Best Of
Re: leaking return line
Do you want to pay to do this twice? Repipe in copper or steel only. The person that suggested CPVC should know better. Mad Dog
Re: leaking return line
@spascuzzi where are you located? Besides for replacing the return, the boiler should have regular maintenance and attention. For the record, replacing the return, should be doable by anyone who knows how to handle pipe. Plumber, steam expert..... Just I would suggest not using the Plastic Man.
Re: A $50,000 Mistake
No relief valve. Itβs gravity so itβs open to the atmosphere at my attic expansion tank.
Re: A $50,000 Mistake
Thank you Dan! It is because of this story and your video on the subject I was educated on my own Honeywell generator which is still actively working on my gravity system which has not been converted and I have no plans to.
Re: leaking return line
That's not always the case if you steam-clean your wet returns like I do with my gate valves on both ends & tees w/ boiler drains. Live Steam at 212 degrees or higher is gonna soften up most plastics CPVC, PVC, Pex. Don't even waste your precious time. Mad Dog
Re: tiny droplet leak from the oil tank firomatic shut off valve.
Yes it is a 1/2" firomatic valve . Most residential is 3/8 but 1/2 is common.
Your going to have to drain the tank. The other way is to use an industrial vacuum cleaner to pull a vacuum on the tank but that has some risks.
How old is the tank and what is its condition?
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
We still have our gas dryer, gas stove and gas boiler because I'm a natural (gas) guy. Hard to give up something that's taken care of me all these years and I'm not ready to jump in on a heat pump for my heating. There aren't enough good equipment choices yet.
We're getting a battery later this month and I look forward to importing-exporting less to the grid.
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
Hi, To riff on what @clammy said, I'm in an 1800 square foot house that now runs on 1500 watts of PV. I started with 890 watts, but added panels as I reduced my use of propane. I can get by with this small system because I made the house efficient. No utility credits because I'm off grid. My measured energy usage is at one tenth the normal per square foot.
Like @OffGridICF I've gone from lead acid to lithium. After nearly twenty years with lead acid, I was glad to have a choice. Not hooking up to the grid saved me far more than the cost of the solar system initially, and then no monthly bill. My conclusion is that we far underestimate what we can do to make buildings efficient. Getting down off my box of soap now. π
Yours, Larry
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
Totally off grid here with about 8kW of panels, a Schneider/Xantrex 6kW inverter and large battery bank. There are three MPPT charge controllers tied to parallel strings of modules. We run almost anything we want to with no problems. Cabinet saw, TIG welder, small window A/C, etc. Just not all at once ;-) Since our solar resource is not great during the short overcast winter days we burn about 50 gallons of diesel each year in a backup generator. If you are building a new home any distance from the grid the cost to extend the grid can be more expensive than a large solar system.
Changing from lead acid batteries to LiFePO4 was a great decision. They don't need to be fully charged every week and don't have to be watered.
In our previous home we were grid-tied. Having battery backup was great since the transfer from grid to inverter and back was maybe just a flicker, if that. I never even saw a PC crash during the transfer.
Having some modules oriented both a little east and a little west can be beneficial since that will increase the output in the morning and evening. The peak output will be less, but it seems like a good trade-off. All of our modules are facing due south at a steep angle so they actually shade themselves late in the day during summer. The surrounding terrain also limits their production. They are almost all ground mounted to allow safe snow removal, a big deal here. The previous system had modules on a tracker but that doesn't make sense now that modules are so much less expensive .
Re: I'm getting solar panels. I'll let you know how it goes in this discussion thread.
NJ is #11 for residential solar installed, , Michigan #25
NJ was always one if the top solar dhw states also.
hot_rod