Best Of
Re: U.S boiler Alta
The Alta is far from "new". They are well designed and easily serviceable, but the control is beyond terrible and nearly impossible to navigate without buying the "USB connect" interface. They also have no ODR option, and the piping connections are pretty ridiculous. I have about a dozen in service and they have been flawless so far, but I cringe every time I set one up due to the crappy control.
GroundUp
Re: Best nest thermostat-Experts recommendations to choose
ecobee
With that said a t stat won’t lower your energy bills. If you want to save money tighten the envelope. Have a blower door test performed, find and fix the leaks.
get a properly sized heating system.
pecmsg
Re: Monoflo tees
two standard tees with a ball valve between give you more adjustability, and accomplish the same task
hot_rod
Re: Monoflo tees
15-20 feet of branch piping is a concern with only 13” between the Tees. The basic rule is that you should have as much spacing between the Tees as there is in the branch. Two Monoflo Tees will help, but I’d be concerned about that much branch piping with only 13” between the Tees.
A small circulator with two closely spaced standard Tees (primary/secondary) would be a sure solution.
Ironman
Re: Disgusted by today's electricians, Today's rant
Nothing wrong with a switch loop although there is a very recent code change that requires a neutral at the switch location for powering rf devices so you have to use x/3 instead of x/2 cable now.
mattmia2
Re: Boston weather with heat pump
Boston area its cheaper to heat with nat gas and 95 % boiler. There is a heat pump for a.c. in part of the apartment. The heat pump is not in all rooms so the resident uses nat gas boiler with rads for winter.
The mini split is only used in the summer. Only once in 4 years was it used in the winter for when the boiler was being replaced.
Being that there is a heater in the outside unit that runs in the coldest days my question is if the breaker is shut off over the winter and we needed heat (due to boiler not working), how long would we need to have that outside heater on before turning on heat mode in mini split?
It seems like a waste of electrons to keep that outside pan heater on when the mini is not going to be used for heat.
oreo123
Re: Boston weather with heat pump
you’re in MA—You did not mentionMassSave. If you’re taking on rebate money, they have all sorts of rules
With all that said, natural gas is the cheapest way to heat in Massachusetts.
GW
Re: Boston weather with heat pump
In another thread it was determined that at around 30 degrees its cheaper to run a high efficiency gas boiler / 95 % than use the heat pump for heat.
Where did you read this?
Try this instead………Fuel Comparison Calculator for Home Heating | Coalpail.com
See exactly when its cheaper to run NG of Electric.
A good Heat Pump properly sized and installed should supply 90+% of your heating needs.
pecmsg
Re: Boston weather with heat pump
The MFGs usually say 24 hours. The crankcase heaters are pretty low wattage don't use that much.
MA. is a train wreck.
