Best Of
Re: Is Dbl-check/backflow preventor required Kings Park Long Island on residential irrigation system?
Whether it's required or not, it would be a good idea to have one…
Re: Compression fitting going from lead to anything modern (e.g. steel/brass)
either the hose wasn't removed or they were installed incorrectly. it isn't really possible for water to stay in there. or they didn't install them with the seat in conditioned space.
Re: Co-op in Brooklyn looking for steam consultant, 120 unit, single pipe, 1950s building
let’s hopefully not base our opinion about the entire grid on one person’s reported voltage measured one day
Re: Co-op in Brooklyn looking for steam consultant, 120 unit, single pipe, 1950s building
how much gas is lost between the well and the burner on your furnace/boiler?
Re: Compression fitting going from lead to anything modern (e.g. steel/brass)
The only time I saw an issue with a Woodford was when a family member left the hose attached with a nozzle on the end that was closed. It blew ice out of the vacuum breaker, and yet all of it still works fine.
I currently have 4 of them in service, none of them have issues even in below 0F temps.
If they're pitched correctly and the proper length to get the valve far into the heated space, they can't freeze.
ChrisJ
Re: Co-op in Brooklyn looking for steam consultant, 120 unit, single pipe, 1950s building
I agree! City agencies are also blindly pursuing 100% electrified heating in some buildings to meet LL97 goals, sometimes simply because (of politics) there is funding for new split systems and no funding for maintenance of existing steam systems. I think there is a lot of improvement to be made to building envelopes first, and maybe eventually our goal can be 90-10 or 80-20 gas-electric, which would be a massive improvement already, but 100% with no backup seems like a recipe for a couple months every year of low efficiency, high bills, and burst pipes…
Re: Black soot around gravity heat registers
Those "Lau Vent" stack dampers failed after some time. And were not good for horizontal position. IMO.
You may have bad heat exchanger, but it could be only plugged exhaust vent causing flame/gases to roll out of the draft hood.
Re: Co-op in Brooklyn looking for steam consultant, 120 unit, single pipe, 1950s building
» drop from 117 in the morning to 108 without a load.
Gah! That's third-world level.
As my old boss was fond of saying, "The laws of physics are strictly enforced."
Politics is not a good way to make energy policy. One day, electricity is the answer to everything, and fossil fuel = bad, then it's good again, same with wind and solar, just 180 degrees out of phase.
It's a complex game. Electricity is great, but it has to come from somewhere. Renewables are fantastic, but they require a stable infrastructure that can smooth out the dips and valleys.
Gas is a great way to heat, because it's highly efficient and works down to arbitrarily cold temperatures. Heat pumps are good but at 5 F you'd be more efficient with gas. And when it's 5 F outside, most of your electricity will come from burning gas, but half the input energy is lost between the gas turbine and the wall outlet.
What we need is an intelligent mix, not rigid rules based on the doctrine du jour.
I'm not a fan of the present administration but I agree with energy secretary Chris Wright, who basically says, We Need It All.
Re: Black soot around gravity heat registers
Could be that thermal "Lau-Vent" stack damper too, as @mattmia2 said. But I'd seriously consider replacing the whole unit, since something that old is probably rather inefficient.
Re: Black soot around gravity heat registers
Hi @anne29b, @mattmia2 covered the points, but I'd like to focus on the soot. It is made in the combustion chamber, which should be completely separated from the air you breathe by a heat exchanger. That heat exchanger clearly is leaking. Older gravity furnaces sometimes had cast iron heat exchangers, so there could be the possibility of replacing a failed gasket. I've welded up cracked heat exchangers, but it's not a small job. Of course, there would be no soot if it were burning correctly, but the heat exchanger is the elephant in this room. The one thing I'd do immediately is to get low level carbon monoxide detectors and put them in bedrooms. Not to put too fine a point on it, but if the heat is on, you risk not waking up every morning. Currently you're doing 80 mph down the freeway and the steering wheel just fell off. 🙀
Yours, Larry


