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Re: Cost of Oil vs Propane vs Something Else?

Assuming that you don't have natural gas available, oil and propane really are your only two choices (some might suggest looking at an air to water heat pump, but without major tightening of the envelope it's not likely to really do the job in colder weather). The cost of a BTU of heat from oil and a BTU of heat from propane varies widely. What you need to do is to find your local cost of a gallon of oil -- which contains about 140,000 BTU -- and a gallon of propane, which contains about 90,000 BTU p- and compare the relative costs.

It's likely that you will find that they are comparable -- in which case switching would be a waste of money. The propane would have to be a LOT cheaper to offset the cost of the switch.

Jamie Hall

2

Re: How to fix this mono flow rad? (FIXED)

circ is fine

How do we know this? What are we calling "fine"?
Also, removing the tees and going full-flow through the radiator will make the rad heat to its full potential at every call for heat....unless there's some kind of ODR logic in place...which may or may not suit your purposes. Be ready for that. With the limited info we have here, it looks to me like there are too many elbows and too long of a run with small pipe to permit flow through that branch. You probably already know this but the TDH through the heat emitter branch can't exceed that of the piping between the supply and return tees, which tends to be not very much and is mostly determined by the Delta-P through the Venturi cone. Is my stream of conciousness helping yet? I find 1-pipe hydronic systems to be pretty darn interesting. I just wish they worked better.

JohnNY

2

Re: Charging What??!!

Nice!

hot_rod

5

Re: Just to stir the pot...

Holding it in your crotch while you make the shift is where the scald hazard lies😉
I have several of those cups, great cups but they don’t fit into the cup holders in my truck or 🚗 So you end up juggling it somewhere in the vehicle

Some will be familiar with this, and others won't be...

https://youtu.be/7elLpAKEFew?si=iGNWqn18eLZv0b0p&t=6

ChrisJ

3

Re: Best Spray Paint for Old Radiators.....again

I've begun "home bronzing" radiators as I renovate rooms. This example has a Rustoleum "red oxide" primer (I used a spray setup but the same primer is available in rattle cans) followed by a topcoat of good quality linseed oil and mica powder of your choosing (lots of options). Application is pretty much foolproof. I like the matte finish. This one was done a year ago- no problems with it.
Patrick

PatrickNorth

2

Re: Any guess how old this radiator valve is?

Joe "Weider" Ahhhnold's sponsor and bodybuilding mentor and Icon...Made a Fortune selling Protein powders and Muscle Magazines, Barbells and plates. I've never seen the name anywhere else...Mad Dog 🐕

It means "again" in german so likely not an uncommon name for germans.

mattmia2

1

Re: Spokes and baseball cards

Used to tie balloons to the spokes as well. Can't remember if we filled them with water. They didn't last very long.

EBEBRATT-Ed

1

Spokes and baseball cards

I just read Dan Holohan's recent article "My Father's American Dream." Dan mentioned sticking baseball cards on his bicycle spokes and fastening them with clothes pins.

Back in the 1970's we also did this as kids for the same effect, that cool motor sound of the cards slapping against the front forks of our bicycle. This past Tuesday my wife and I went to a local pizza place and decided to eat outside as the weather was perfect for an August evening in NJ. Just as we were finishing our dinner five kids pulled up on their bikes to go to the ice cream shop next door. One of the kid's had Bicycle brand poker playing cards taped to his spokes on his front and rear tires. This was the first time I saw or heard this in over forty years (I'm 56).

For about sixty seconds I debated in my head if I should talk to the kids or not. My wife normally is the voice of reason on these things. She say's, "yeah why not?" I walk over to the group of kids and talk to them about their "invention." I asked, "how did you learn how to do this." They answered, "Tik-Tok." I felt really old and really young at the same time. The kid with the customized bike was concerned that if the cops saw the playing cards he might get harassed or in some kind of trouble. I mentioned that I did not think the police would bother him. To be twelve again...