Heating Help

Delivering Heat

@ May 21, 2012 8:16 PM in Heat Load for greenhouses.

What are you using to deliver heat in the greenhouse?

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

Tight Quarters

@ May 21, 2012 5:12 PM in Tight Quarters

I know a plumber who is a lot bigger than me who cuts out the center support with a sawzall, the builder here is a good gy and would flip.

Tight Quarters

@ May 19, 2012 9:13 PM in Tight Quarters

How is a 200 lb Plumber supposed to fit under a small sink when they put the middle support  between the door, to top it off the faucet was a wide spread faucet and was defective and had to be replaced. How do you guys deal with this?

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

I was

@ May 16, 2012 10:28 AM in Pumping Out A Non-Working Dishwasher

hoping to avoid that, i would still have to clean out the DW and my wet vac.

Solenoid Valve

@ May 15, 2012 2:30 PM in Pumping Out A Non-Working Dishwasher

Ya Steamhead, I never thought of a solenoid, the customer said it has been full of dirty water for years, I didn't want to cut the drain line unless it would work. has anyone tried this?

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

Pumping Out A Non-Working Dishwasher

@ May 15, 2012 7:18 AM in Pumping Out A Non-Working Dishwasher

I have a customer with a dishwasher that hasn't worked for years and is full of stinky water, can I hook up my transfer pump, that I use to pump out water heaters,  to the 5/8" hose on the dishwasher drain to pump the water out of the DW?

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

Heat Load

@ May 1, 2012 2:47 PM in Solar Thermal is Dead

    It seems that having all that extra heat to play around with would be a good thing?? Why not install PV-T on a building with a heated swimming pool, or a large domestic load like a school or skating rink, certainly finding a place that uses a lot of hot water year round shouldn't be that hard.
    If we design these hot water system correctly, like a well designed hydronic system, the maintenance should be very minimal, maintenance that would have to be performed anyway, whether your heating with a boiler or the sun.
    Most people say we can't get enough hot water from thermal collectors in the winter, are using them for domestic hot water only, once we lower our collection temps. to about 80 degrees for radiant heating, we greatly  increase the amount of hot water we can harvest from the sun, just because most people who are doing solar thermal, use it for domestic hot water only, doesn't mean its the right way.
    A 20% increase in electrical production for Rob would come out to $14,400. over 30 years, that seems like a small price to pay to hook a bunch of panels together, and installing a couple of tanks and a small radiant system. How much hot water for heating would one expect to collect over that same 30 year period, my guess is a lot.
    When comparing fuel costs to solar collection remember that when we compare the cost of other fuels we don't include all the cost associated with that fuel. How much are we going to have to spend removing all the mercury from the water that comes from burning coal and carbon based fuels, how much do we spend guarding out nuclear power plants from terrorist, and how much are we going to spend transporting all the nuclear waste, and guarding it for the next 1,000 years, solar and wind look cheap when you take all that into consideration. Solar thermal is not dead, it is alive and well at my house, and it can get a lot better.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon
   

This Looks Like The Answer

@ April 28, 2012 7:30 PM in Solar Thermal is Dead

To much greater solar efficiency, I read in Solar Today about four years ago that they were starting to use PV-T panels in England, are they available in the US yet, SWEI? Thanks for posting this.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

That's What I'm Talking About

@ April 28, 2012 7:24 PM in 007 Whole Building Backflow Preventer

As Plumbers, we have a difficult time enforcing EPA rules, and some states don't seem to enforce mercury dumping rules at all, if regulations were stated in the National Plumbing Code we could easily enforce it. Many other substances may be harmful, but I think mercury is the worst for the environment, but perhaps the easiest to intercept, because its used at very few places..

