap. A cord of seasoned hardwood delivered is running about $250 but if you own a decent chainsaw and are willing to do your own cutting and splitting (another source of some good exercise) the cost goes down to literally nothing.

I love the smell of wood smoke. The scent of it pervades the house and it's so cheery I find myself looking forward to coming home every night. It kinda reminds me of camping which is something else I love to do.

[Onkel Neal]

@Neal, check this out. You can still get the 80% furnaces, and there pretty cheap, well cheaper the $2k

http://www.ventingdirect.com/fedders-f80a100-3-80-efficient-all-position-gas-furnace-with-100-000-btus-and-3-ton-1-200-cfm-blower/p905794?source=ntg_905794

Yeah, thx for that. I called a friend and we got one like that and installed it this afternoon. Was a little more than that but it was available now.



Get your regular installation repaired/replaced, Neal. In the longer run, it is cheaper. Plan the 2010 Subsim meeting taking place in Houston, and you already have saved money for flight tickets and hotel room, and probably that way already have won most of the money a new furnace would cost. ;)

I think it costs me more to have the meeting here than flight tickets, lol. But thanks for the idea. :salute:

Maybe we can all chip in and buy Neal a Snuggie?

https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next

Lol.

[ReallyDedPoet]

It's labor intensive. I get a good 20 minute workout once per week filling the basement wood bunker. And it gets me up out of the lazyboy once an hour at night to stoke the fire.

It's cheap. A cord of seasoned hardwood delivered is running about $250 but if you own a decent chainsaw and are willing to do your own cutting and splitting (another source of some good exercise) the cost goes down to literally nothing.

I love the smell of wood smoke. The scent of it pervades the house and it's so cheery I find myself looking forward to coming home every night. It kinda reminds me of camping which is something else I love to do.

All good points :yep:

Plus I just like the look of a nice fire, it really adds to the feel of a room\house.

Also, this year two of my boys helped me pack it in the garage, we had a great time ( well they complained a little :) ). Memories they will carry with them forever.

[August]

All good points :yep:

Plus I just like the look of a nice fire, it really adds to the feel of a room\house.

Also, this year two of my boys helped me pack it in the garage, we had a great time ( well they complained a little :) ). Memories they will carry with them forever.

You're right, they will and so will you. I still remember as a youngster helping my Grandfather split kindling for his kitchen stove over 40 years ago. He didn't speak English and I didn't speak German but we both had a great time.

[longam]

@Neal - considering your climate glad you found a cheaper solution.

[OneToughHerring]

For those who operate live fire, a word of warning. It's dangerous. Every year we have instances where usually older wooden houses burn down or people succumb to carbon poisoning. Take good care of the fire place, the pipe and all the compartments and area around the fire place.

That's all, carry on. :salute:

[August]

For those who operate live fire, a word of warning. It's dangerous. Every year we have instances where usually older wooden houses burn down or people succumb to carbon poisoning.

That's all, carry on. :salute:

Sonny I've been a master of burning wood since before you were born. :yep:

[OneToughHerring]

Sonny I've been a master of burning wood since before you were born. :yep:

Yes, but things of that sort have been known to happen. My old man has a fireplace with an oven and once he had a I guess you could say a close call with it. He'd either closed the ventilation for the pipe or made some other mistake with it and he woke up in the night and there was carbon build up in the room. He managed to ventilate the house but those things can happen.

He's also messed about with fire since a little kid and considers himself an expert.

[MothBalls]

It's labor intensive. I get a good 20 minute workout once per week filling the basement wood bunker. And it gets me up out of the lazyboy once an hour at night to stoke the fire.Once an hour? That's quite often unless you have an open fireplace.

In my cabin I'd toss a couple pieces of hardwood in the insert and they would last 5-6 hours (after already having a nice bed of coals). I went from burning 4 cords a season to a little more than 1. Mine also came with fans and ducts around it and it put out some serious heat. There were times when it got so hot at night I had to open a window.

@Neal, glad to hear you got this fixed. Might as well start stashing money for the air conditioner which will go out right before the next heatwave.

