Heating Help

The rest of the story

@ April 30, 2012 9:24 PM in Where to Go to Get Rare Fittings in Baltimore

What you can't find at Thompson might be in Steamhead's basement or van.

It's a market

@ April 27, 2012 5:47 PM in The Propane industry

 "Imagine if more public land was tapped, prices really could go down and the government deficit, that buried issue, might really shrink!"

As ME says, it depends.   If the private companies in nation A pump more product to try to lower prices because they want to be nice, nations B,C,D,E,F etc will slow pumping to maintain prices. See drill and cap question.   If the US actually owned the land, the mining rights AND did the drilling and pumping etc and did not have a for profit operation to maintain, perhaps the product would be sold for a lesser price. Or because the US deficit is so large the government might prefer to keep prices high to encourage conservation and pay down the deficit which will still be growing. 

Getting more dollars per unit of product is the driving factor, why would I want to drill more and get less dollars?  You will buy and have been buying my product regardless of the price. You do this even while I have a surplus and export it because I can get more dollars than just holding it in tanks waiting for you to buy more.  Money is made from the product, not the fee I have to pay to drill it out of your land. The fee is a minor business expense. 

 LNG tankers are being built to export the NG as well. Here in Baltimore we are getting an export terminal.  Bet the price of NG goes up as the US producers develop their foreign markets with very long term contracts.
 

Why drill and cap?

@ April 27, 2012 5:22 PM in The Propane industry

"Why would an oil company go to all the expense to put a well into production and then cap it? "
Drill while you still can before a fracking well contaminates a major water source.
Cap to wait until the prices of the gas are adjusted up enough to make a bigger profit.

Middle of the night?

@ April 26, 2012 4:12 PM in Heres a photo of a fairly old boiler :)

I would not like to be the one that had to get out of bed in the middle of a cold winter night to shovel coal into this beast.  As a kid one of the schools I went to had augers feeding the two monster HW boilers.  Some of us actually used to get up to help the old man that shoveled coal into the hoppers. Our reward was hot radiators and a warm thanks. Wish I had taken pictures.

Confusing

@ March 12, 2012 8:27 AM in Old House Advice: Remove Radiators, Get AC?

You don't want rads, they are big but removing them is not optional???
Try another house maybe.

Easy problem to solve

@ February 5, 2012 11:50 AM in Nest Learning Thermostat

I would just install the Nest on the wall in a spot where everyone will see it and let the old existing stat run the steamer.  You could show the Nest off to all your friends and tell them that your heat even works when the power goes off. They will rush home and Nest sales in RH will go up.  Everyone gets happy.

What's that old expression....

@ January 16, 2012 2:44 PM in Want a laugh?

It costs two times to do it twice and sometimes more to do it right.

Use a thermal imager?

@ January 13, 2012 2:25 PM in I am stumped....

How about taking a thermal imager into the bathrooms and seeing if you can tell what is going on in the walls of the bathrooms?  One could perhaps image one that is working as a reference and go from there. 

Turns in the Energy Business

@ December 19, 2011 6:03 PM in Turns in the Energy Business

Did you read this?
http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/05/news/economy/gasoline_export/index.htm
We are awash in gasoline to the point where we have been increasing exports of gasoline while maintaining the higher national gas prices.  Diesel and jet fuel is also being refined in the US at rates higher than national use. That might include heating oil as it is a relative of diesel in the crude chain.  I paid $3.1374 a gal today so my 108 gal cost $338.84.
Part of the contributing factors is the use of ethanol which is a government supported product.  Since we have so much gas, an advantage to the big 3 oil companies, why do we have to continue to hand over tax money to the growers of fuel corn and the producers of the ethanol? 

Repaired and functioning?

@ December 13, 2011 1:24 PM in new residential generator - defective control

"Unit seems to run OK now, at least the oscillating whine is gone.  i guess I will find out when I lose power soon."