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

This Is What I'm Talking About

@ April 28, 2012 9:54 AM in 007 Whole Building Backflow Preventer

While we go to great lengths to prevent the crud, including mercury, from backing into the water piping with backflow preventers, in many places this crud goes down the sewer and into our waterways, polluting our rivers, then oceans, and while a backflow preventer may prevent a cross connection affecting maybe dozens of people; we allow a cross connection when we put the hazardous materials into our drinking water, via sewage disposal,  that effects millions of people.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

A step in the right direction

@ April 27, 2012 9:01 PM in 007 Whole Building Backflow Preventer

BUT, what about the old mercury fillings he removes, most of that goes down the drain, virtually all our waterways are polluted by mercury.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

PV vs Solar Thermal

@ April 27, 2012 8:44 PM in Solar Thermal is Dead

Why debate it?? We need combo PV-T panels and we need them now. Cooling off a PV panel produces about 10% more electricity, this alone seems like a good reason to have a combination panel, but here in northern Massachusetts our heating and hot water bills account for about 70% of our energy dollar compared to 30% for electricity. We HAVE to use these panels along with radiant heating to harvest hot water at about 80 degrees; making the panels MUCH more efficient, and if we can cover a large portion of the heating load, the payback will be much quicker.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

Rare Occurrence

@ April 27, 2012 8:26 PM in 007 Whole Building Backflow Preventer

I'm all for water safety, but it seems like a rare occurrence, I remember reading about the cross connection at Holy Cross when I was in high school in the late 70's, if it was a big problem you would think we would have had another incident since then. I'd like to see the backflow preventer on the service leading up to the building, so it couldn't be tampered with by someone trying to poison the water supply. I would like to see the National Plumbing Code require that amalgam, mercury, traps be installed on all dentist sinks that will intercept the mercury used in fillings before it enters our waterways. The mercury is poisoning people every day.

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

007 Whole Building Backflow Preventer

@ April 24, 2012 10:08 AM in 007 Whole Building Backflow Preventer

Our city is requiring all business to have back flow preventers on the water main, do I have to install an expansion tank to absorb capacity as the water is heated in the water heaters?

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

No Return Calls

@ February 29, 2012 9:02 AM in Unauthorized Testing Equipment

Still no return call. I left messages and actually talked to a person at KEMA, but no one called me back yesterday either.

Worries

@ February 28, 2012 9:51 AM in Unauthorized Testing Equipment

Mark, I would have no problem with you or another qualified installer putting this equipment in, but I often run into people who know nothing about mod cons and I'm worried they might mess around and cross a wire, or change parameters. There is a big bundle of wires stuffed into the bottom of the boiler. The Utica has a high limit aqua-stat and that was turned down to 180, from 200, and the boiler was going into soft lockout when the domestic water was calling. There were utility and fed rebates for this boiler and I would have no problem with someone tracking energy savings, especially on this job, just let me know beforehand and return my damn calls.   Thanks.

Unauthorized Testing Equipment

@ February 28, 2012 8:56 AM in Unauthorized Testing Equipment

Yesterday I went to work in a house where I installed a Utica high efficiency boiler a couple of years ago, and there was Hobo energy logger boxes inside the boiler. There is a strap on temp sensor attached to the supply and one to the return, and an amp reader clamped around the power wire. What bothers me is this equipment was installed without the owners knowledge or consent. A handicapped tenant let someone in a couple of weeks ago to inspect the boiler. I'm concerned this could affect the electronics on this mod con. Kema energy consultation and testing has a sticker on the equipment with a phone number, but they didn't return my calls all day yesterday. National Grid says they know nothing about this. My only guess is that the really big, really old boiler consumed three or four times as much energy as the new one, so maybe they think the homeowner is messing with the gas meter? But that's just a guess. Any ideas??

Thanks, Bob Gagnon

Utica Baseboard

@ February 21, 2012 11:14 AM in Utica Cast iron baseboards?

The hangers should work, I would buy one connector sleeve, or push nipple, to see if it looks like the older ones you have connecting the baseboards now.

Utica Baseboard

@ February 17, 2012 8:28 PM in Utica Cast iron baseboards?

Call Utica, they have a great service dept. they can tell you if parts are still available, or of burnham parts interchange

Overheating

@ February 15, 2012 10:03 PM in heatin guy

Is there a lot of solar gain?

Salt-Old School Method

@ January 15, 2012 11:09 PM in Leaky Steam Radiator Sections

Rub some salt between the leaking sections, I've seen this work twice

Boiler Type

@ January 15, 2012 10:48 PM in cold upstairs

Do you have to fill your boiler with water once in a while? That would be steam. What is your pressure guage reading?