[Jimbuna]

:o If you are heating a conservatory, I don't suppose efficacy is high on your priorities anyway.

We treat it as a secondary lounge because of the tv and stereo within it.

[Jimbuna]

Wel...judging by the smoke eminating from the Stevens ranch it would appear his furnace is working perfectly well :DL

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n19/csadberry/signals.jpg

[UnderseaLcpl]

Maybe we can all chip in and buy Neal a Snuggie?

https://www.getsnuggie.com/flare/next


You mean a WTF blanket?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h05ZQ7WHw8Y

Sonny I've been a master of burning wood since before you were born. :yep:

If I could think of a joking respone to this that wasn't incredibly crass and related to STD's, I'd post it here. :DL

[Dowly]

For those who operate live fire, a word of warning. It's dangerous. Every year we have instances where usually older wooden houses burn down or people succumb to carbon poisoning. Take good care of the fire place, the pipe and all the compartments and area around the fire place.

That's all, carry on. :salute:

It's usually a good idea to heat the place up before going to bed. Leaving it burn for the night is begging for trouble.

@Neal

If it helps, I'm freezing my butt of here too. Darned insulation is crap in this POS apartment. :stare:

[ReallyDedPoet]

As OTH mentioned, burning wood does carry with it risks, as does working with most energy systems, but these can be minimized by a number of things:

- Make sure you burn seasoned ( dried ) wood, and not green ( wet ), wet really adds to the creosote build-up in the pipes,flu, which can lead to flu fires and carbon monoxide poisoning.

- Clean the pipes, stove and flu regularly.

- Make sure everything is up to specifications. We did renovations last year, along with that we had to bring our stove, piping, and other related stuff up to code. It was a bit of a hassle but with it brings more peace of mind.

- Have Carbon Monoxide Detector(s) installed. Smoke detectors are also a no-brainer.

[Onkel Neal]

It's usually a good idea to heat the place up before going to bed. Leaving it burn for the night is begging for trouble.

@Neal

If it helps, I'm freezing my butt of here too. Darned insulation is crap in this POS apartment. :stare:


We're all ok here. I'm a little disappointed that I did not research this more and plan ahead. But, did you know sleeping bags make great blankets? :shucks:

[Dowly]

We're all ok here. I'm a little disappointed that I did not research this more and plan ahead. But, did you know sleeping bags make great blankets? :shucks:

I has no sleeping bags! But what I have is this darn parquet floor which is ice cold. :wah: Hell, I got all my radiators on max! Still it cant be much more than 21C inside. :doh:

[SteamWake]

heh...

Got a call from a mechanical engineer the other day. He said a client was complaining that they could not get an area to warm up past 68F.

Trying to explain to them that the design criteria for that regon of the country is a low of around 32. Thats suppposed to be like a one day out of the year type of thing. When you have a couple of days in a row of tempratures in the teens well hell no wonder you cant gt it warm.

[danlisa]

Sorry that you're chilly Neal.

However, what are these things of what everyone is talking about?

Furnace? Is that like the movie the Burbs?
Cords? Musical?

Seriously? Do people not have Natural Gas supplies? Gas central heating? Even a Night Storage Heater on a dual electric rate is better than uneconomic and wasteful burners.

Failing that, 2 pairs socks, long johns, vest, hat and gloves. + Hot Coffee!

@ Dowly

21C is that about -7 in proper speak? The last 3 days have been that temp here and dang, it's cold. Must be like summer for you. ;)

@ All

Pay no attention to Jimbuna, by now he's collecting his winter fuel allowance.:rotfl2:

[August]

Once an hour? That's quite often unless you have an open fireplace.

In my cabin I'd toss a couple pieces of hardwood in the insert and they would last 5-6 hours (after already having a nice bed of coals). I went from burning 4 cords a season to a little more than 1. Mine also came with fans and ducts around it and it put out some serious heat. There were times when it got so hot at night I had to open a window.

@Neal, glad to hear you got this fixed. Might as well start stashing money for the air conditioner which will go out right before the next heatwave.

