Best Of
Re: Replace a Munchkin boiler before it fails, or keep it going?
I appreciate all the input from this very helpful forum. I am going to lobby for the Lochinvar and to do a pretty significant replacement of the old plumbing.
Re: Indirect Water Heater Coverage via Warranty Company
Eh? Yes, the boiler supplies hot hot water to the indirect, which in turn supplies domestic hot water to the house. Technically the indirect is a water heater, and is not part of the heating system, though it is powered by it.
Re: Old fridge
I think the video you're talking about is from a guy named Dusty? He knows his stuff.
I don't know much about 1948 stuff, but I'd guess R12 or similar on something that modern.
No, the really old refrigerators never were energy hogs.
I've had a 1933 GE Monitor Top running in my kitchen for 10 years now and it averages around 30kwh a month running 33-34F. Right next to it is a 1935 GE Ball top which has been running for 4 years, that runs about 18kwh a month and it's used and opened constantly. Most of the mid to late 1930s - 1940s machines use very little power, 1935 is when GE really perfected things. There's usually no fans, and no defrost heaters etc. For what it's worth, we have a 2022 manual defrost mini fridge in the office that uses 20kwh a month, according to energy star but I've never measured it.
Here's the other problem.
What about more modern refrigerators that are "Energy hogs"? I'm picturing 1960s-80s side by side refrigerators etc. What's it going to cost to run, $10-12 a month? The most you're going to save is a few dollars a month at best even replacing a so called hog. Replacing a 1930s-40s refrigerator with new will pretty much always result in quite a bit more power consumption unless something was really wrong with the old one.
ChrisJ
Re: Boiler Sizing
The person before you did their job very wrong, don't second guess yourself based on that.
Size to the system EDR. What boiler is currently there is 100% irrelevant.
KC_Jones
Re: "Yelp"/ angi list for contractors.
I must say, it may be an anomoly, but the contractors I use on my homes that dont ask for a down payment tend to deliver the best work. The ones that ask for a down payment tend to be the most difficult to work with.
I just had my 35 year old hvac system replaced in December. They couldnt start the ac part until it was warmer. I went ahead and paid in full and they returned on a hot day in April to start up the ac. The system does the job quickly and quietly.
Paying on time brings homeowners good karma.
SlamDunk
Re: Old fridge
Sometimes I use an icecube tray with lid and hot water.
Sometimes I use a ziplock bag full of hot water.
I've never propped a door open, not once so I have no idea where you're getting that from. It's full of food that I don't want getting warm.
Even my 1933 has the defrost option. I'm just too impatient to use it so I use the method I mentioned above twice a year.
ChrisJ
Re: Mixed freon
If it's fixed and no longer leaking I would recover the charge, replace the filter drier, evacuate and recharge it with R407C or whatever R22 replacement refrigerant is compatible with the oil in the system. I don't think you need to flush the system with anything besides the nitrogen that's used for pressure testing. R22 would be ideal if you happen to have it but you can probably use R407C, R22D or something else.
Re: Old fridge
On any 1930s and up GE you turn the knob to defrost and go to bed. When you wake up you dump the tray of ice and water into the sink.
It keeps running to maintain temperature but it raises the turn on point above freezing so the frost falls off.
How much time and energy are you going to factor in for that? It's zero energy.....
Regardless,
The efficiency of the refrigeration equipment hasn't changed. The insulation of the cabinet hasn't improved.
And like I said, even the much later ones that do use a lot of power, it's not enough to justify replacing it.
ChrisJ