Good morning!!!!

[rswyan]

3.5F @ 20:45 ...

Wife just got home a little bit ago ... she's suffering from the flu or something ... maybe just a cold.

Temp in the house was down to about 60F ... as the fire had died back.

I did a little reading on fire building today ... it seems to be helping. Have moved to loading less fuel and burning what fuel is in the stove really hot. Before when I was packing the stove, the fire was starving for air ... the air intake grate just isn't large enough to supply enough air for a packed firebox ... particularly when you are packing it with unseasoned wood.

Managed to get a 2 degree rise on the t'stat within the last 45 minutes or so ... which in these temps is pretty decent I'd say, considering ...

I've also gone to splitting the firewood into smaller pieces - maybe about 3" x 3" ...

The Cake saw me doing this a day or so ago and commented "... why are you wasting your time and energy with that ?"

This requires more tending ... adding a little wood more often ... but it seems to be producing more heat on a constant basis. It's a bit of a PITA ... but these are pretty extreme conditions.

No work in the shop tonight ... simply not worth the T and E (and the wood) to bother with.

 

[dave1949]

-4F, not too windy yet. -17 forecast tonight, tomorrow's high has improved to 8F and sunny.

Larry the cabinet guy was here from 9am til almost 8pm. Done now and looks good hiding the refrigerant lines from the mini-split units.

Stay warm.

 

[rswyan]

RS can't believe it is so difficult to get 1 silly furnace up and running :shocked::thumbdown:

mg,

Neither can I ... it's a testament to (some of) the incompetence present in the HVAC field I guess.

I was pretty certain I was in trouble when the old guy (Dad) told me that diagnosing the root cause of problems with furnaces was more complex than doing similar with a modern automobile.

Either guy don't know his field ... or he don't know much about the modern automobile ... maybe both.

 

[rswyan]

I have never had a no heat for more than 2 days.. That just aint done here.

The only reason I would ever have no heat is if I lacked the foresight and the initiative to do something about it.

The couple of hundred I spent on that old wood-burning furnace 10 or more years ago and the time I spent restoring it is looking pretty smart at this point.

The sunk costs in trying to fix a gas furnace ... not so much.

With the wood burner I can pretty much control the situation - fix it if I need to - with the gas furnace that's not the case - because due to licensing, limited/exclusive sources of supply, (supposed) "expertise". etc. I am at the mercy (and incompetence) of others.

 

[rswyan]

Temps already down to 20 and winds over 20, forecasted gusts to 40 and temps of 9F, with wind chill at -4F.

Wood stove really cranking with the strong winds...already opened the cabinet doors under the sinks and took in the wind chimes, etc. Birds here are going nuts, too getting ready.

Yup - our feeders here were packed today ... even saw a few species that don't normally feed on what I currently have out.

Well, I gave the log splitter a go this morning right after sunrise, and let's just say I am still hopeful after a good workout with the pull rope. /won't be testing it tomorrow...

I hope you can get it sorted out ... equipment that is not operational is a PITA.

... taking my wife to doctor and too dang cold.

Nothing serious I hope.

 

[dave1949]

The only reason I would ever have no heat is if I lacked the foresight and the initiative to do something about it.

The couple of hundred I spent on that old wood-burning furnace 10 or more years ago and the time I spent restoring it is looking pretty smart at this point.

The sunk costs in trying to fix a gas furnace ... not so much.

With the wood burner I can pretty much control the situation - with the gas furnace that's not the case - because due to licensing, limited/exclusive sources of supply, (supposed) "expertise". etc. I am at the mercy (and incompetence) of others.

In some ways furnace technology seems lacking. When I look at the parts layout of my 8 year-old propane furnace, it just doesn't look very advanced. It really is some sort of non-integrated rat's nest with parts, wires, and vacuum hoses here and there with no real rhyme or reason.

 

[murphy1244]

The 80 plus systems are pretty basic its when you get to 95+ its gets complicated. Need to follow your flow very closely.

 

[rswyan]

And I sure hope RS's heater keeps working. Dangerous in this weather if your heat goes out.