I actually don't have to throw wood into the stove every hour, I just like doing it :DL. Properly stoked and loaded it will last through the night. It's a 70's vintage stove though so it's probably not as efficient as your modern insert.

[Dowly]

@ Dowly

21C is that about -7 in proper speak? The last 3 days have been that temp here and dang, it's cold. Must be like summer for you. ;)

Huh? +21C, as in 70 fahrenheit. Inside that is, the common temp for houses in Finland I believe is +25C. It's -23C outside atm (or -9 fahrenheit).

[danlisa]

Aha! Indoors.:D Opps.

TBH, I like it a little cooler, about 15-18 C. I can't stand being too hot.

[SteamWake]

Neal must have gotten a new electric strip heater !


HOUSTON (Reuters) – Electricity usage in Texas rose Friday as arctic air covered most of the state, hitting another winter power record after setting one just the night before, according to initial data from the state grid operator.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100108/us_nm/us_utilities_texas_record

[AVGWarhawk]

I love wood burning stoves. I have a wood burning stove. However, I do not like cutting and stacking wood. So, my wood burning stove is run by natural gas and I have a remote to turn it on and off. :D Conspicuous consumption. :O:

[OneToughHerring]

It's usually a good idea to heat the place up before going to bed. Leaving it burn for the night is begging for trouble.

@Neal

The fire was out but there was either some smoldering left in the 'ash box' or some other part of the thing. It's a pretty big and mazy thing with the oven.

[ReallyDedPoet]

I love wood burning stoves. I have a wood burning stove. However, I do not like cutting and stacking wood.

Wimp :O:

[OneToughHerring]

Chopping firewood is like the best way to get rid of aggression. I used to volunteer for it in the military just for fun.

[AVGWarhawk]

Wimp :O:

Who the hell wants splinters:hmmm: :har: When I was growing up I sure cut wood everyday and fed a wood burning stove. We would burn through a cord on any given winter. It did cut the oil bill by hundreds of dollars. The gas stove is nice. No fuss, no mess but there is no crackle and no wood smell that you and August speak of. That is a home type smell, a welcoming warm smell.

[AVGWarhawk]

Chopping firewood is like the best way to get rid of aggression. I used to volunteer for it in the military just for fun.

OTH, you're out of your mind. I like ya anyway :up:

[Task Force]

Aaahh... yes... Those heater things...

We had one till my father thought the ducts needed rerouteing... THREE YEARS AGO!!!!!!!!!

So now we have a oil heater for the living room... when it starts getting down in the low 30s ITS *******ING FREEZING. (insert cold smilie here)

[nikimcbee]

However, I do not like cutting and stacking wood.

That's what kids are for:yeah:

[AVGWarhawk]

That's what kids are for:yeah:

I must have gotten the wrong instruction manual. Mine do their nails, text, play on the computer or the Playstation 3. Most often watch the large screen HD TV and or sleep. Sometimes doing both at the same time. :hmmm:

[Jimbuna]

@ All

Pay no attention to Jimbuna, by now he's collecting his winter fuel allowance.:rotfl2:

ROFLMAO :rotfl2:

Was -14 here overnight :o

[Jimbuna]

Aaahh... yes... Those heater things...

We had one till my father thought the ducts needed rerouteing... THREE YEARS AGO!!!!!!!!!

So now we have a oil heater for the living room... when it starts getting down in the low 30s ITS *******ING FREEZING. (insert cold smilie here)


http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9358/weathersnowing1zs1.gif

[Spike88]

This thread reminds me of a Christmas story. :hmmm:
My old man was one of the most feared furnace fighters in Northern Indiana

[Spike88]

This thread reminds me of a Christmas story. :hmmm:
My old man was one of the most feared furnace fighters in Northern Indiana

[Onkel Neal]

ROFLMAO :rotfl2:

Was -14 here overnight :o


Holy moly! :o

Things are better here, I just cooked up 5 gals. of Texas Chili :shucks:

[kiwi_2005]

