Questions you'd love to ask (Dan H.)

Jim_64

like to see the question that was asked in 2002 answered again."When and Why it's Time to Replace that Old Boiler"

No one mentioned efficiency/environment 7 years ago.

DanHolohan

Each week

in my eBlast newsletter, I ask a question in the My Two-Cent's section. We publish the results the following week. I'm always interested in these unscientific surveys and we'll have them on the new site as well.

Is there a question you'd like me to ask our nearly 5,000 opt-in subscribers? Let me know and I'll put it in the queue for an upcoming issue.

And if you don't already get the free eBlast, and would like to get it, just add your e-mail address to the box that you see up in the site's masthead. We don't share e-mail addresses with anyone else. Thanks.

Unknown

OK Dan, I`ll give-it a go,,

Not sure if this is what you`re meaning, but I have had arguments over the pronunciation of manufacturers names,,,
Is it Taaaco,,, or Tawco?
Weeerzbo,,, or Wires-bo?
Oooponor,,, or Up-onor?
I was just curious,, and I think a similar question was asked awhile back. :-)

BTW- Is your last name pronounced Hooolohan,,, or Hollow-han?
Again,,, just curious,, no offense intended! ;-)

Dave

Larry Weingarten

Just so you know.

Spell check, (always a reliable source) suggests Holohan is actually Hooligan :~O

Yours, Larry

ps. I am curious to know how many of the 5000 know what an anode rod is.

Unknown

Good call Larry,,

I also wonder how many know the temp to run their water heater-at to avoid any Legionnella disease?

Dave

Jim Bennett

Ok....

Where's Weezbo ???

Unknown

why are there?

Why there 10 hot dog package for 8 hot dog bun package? Happy 4th to everyone!

Supply House Rick

It is a lot; > 60C. You can kill some of them at a lower temperature, such as 50C, but they are tough. 66C will not get all of them. You would not want water at this temperature, or anywhere near it, coming out of the tap.

But bear in mind that they do not like copper salts and by use of copper tubing instead of steel or plastic, you can discourage them.

Unknown

Hey Ray,,,

another thing I always wondered,,, why are boats with steering wheels always LH drive?,,, or is it right?
Opposite of the cars we have here anyways,, :-)

Dave

Unknown

I do know why

I do know why the boat have steering wheel on right side.. I've won bar bets on this one.

Unknown

Well????

C`mon,,, let`s hear it!

Dave

Unknown

alright.. I'll give the

Alright I'll give it away for you ladies and gentlemen to win some bar bets...
Learned this a few years ago reading an old fishing magizine printed way back in 1978...

Unknown

Compromise

From the heart.

Is it acceptable to compromise your craftsmanship for profit for those customers unwilling to pay for your true worth because you need to support your lifestyle?

Mitch_4

and

> Why there 10 hot dog package for 8 hot dog bun

> package? Happy 4th to everyone!



why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways..

and what is gay apparel and how do you don it?

Mitch_4

and

why do we drive on parkways, but park on driveways..

and what is gay apparel and how do you don it?

Joe Billow_6

How many options do you give customers? How much time (design/bidding) are you willing to spend.

DanHolohan

Good ones.

Thanks, Joe!

tim smith

Why are there some many questions ?????

Jim Pompetti

Teflon Tape

Customer asked " Which side is sticky"

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EricAune

Solar ROI's

I had a customer ask me about the expected return on investment for a solar domestic water system. She stated that the local gas company was out the day before trying to fix her boiler (failed, that is why I was there). She said the tech. stated that the pay-back on "those" systems was like 20 years or more......WHAT???

I apparently have my prices way too low.

I have been able to approximate pay back in the 6 1/2 to 8 year time frame for most systems. (I use RETscreen).

I was wondering what other contractors were experiencing in other areas of the country. I know it depends on the existing fuel and size of the system, but most systems are comparable if they are not increasing size over existing standard systems.

Thank you
Eric Aune

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DanHolohan

Thanks.

I'll ask the subscribers in an upcoming issue. Good one.

Glen Aspen_2

what about -

The real life expectancy of high efficient gas fired appliances? As stated by manufacturers or more/less?
and two - are your local utilities making subsidies/rebates for hi Ef conversions a year long program or just an annual window of opportunity?

Steve Ebels_3

ummmmmmmmm

Why are all the wood/biomass boilers that are way cool made in Europe and not available here? Few of our gas and oil product here use a Lambda sensor and they are using that type of control on cordwood for crying out loud!

Why doesn't the US accept DIN ratings and testing standards.

DanHolohan

The format

in my weekly eBlast for questions is multiple choice. It's a survey. Not sure how to ask these questions you pose in that format, Steve.