Put the whole house load on it and run it like you stole it. It is a pain to reset all the clocks but you want that machine running as high a load as you can put on it including motors.   The Stepper motor they replaced was possibly the throttle control so having a varied load should not cause a frequency swing or voltage drop except for motor starting loads.
Running light loads on a NG or Propane engine is not such an issue as with diesel but it would be good to know that you can run it up to 80% load capacity without a burp.  
We will be green with envy when our power goes out and you ask "What storm?"

Every boiler we come in contact with gets a proper sight-glass blow-down valve

@ December 10, 2011 1:28 PM in Glass Gauge Blowdown on Residential Boiler

He does.  The steamer in my son's office house has nice new valves and a drain hose that reaches to the bucket under the LWCO drain.  I watched Gordon install it as well as carefully dismantle the glass and scrub it clean. 

ME, do you need another test building?

@ December 4, 2011 4:28 PM in Future of energy prices

I have several window candidates.....

Did You Know?

@ December 4, 2011 2:48 PM in Friday night

The United States has no national oil company. The largest three U.S.-based international oil companies (ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips) are accountable to their shareholders, not the United States government.
Some interesting reading here:
http://www.eia.gov/energy_in_brief/world_oil_market.cfm
"Unfortunately almost all heating oil comes from countries who don't like us and some would do anything to wipe us off the planet".
Heating oil comes from many sources governed by the cost to the companies in the US that handle and manage it.  Their prime concern is shareholder return and top executive benefits.  Heating oil from countries that don't like you is not a concern of the corporations.  The US, not having a real Energy policy for the last umteen years, is not going to be able to replace the "foreign" BTU's and derived products for many years more, if not forever.
I assume you are not including Canada and Mexico as countries that do not like you. Canada is of course the largest exporter of products to the US. %-}

The US credits for techie stuff for homeowners and building owners makes for good sound bites but as many here have pointed out the real energy savings come from the stuff in the walls and ceilings etc..

Fine Home Building magazine

@ November 28, 2011 11:20 PM in new residential generator - defective control

has 2 articles on home emergency power in the January 2012 issue. Good pictures of two and four pole alternators.

autoexercise

@ November 23, 2011 8:50 PM in new residential generator - defective control

I just finished writing several paragraphs when the Wall decided I had been to slow and I got thrown out. Perhaps I will be able to recreate what I had written later.
The short answer is yes, periodic loading is beneficial.  The running with no load does not get all the parts of a power system hot. And it does not subject them to the vibration that a heavy load creates.  Boards and connectors and wiring harness(s) are an area where costs can be reduced. Alternator cooling and heat insulation are sometimes compromised in low end home power systems.

Look at the control module in a vehicle and look at the controls in a standby home generator.  The vehicle module is sealed in a heat sink and is designed to run in a very hot environment.  The genny module is often a board(s) in a box.  Trucks with electronic diesels can be stopped dead by the connectors and it happens at the worst time. So gennys need to be run as they would be when doing what they are supposed to be doing. Sometimes is better than none.

If I were to do a home system now, I would get one of these:
http://www.peakpowertools.com/Portable-Generator-Pramac-12000-Watt-12kW-Honda-p/gpr04607.htm
Twin cylinder Honda, my Honda engines have always started.
Then I would add one of these conversion kits:
http://www.propane-generators.com/honda.htm
I like the portables because it can be hauled to relatives houses or neighbors etc. I would have a small shed next to the house to house the unit- quiet, protects against rain, snow etc..  My current big shed is across the parking lot- too far.

edit:  Winco also makes a tri-fuel genny.
http://www.wayfair.com/Winco-Power-Systems-Home-Power-12000-Watt-Tri-Fuel-Portable-Generator-HPS12000HE-WNC1220.html

ERF- Perkins diesel

@ November 23, 2011 7:09 PM in new residential generator - defective control

That Perkins should run forever.  I think Perkins in various forms have appeared in trucks, cars, boats, tractors, stationary power and kitchen sinks.  First started in 1932.
Your type generator should be a reliable source of power. It would be one of my choices.

