Heating Help

Convert from all electric: oil or propane?

@ March 5, 2013 11:30 PM in Convert from all electric: oil or propane?

Not my house.

Long Island (St James),  electric water heater and electric baseboards for heat.  No natural gas in neighborhood.

Starting from scratch,  what would be best new heating and water heating?  Oil or propane?  Geo thermal?

Joe?

@ January 23, 2013 11:00 AM in Beckett burner banging real bad

So,  didja get it fixed?

flow check pen = overheat ?

@ January 14, 2013 11:42 PM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

If I understand correctly,  if you open a flow check manually for gravity flow,  then the house could overheat unless you close the flow check??

If that is true then I don't see Mom going down the basement, with a flashlight,  climb a ladder to open/close the flow check multiple times a day.  The existing flowcheck or an electric zone valve could be mounted within her reach.

Connected once,  a 12v dc hookup to the car can be turned on and off with her remote-start,  from the comfort of her living room.

Possible too

@ January 13, 2013 9:56 PM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

What's cheaper?  An inverter large enough to run the heat circulator or a 12v DC circulator pump?

Mind you,  not expecting to run the car all day long.   Just 10 or 15 minutes at a time to get the chill out of the house.

Plus with an inverter would have to set up a transfer switch for the circulator power.

old check valve

@ January 13, 2013 9:50 PM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

It's old -  been there since early 1970's or late 1960's.  Cast iron.

On second thought,  I am not inclined to futz with it.  Better to just replace it if it is to be played with to allow gravity feed during a storm.

But again someone has to open and close it if there is a power fail.  The house could get overheated if left open.

Total automated LP genny

@ January 13, 2013 9:38 PM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

Minimum package cost was about $1,400.00 w/o installation.

And for some reason,  Mom said she would not start and refuel a gasoline generator.  But she would plug an extension cord from the house to a connector 15 feet away on her car

Last I looked LP standalone generators,  electric start is more than budget.  Not being cheap.  Just do not have the money.

Not sure Mom could get a genny from the shed,  wheel it over to the LP tanks,  hookup to the propane tanks,  and pull start a small inexpensive genny.

If you know of an inexpensive,  electric start LP generator that can be left connected to the LP tanks and ready to run,  please let me know.

True, Ice

@ January 13, 2013 9:14 PM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

I won't know till I try it.  Next time I am at Mom's house (23 miles away from me) I will look to see if this is possible.  Working from unsure memory,  I *think* there is a check-valve up near the ceiling of the basement.  Not sure,  though if Mom can get up at it with a flashlight in a power fail.      :-)

Read back to my 2nd post

@ January 13, 2013 5:28 PM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

To make a generator solution simpler or automatic would be way too expensive for us.

What a letdown

@ January 12, 2013 4:03 PM in Beckett burner banging real bad

I re-read this old thread after all this time.  Thought there was something useful added or a solution found.  Just a teaser.

::sigh::

Not for lower flow

@ January 12, 2013 1:57 AM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

Thinking out loud ....  alternate power source of 12 volt DC for prolonged power outage like Hurricane Sandy.

Mom (77 yrs old)  has a propane boiler with copper fin tube baseboard.  Gas valve is self-powering millivolt w/pilot (yeah kinda old style).  The boiler was making hot water during Sandy,  but since the (line voltage) power from LIPA was out for 11 days there was no heat being circulated throughout the house.

This scenario really begs for a simple 1200W generator - run the boiler pump, fridge and a few lights.  But Mom won't set up or start a portable generator.  To make a generator solution simpler or automatic would be way too expensive for us.

But she would plug an extension cord from her car to a parallel plumbed 12v DC circulator pump on her boiler.  Then the boiler water can be circulated every so often during a power failure.   An inverter would also work.

Could also set up the 12v pump with a deep-cycle marine 12v battery.  The car could recharge the marine battery when needed during a power failure.  A battery minder can maintain the charge until the battery is needed during a power outage.

Just thinking out loud .....

Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

@ January 12, 2013 12:36 AM in Are there 12 volt DC circulator pumps?

Does there exist a 12 volt DC circulator to replace a typical Taco 007?

other option

@ November 9, 2012 7:35 PM in Boiler electric feed on a male 3-prong S/O cord plug?