Thanks for the concern but no need to worry yourself ... I have two other backup heat sources beyond the wood burning stove here at the house (not counting the wood burner in the shop)

Of course one could sit in their truck and keep warm, listening to your plastic pipes burst. Unless you have a whole lot of those warmer wraps on them and a large enough gen to handle that.

The time required to get that degree of temperature drop inside a house (thermal mass) would allow one plenty of leeway to do something proactive.

IOW: it probably ain't gonna happen overnight ... maybe not even in 24 hours.

 

[rswyan]

In some ways furnace technology seems lacking. When I look at the parts layout of my 8 year-old propane furnace, it just doesn't look very advanced. It really is some sort of non-integrated rat's nest with parts, wires, and vacuum hoses here and there with no real rhyme or reason.

Interesting observation.

Maybe the American HVAC manufacturers are (or were) where Detroit was 30 or so years ago ...

Before we got the free gas, I was planning on going with wood as our heat source. Almost pulled the trigger on a Tarm wood gasification boiler ...

Wood Boiler | Wood and Wood Pellet Boilers For Heating Your Home And Business

Not exactly cheap but they appear to be really good, well-thought-out technology.

And that (advanced) technology has been around quite a while in Europe ... and uses a renewable resource to boot.

Of course, we being who we are (as a society and a nation), for the most part wouldn't deign to use something so (ahem) ... foreign ...

 

[rswyan]

The 80 plus systems are pretty basic its when you get to 95+ its gets complicated. Need to follow your flow very closely.

Recently got to take a look a new top-of-the-line Ruud high-efficency unit that some friends installed not all that long ago.

Seemed impressive ... and the package size was about half the size of my furnace. The thing didn't stand but maybe 40" tall or so ...

 

[Happy Gilmore]

Currently 4 degrees and the wind is howling, guessing a wind chill around -15 or so. Time for bed

 

[RoyJackson]

2015-01-08, 0351

-18 right now...should see a high of 16 today...

 

[rswyan]

Dang Roy ... that's pretty darn chilly.

3.6F @ 04:00 - that's up 1.6F from when I woke up around 02:00 - with westerly winds @ 6 mph, gusting to 11 mph.

Temp in the house was down to 58F when I got up ... had to throw a big round that wasn't split-able on the fire (dog leg) which I don't like doing (no edges) ... have raised the temp in the house about 2 degrees since.

Have a little folding chair down in front of the wood burner - I think the cat would sit on my lap down there until the cows came home

 

[Eric Salop]

43F @ 09:00

Looks like we are in for some stormy weather tonight, blowing in over the Atlantic much faster than normal.
Expected to bring gusts of 100mph in the North of England, maybe higher in Scotland.

 

[daugen]

good morning all. Compared to others, a warm 16 degrees here, windchill of 3, going up to 27 today.
wind chimes singing their song, gusts of 22mph from the North.
Let's keep this weather North of the Mason Dixon next time. right Larro?

 

[BLUE ME]

Today

Mainly sunny. Wind northwest 30 km/h gusting to 50 becoming west 20 this afternoon. High minus 18. Extreme wind chill minus 38.

 

[daugen]

The only reason I would ever have no heat is if I lacked the foresight and the initiative to do something about it.

somehow I don't think Cupcake is going to allow it to get too cold in there...

 

[Thomas]

-18F light breeze now,slow steady climb to mid teens.
No doubts about it pickup will have warm up time before heading down the road this morning.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[rswyan]

The only reason I would ever have no heat is if I lacked the foresight and the initiative to do something about it.

somehow I don't think Cupcake is going to allow it to get too cold in there...

LOL ... oh yeah ... she's already squeakin' like a wheel that badly needs greased ...

She went downstairs a bit ago to sit by the stove to have her morning coffee and noticed the wood pile ... or lack thereof ... (goes pretty quick when it's cold out)

So when she comes up she sez "Does this mean you're going to have to go out and search for wood ?"

Umm ... well ... yeah ...

... ahh ... what exactly do you mean by search ?

LOL ... what a trip ... :confused2:

 

[GMIslander]

-20C -4F wind NW 25 gusting to 45. Cold winter morning and my recently installed mini split heat pump is still blowing lots of heat, so is the wood stove!