Freewatt is here

@ November 21, 2011 9:14 PM in new residential generator - defective control

http://www.freewatt.com/

ERF, question on auto exercise

@ November 21, 2011 9:11 PM in new residential generator - defective control

Does your auto-exercise actually transfer a load to the unit?  Or do you have a big heater to act as a dummy load?
Most auto-exercise just starts the unit and runs it for some predetermined time. This is like the test button in a CO detector, it tests the button and the horn, it does not test that it is detecting CO.  So many units have passed auto-exercise and then fail on a load.  Unless a standby power source is tested under a load it has only been tested that it started and ran for a bit. Unfortunately it is inconvenient to do a load test and owners tend to not bother.

Standby genny reliability

@ November 20, 2011 7:46 PM in new residential generator - defective control

A friend had a whole house NG generator installed with transfer switch and auto start and auto exercise. The Gererac unit faithfully auto exercised (another useless feature) but then failed when they had an actual power failure.  Then it was a board(s) failure.  There was always something wrong and it took a year to get it to run properly. 
It seems these days that the more electronics we put in them the more they fail, just like the power company power when it snows.  What happened to mechanical govenors?  Electronic controlled diesels are great- until the connectors collect enough moisture.

Well Tim, this was my followup from a visit by All Steamed Up

@ November 14, 2011 11:17 PM in Courtesy on this site

 a couple of years ago. Thought it might inspire others to creative responses.

Twas the week before Christmas when all through the place
Were all sorts of noises that we could not trace
It bacame clear that what was needed I think
Was the two guys from All Steamed Up Inc
The wrenches were hung by the boiler with care
For Gordo and Steamhead would soon be there
I measured pipes while snug in my bed
And visions of steam vents danced in my head
Then from the cast iron there arose such a clatter
I opened Dan's book to see what was the matter
Around the house I went to find the loud clang
I hope these guys can fix the big bang
To silence the pssst pssst they surely will know
While the boiler makes bubbles in the basement below
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
It looks like that white van is coming right here
The driver was tall and he brought a tool bag
His name was Gordon so said the name tag
More rapid than eagles that steamer we'll tame
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name
Now, Gorton! now Hoffman ! and Adjustable all
Let go of the air as you learned from the Wall
The dry steam to the rads it should really fly
When it meets with an obstacle we vent to the sky
And at the ends of the mains add a Gorton or two
It is amazing what these nice Hoffmans can do
A bundle of tools and big wrench on his back
With sight glass kit and Testo carried in his pack
He went down to the basement to make the steam merry
Without "We Got STEAM Heat" this could be scary
Frank will be here later I thought you should know
He is fixing a burner as it is expected to snow
The pigtail was plugged and the sight glass was dirty
And no movement on the gauge from zero to thirty
In no time at all water was ready to be heated
But first some radiators needed to be treated
With a level and spacers they got a new tilt
So they could drain the way they were built
And then the gas was turned on to boil and bubble
And we wandered around looking for trouble
Three vents were replaced as the steam went to work
The needle on a new gauge would jiggle and jerk
Now steam in the mains was starting too rise
No clanging and banging was a pleasant surprise
At the end of the test Frank drilled a hole in the main
And added a vent for some speed we would gain
In the stack went the test probe to measure the gas
It sniffed and smiled and said this burner shall pass
We are done they announced and carried stuff to the vans
Then came back in for a cookie and wash all their hands
And I heard them say as they drove out of sight
Happy Steaming to all , and to all a good-night

It Works

@ October 7, 2011 4:49 PM in Search

Standard Google search techniques work well. Easier to use.
I like it!

I hope we get the gas mains in

@ September 24, 2011 5:38 PM in Is oil-fired boiler more effective for steam than gas-fired?

I will be one street off but an easy straight shot across a partial alley. I will be happy to give up the annual process and cost of cleaning the junk out of the boilers left by burning oil. My boilers are direct vent so we get the soot and stink outside in my parking area.
The 174 mega-watt Co-gen plant nearby has the high pressure main line from which a low pressure line will be extended into town, we hope soon.
Let us know how your burner conversion works out.