I was just asking about the other option,  just hard-wiring an extension cord to the boiler power feeds L1 L2.  Not the green cover plate with flanged inlet.

EZ Generator Switch

@ November 9, 2012 3:15 PM in Boiler electric feed on a male 3-prong S/O cord plug?

I originally found the item on eBay.  They also have their own web site and are on Facebook.

The company states that every jurisdiction is different so one should contact their own code officials to see if a manual transfer switch is code compliant. 

I was hoping someone could answer my original question,  if using an extension cord male plug on the 120v load wires feeding  a boiler and/or furnace is allowed by NEC?

Then you either plug into the utility line voltage outlet or into a generator.

Any one know?

Something is sucking or blowing air

@ November 8, 2012 12:18 PM in High CO

Either the configuration of the roof and flue (w/o the cap) is causing wind driven air DOWN the flue,  or something from inside is sucking air FROM the boiler room and that flue is the least resistance.

What else is capable of pulling air down the flue?   Exhaust fans from connected rooms/buildings?    Water heater with power vent?

Look around.  If you open a door to outside or a window,  does the down draft go away at the flue?

down draft from flue?

@ November 8, 2012 11:50 AM in High CO

So you are experiencing a downdraft at the flue when you should be getting an updraft,  right?

Is it very windy there?

Clean enough power.

@ November 8, 2012 10:45 AM in Boiler electric feed on a male 3-prong S/O cord plug?

I do not have fancy electronic controls on my oil burner.

Is either option code legal?

cascade of issues

@ November 8, 2012 10:35 AM in SUBMERGED Boilers and Water heater. What absolutely needs replacing?

If that chimney cap did not blow off,  the squirrels wouldn't have blocked the flue.  The  high CO issue might not have been detected for many years since most gas burners are not serviced on a yearly basis.

What is glaring is that the homeowners did not have a working CO detector near the burner!!!!

Boiler electric feed on a male 3-prong S/O cord plug?

@ November 8, 2012 10:15 AM in Boiler electric feed on a male 3-prong S/O cord plug?

I want to change my boiler line voltage wiring so that the boiler and circulator power is on a 3-prong male electrical (extension) cord.   It will then plug into an electrical outlet right at the boiler. During a prolonged power failure I can unplug from the house wiring and then plug into a generator.

The generator will not be able to back-feed into the house wiring.  But is this code legal?

As an alternative I can get an individual transfer switch for the boiler power like the attached pic.  A regular 3-prong extension cord goes from generator to the transfer switch's recessed male plug.  The transfer switch is double-pole,  switching both neutral and hot.

Is this transfer switch code approved?

Newsday says same

@ October 19, 2012 9:51 PM in CBS news radio 880

Tom Incantalopa ,  or sumthin like that ....  he writes the same thing in Newsday (Long Island newspaper to non-residents of Isle Du Long/NYC area.). 

240v/30a

@ October 18, 2012 1:00 AM in Using an electric water heater as an indirect.

The heating elements are "live",  but they do not come on.  The temp of the water from the boiler coil is MUCH higher than the 125* setting for the heating elements.

My water heater has indicator lights that glow when an element is getting juice.  Only saw the lower element glow once (after a very hot bathtub filling).  My electric bills are very low BTW.

To tell you the truth,  at $4.00/gallon for fuel oil I am wondering when the electric elements are cheaper to use than oil for making hot water.

lucky I guess! :-)

@ October 17, 2012 7:46 PM in Using an electric water heater as an indirect.

Must be my family has been lucky with this setup here.  We must use just the right amount of hot water to not run out.  If the tank cooled down from standby loss while I was away for a week,  then the electric coil must have kicked in.  Either that or it is insulated just right and the boiler room is not cold.

I use a 150* LOW during moderate weather and 160* LOW during Winter.  High limit is always 25* higher with a 20* DIFF.

My 50 gallon tank is plenty hot.  In fact I have to temper the water at the shower lest I scald people.

no pump

@ October 17, 2012 4:04 PM in Using an electric water heater as an indirect.

ice

I've been running my afore mentioned setup for 11 years,  with no extra pump.  I send the cold water through the oil boiler's coil first then into the cold inlet of my 50 gal electric tank.  Hot from tank goes to the domestic hot pipes. I did plumb for a bronze circulator off the drain but never installed it.