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For what it's worth when I moved into my current house the water pressure situation drove me nuts and instead of spending thousands on an expensive constant pressure pump I decided to try solving it with a cycle stop valve about a year ago and so far so good, I have a consistent 65 PSI of pressure while running a conventional fixed speed jet pump. I don't really think I'd recommend this route in your situation vs going with the more accepted solution for a few thousand more if it's just going to disappear into a new build mortgage payment, but for anyone else reading this who'd be out of pocket it's a cheaper option you don't see pump manufacturers talk about for obvious reasons.
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Apr 24, 2021 06:48
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 So I've had few carpenter bees start moving into the eaves of my place. Little dime sized holes in the fascia (not the beams). I'm a big native pollinator fan, so I'm going to let them stay this season - but come fall I'm going to vacuum out the exposed holes, plug them, and seal them. My issue though is that there are a few that have made their holes in the gap between the beams and the fascia. Any suggestions? Seal the gap entirely maybe (but with what?)
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Apr 24, 2021 07:45
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Motronic posted:Typical high end setup here is both a full size weltrol (pressure bladder) tank and a variable speed pump. If you have things like multiple showers/washing machine going and your well produces enough it's a good setup, but it's really a solution for a large home with a bunch of people in it. And the inside plumbing to make it worthwhile. That's a big one. (if you've got a bunch of 1/2 copper everywhere this will not do much of anything - if you've got PEX home runs everywhere fed by 3/4" or larger to the manifold along with a suitable flowing tankless water heater you have full pressure, full heat to every tap in your house all day every day) I wonder why there would be a large bladder installed with it? I installed 1” pex down the center of the house as a sort of main line. I then branched off with 3/4” heading towards each water using room and then reduced to 1/2” to go up through the floor. I just heard about constant pressure wells for the first time yesterday when the well drilling company presented it as an option, but it sounds like it might play nice with the way I ran my water lines. I installed a traditional water heater though, so I will just run out of hot water faster. DaveSauce posted:A 3-phase motor has way fewer moving parts. No start/run capacitors to wear out, no cap bypass switch, no relay to start it: just a solid state VFD. I wonder if that makes it just as reliable as a traditional well pump? Quick google answer is that the constant pressure system is less reliable but there doesn’t seem to be any explanation that matches up with that statement. Modus Man fucked around with this message at 12:35 on Apr 24, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2021 12:30
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Is there a consensus on tankless vs tank water heaters? We currently have a traditional gas tank heater, but it’s probably around 12 years old and showing it’s age. Can basically only take one shower before running out of hot water. Up front costs aren’t really a concern to us, we prefer long term reliability/easy maintenance and just being able to take more than one shower in a row. Never had a tankless heater before so just don’t know much beyond what I can read in buying guides.
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Apr 24, 2021 14:52
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Most of the cost is the install and specifically you may have to redo all of your exhaust vent piping, depending on what you get. Some may work with pvc exhaust but likely less efficient, the one I looked at years ago required some really expensive duct that was stainless and a few layers, we ran in to issues finding a legal we spot to vent it out (too close to doors and windows, tiny place) so bailed the plan and went traditional. I don't have one but from what I've read 2nd hand they're fine after that.
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Apr 24, 2021 14:58
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slave to my cravings posted:Is there a consensus on tankless vs tank water heaters? We currently have a traditional gas tank heater, but it’s probably around 12 years old and showing it’s age. Can basically only take one shower before running out of hot water. Up front costs aren’t really a concern to us, we prefer long term reliability/easy maintenance and just being able to take more than one shower in a row. Never had a tankless heater before so just don’t know much beyond what I can read in buying guides. We installed one as a part of a kitchen remodel about seven months ago and love it. It’s outside so we reclaimed a few square feet in our kitchen. No recirculator so it takes a minute for the hot water at the tap but no longer than our tank took, and then it’s hot forever. skylined! fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Apr 24, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2021 15:43
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Modus Man posted:I wonder why there would be a large bladder installed with it? Could be a very local thing. We lose power. A lot. A full size weltrol tank give you a lot of water when your pump isn't running.