Well its mid summer here, but if i could choose my seasons i would go for winter any day. In winter if your cold you put warmer clothes on turn up the heaters or throw another log on the fire. No worries. In summer if your hot and sweaty and theirs no creek or beach near by you sweat it out, spend all day hot then nights its worse - plus summer attracts all the nasties like flies, spiders weird looking bugs and then comes those damn crickets in their thousands :damn:

Give me winter any day

[frau kaleun]

Well its mid summer here, but if i could choose my seasons i would go for winter any day. In winter if your cold you put warmer clothes on turn up the heaters or throw another log on the fire. No worries. In summer if your hot and sweaty and theirs no creek or beach near by you sweat it out, spend all day hot then nights its worse - plus summer attracts all the nasties like flies, spiders weird looking bugs and then comes those damn crickets in their thousands :damn:

Give me winter any day

That's exactly what I say! In winter at least you can add layers and get warmer. In summer, if you get down to your skin and you're still miserable, you're just stuck with it.

I like having four seasons every year, but if I had a choice between a mild winter and a mild summer, I'd take the mild summer every time.

[Snestorm]

The heat of summer never brought me to death's doorstep, while the cold of winter has.
Looking forward to the long, warm days of summer.

[FIREWALL]

How cheap is pneumonia and a stay in the hospital ?

[Reece]

Gee I wish it were cold here, today is 41C and the next 2 days are to be 43C (110F)!:doh::oops:

[Onkel Neal]

How cheap is pneumonia and a stay in the hospital ?

In most countries other than the US, it's FrEEE! :D

[kiwi_2005]

summer heat + beach + 40 something male =
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/601/tooofunny9954.gif :)

[Aramike]

Sonny I've been a master of burning wood since before you were born. :yep:If I could think of a joking respone to this that wasn't incredibly crass and related to STD's, I'd post it here. :DL This had me laughing my ass off, literally. :har::har::har:

[Aramike]

That's exactly what I say! In winter at least you can add layers and get warmer. In summer, if you get down to your skin and you're still miserable, you're just stuck with it.

I like having four seasons every year, but if I had a choice between a mild winter and a mild summer, I'd take the mild summer every time.Indeed! :salute:

This is why I like Wisconsin.

[Dowly]

...if you get down to your skin...

Pics!! :woot:

[OneToughHerring]

How cheap is pneumonia and a stay in the hospital ?

In the military it got you out of the winter camp. Which was nice. Having a very high fever wasn't that nice.

[Jimbuna]

http://chemicallygreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/gore-freezing.jpg

[OneToughHerring]

I wonder how the myriad of homeless people are doing in the UK and around Europe.

[TarJak]

Freezing their whatsits off of course.

Whilst you Northern Hemisphere ice cubes have had your brass monkeys balls being frozen off, Down Under we have been sweltering. 40C yesterday in Sydney and last night at 23:00 it was still 30C! Woke up just now and it's back to 33C already and it's only 07:30! I understand it was hotter in Adelaide and Melbourne yesterday as well!

[Reece]

Yes and it's amazing how the various governments bury their heads saying "Global warming - bah, humbug!":-?

[frau kaleun]

Pics!! :woot:

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/fat-blogger.jpg

Just a disclaimer, that was taken at least three summers ago, and I've put on a little weight since then. But I'm happy to report that the hormone therapy did finally get rid of the beard.

[SteamWake]

I wonder how the myriad of homeless people are doing in the UK and around Europe.

Coping the best they can.

[Onkel Neal]

http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/fat-blogger.jpg

Just a disclaimer, that was taken at least three summers ago, and I've put on a little weight since then. But I'm happy to report that the hormone therapy did finally get rid of the beard.


Thank god, that beard was freaking me out! :D

[Snestorm]

I wonder how the myriad of homeless people are doing in the UK and around Europe.

I wonder how many have died.
Not a good situation.

[Aramike]

Back to the original post of this thread, I talked to a guy today in passing about the "boom" and he said it sounds like a very common situation he gets when part of the aluminum vent duct expands when air is pumped into it.

He said the fix is simply to wedge something against the vent.

[Jimbuna]

I wonder how many have died.
Not a good situation.

All the homeless charities and Social Services will be extra vigilent during this cols snap I should imagine.