Unknown

Safety

Is it a good idea to test the environment you are about to enter?

If I smell gas at the front door of a building what should I do?

Is combustion testing really necessary on equipment?

Isn't equipment factory tested and set up?

DanHolohan

Thanks, Tim.

Number 3 lends its self well to this format. Good one.

rt_3

boat steering wheel on the right side

Haven't seen the answer yet. Seem-so I heard one time it's because to counter act the rotation of the engine. When the engine revs up, it would make the boat roll/lean toward the port side (left side for you land lovers). Having the weight of the driver on STBD side(right side for you land lovers), counter acts that motion. Correct me if I'm wrong!! Thanks in advance.

rt

DanHolohan

On the first boats,

the steering board was on the right-hand side (which is where the word "starboard" originates), and because of this, they would pull into "port" on the left-hand side (hence that name) so as to not damage the steering board.

That's why the wheel is on the right.

Unknown

Here are some more

What causes the green deposits on the Mod/Con boiler coils in the heat exchanger?

Should there be post purge circulators on high end equipment?

What items use the most energy in our lives?

When will it stop raining in New England? Just kidding!!

GREG LAUER

just a few

if drinking and driving is Illegal why do they allow bars to have parking lots?

who put the bop in the bop shue bop d bop and who put the dang in the bada bada bing bang when there is no dang?

why is it if you need your tv remote or vcr programmed a 12 year old is the expert?

Jean-David Beyer

I am not in the business, so I have never had to deal with a real customer. But different businesses work differently. When I had my kitchen remodeled, they charged for design time, so I could do as many iterations as I wanted, bearing in mind that the more time I used, the more it could cost me. But that way, they could cheerfully spend as much time as I wanted them to because I imagine they made money on the design time even if I then decided not to do the job. Though I had them to the job, too.

OTOH, when I recently had my nearly 60 year old oil fired hot water boiler replaced with a gas one, and the system divided into two zones (count 'em, three: one for the indirect fired DHW), changing some imitation radiators for two 14 foot sections of SlantFin, etc., they did not charge for design time. Since I knew exactly what I wanted (I read John Siegenthaler's book, for one thing), they only made a few minor changes in what I asked for. They were inclined to put a larger boiler in than what I calculated, but I prevailed on them to use what I requested. I think I did a more detailed heat loss calculation than they did; I did it three ways. One, I used the calculation suggested by the boiler maker (Weil McLain); I also did one by Slant/Fin, and as a check, I knew the oil burner had a 1/2 gph nozzle so that was 70,000 BTU/hr input and always got enough heat. My other two calculations came out between 30K and 40K, so I got an 80K mod/con, the smallest WM make that will turn down to 16k.

I know you were not asking for an answer to the original question, but it seems to me that were a heating contractor to charge (enough) for design time, he would have no pressure to shortchange the process.

Baltimore/Maine Doug_9

Depends

on whether the wheel is a right hand or left hand rotation and whether we are talking about an inboard or outboard/outdrive. The walking effect is most noticeable in reverse where the bottom blades have a better bite than the blades when they are at the top of rotation. Also in reverse the rudder is less effective.
Outboards etc with smaller props which are turned to direct thrust also exhibit less prop walk. Twin engines or their wheels usually rotate in opposite directions to negate the effect.

One can use this effect to help manouver.

Rich Kontny_3

The distribution system

If the distribution system is a snow melt system can it truly be called part of an energy efficient heating system?

Unknown

Thanks Dan H,

for answering my boat steering wheel question,,
But what about the others in my first posting?,,, as I said, I am curious.
When we do meet, I don`t want to pronounce your name wrong! ;-)

Dave

DanHolohan

Well,

we pronounce it HOLLOWhan, but we could be wrong. :-) Thanks for asking.

Unknown

Thanks Again Dan,,

I have never been very good at being polite,, but things ARE sinking-in!

Dave

R Mannino

Questions

Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways?


Seriously, Why should I upgrade MY heating system, it's working?

Unknown

sorry Dan...

rt got this right.. The force of the prop will list the boat to left and ' counterwieght' with one person on starboard side will helps the boat float 'straight'.

ScottMP

Starboard . port

Dan is correct on the origin of those words.

It may not be why the steering wheel is located to the right. My sailboat has it in then middle

Scott

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rt_3

boat steering wheel

See below

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_steering_wheels_on_the_right_side_of_a_boat

ttekushan_3

Kind of corollary

How do you make the client understand that maintaining hvac efficiency is as important as improving efficiency with new/updated equipment?

or, in my little steam world:

Is restoring a neglected system's efficiency enough to make the client deliriously happy vs improved efficiency with new equipment/controls?