The only problem being, they will not have the authority to take someone to a place of warmth/safety if they refuse to be helped.

[SteamWake]

All the homeless charities and Social Services will be extra vigilent during this cols snap I should imagine.

The only problem being, they will not have the authority to take someone to a place of warmth/safety if they refuse to be helped.

They opened a temporary shelter here to handle the overflow from the regular shelter.

But yea if they dont want to come in you can not make them.

Then theres the 'repeat offenders' who committ petty crimes to land in jail for 30 days to escape the cold.

[CaptainHaplo]

Well Neal, if it makes you feel any better - though it didn't cost me 2k, the water froze up here in my home. It has been about 2 weeks of constant 20 degree days and single digit nights. The crawlspace isn't insulated, and it finally had all it could take. I spent about 8 hours yesterday under the house, cutting off the old pipe insulation, removing dead heat tape, then putting new heat tape and insulation back on. Temp under the house - 18 degrees Farenheit.

But water is back on again - thankfully. I have an artesian well as my water source, and the drain line for it froze as well, so the water is coming out the top and has no where to drain, so it hits the surface air and wind - and I have a slowly growing ice rink at the well head. Still, as long as its flowing - I am happy.

[Onkel Neal]

Well Neal, if it makes you feel any better - though it didn't cost me 2k, the water froze up here in my home. It has been about 2 weeks of constant 20 degree days and single digit nights. The crawlspace isn't insulated, and it finally had all it could take. I spent about 8 hours yesterday under the house, cutting off the old pipe insulation, removing dead heat tape, then putting new heat tape and insulation back on. Temp under the house - 18 degrees Farenheit.

But water is back on again - thankfully. I have an artesian well as my water source, and the drain line for it froze as well, so the water is coming out the top and has no where to drain, so it hits the surface air and wind - and I have a slowly growing ice rink at the well head. Still, as long as its flowing - I am happy.

Wow, that's an ordeal. Is the crawlspace under your house (as oppose to an attic)? Do you mean minus 18 degrees? Or was that - a hypen? Dead heat tape, so it stopped working, eh? Any way to check it other than touch?

Thankfully all my pipe are in the attic, and it doesn't reach freezing there. I guess it could if the temps were low enough, long enough, but a two day freeze here is an event, not regular occurrence.

[frau kaleun]

Thank god, that beard was freaking me out! :D

Well, it did do a pretty good job of hiding the adam's apple. Can't have everything, I guess. :O:

[CaptainHaplo]

That was a hyphen. It was 18 degrees F and its under the house. Most heat tape has a built in thermostat, apparently that died and so never gave juice to the wiring. But I got lucky, the piping didn't burst, so once it was thawed out I was back in business. A couple of heat lamps and the tape got me going. The hardest part was once the water was on - I really didn't want to go back down and crawl in just to reinsulate it - I could have waited but I procrastinate on enough stuff - didn't want it hanging over my head.

[Jimbuna]

Like father like son (it's TarJak actually) :O:

http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/4369/nerdcomputerrepair.jpg (http://img191.imageshack.us/i/nerdcomputerrepair.jpg/)

[Onkel Neal]

That was a hyphen. It was 18 degrees F and its under the house. Most heat tape has a built in thermostat, apparently that died and so never gave juice to the wiring. But I got lucky, the piping didn't burst, so once it was thawed out I was back in business. A couple of heat lamps and the tape got me going. The hardest part was once the water was on - I really didn't want to go back down and crawl in just to reinsulate it - I could have waited but I procrastinate on enough stuff - didn't want it hanging over my head.

Whew! You dodged a bullet there, replacing heat tape is one thing, replacing pipes, bad. Still, I feel for you, 18 and crawling under the house is no fun. I wish I lived where they have basements, always wished I had a basement.

[August]

You southerners might not be aware this old swamp yankee trick so JIC i'll mention it here:

If you fear your pipes are going to freeze, crack open your faucet and let it drip. Moving water doesn't freeze as easily as still water and you can save off freezing for a lot longer than if the pipe is completely closed off.