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Apr 24, 2021 15:51
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slave to my cravings posted:Is there a consensus on tankless vs tank water heaters? We currently have a traditional gas tank heater, but it’s probably around 12 years old and showing it’s age. Can basically only take one shower before running out of hot water. Up front costs aren’t really a concern to us, we prefer long term reliability/easy maintenance and just being able to take more than one shower in a row. Never had a tankless heater before so just don’t know much beyond what I can read in buying guides. A properly sized tanked water heater should be cheaper in every way and offer you unlimited hot water. Especially as gas. Tankless is expensive to install, maintain, and repair, and if you don't do the annual maintenance you will be replacing it sooner than you should. Which will then be not very expensive as everything is in place. They also are very binary - either they're working or they're not - there is no tepid water middle ground like your tank is offering you. What climate are you in? The inlet temperature of the water determines how much tankless you need for your flow rate. If it's super cold or you need to run 3 showers at once you could wind up with 2 tankless water heaters. Overall it's a luxury item, I would only do it if you gain some other benefit.
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Apr 24, 2021 16:18
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Thanks for the input everyone. Sounds like the tankless probably won’t add much benefit over a traditional one then for the added cost. Ours is probably just at the end of its life. I’ll start looking into a larger capacity one as we have way too many showers/bathrooms.
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Apr 24, 2021 16:29
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slave to my cravings posted:Thanks for the input everyone. Sounds like the tankless probably won’t add much benefit over a traditional one then for the added cost. Ours is probably just at the end of its life. I’ll start looking into a larger capacity one as we have way too many showers/bathrooms. FYI tanked heaters need annual maintenance too. The tank needs to be drained to get sediment out of it and you should be checking the anode for when it needs to be replaced. This makes them last a WHOLE lot longer than most do because almost nobody does the very simple and basic maintenance of draining the tank. And because people don't know about the anode thing I've seen way too many installed in a way that doesn't leave enough clearance on the top to actually remove the stock anode without cutting it (replacements are available in multi-section so you don't need nearly as much clearance).
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Apr 24, 2021 16:33
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Motronic posted:FYI tanked heaters need annual maintenance too. Ain't nobody got time for that. Just replace the tank every 10 years. 
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Apr 24, 2021 16:49
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falz posted:Some may work with pvc exhaust but likely less efficient, the one I looked at years ago required some really expensive duct that was stainless and a few layers Just to note, any decent high efficiency tankless made in the past five years or so will work fine with standard PVC venting and at full efficiency. Lower efficiency models may still require specialized vents but at that point you’re losing any possible energy savings anyway. We personally have a Navien NPE-240 and the initial outlay was definitely higher than a tank but god it’s nice, and the annual maintenance is just backflushing the heat exchanger once a year with some plastic hose, a pump, and a bucket.
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Apr 24, 2021 16:53
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corgski posted:the annual maintenance is just backflushing the heat exchanger once a year with some plastic hose, a pump, and a bucket. It's time for mine so I'll be doing thins in the next several days. It's really not bad at all IF yours was installed properly with the right service valves and ports.
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Apr 24, 2021 17:00
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It's easy to do if installed right sure, but actually doing it is the hard part. We're on a Thanksgiving schedule for many home maintenance tasks. Trying to just have them all fall right around then for now.
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Apr 24, 2021 17:08
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I live in Hurricania and I have noticed that my old-school tank gas water keeps working when the power is out (I just looked and it has no wires?) whereas my parents' tankless gas one doesn't work if there is no power. Even when it's hot as balls and there's no AC, a hot shower is nice. If you're in an area that loses power often it's something to consider. Their new tankless one is entirely external and they did gain a good bit of storage space in the broom closet when they got rid of their big old tank.
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Apr 24, 2021 18:13
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Most modern gas appliances require electricity for their igniters, fans, and other electronics. It's very minimal power usually. I have a Milwaukee M18 inverter that can power my gas water heater during a power outage.
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Apr 24, 2021 18:41
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SpartanIvy posted:Most modern gas appliances require electricity for their igniters, fans, and other electronics. It's very minimal power usually. I have a Milwaukee M18 inverter that can power my gas water heater during a power outage. The gas water heater I have didn't need electricity, it generated the tiny amount it needed via a thermopile and had a standing pilot. Of course we had to retrofit it to power-vent, so now it needs electricity to run a massive fan.
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Apr 24, 2021 18:49
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I had a tankless for 7 years, serviced it once during that time, and had no problems at all other than the water lines freezing, but we live in the south so that was a one off. just removed a 10 year old tank to put a new tankless in my house during a renovation. Tankless heaters take a bit longer to get hot water to your tap, but then it’s hot water as long as you need it. Old tank was in the attic which is the worst place of you have leak problems. Tankless is outside so no issues with venting. Overall I recommend them, but I’ve never dealt with one at the end of its lifespan so YMMV
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Apr 24, 2021 21:22
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I'd love to do a tankless but having someone cut in a power inlet for supply air would be a crazy routing. I have a power vent and beefy enough gas supply thankfully.
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Apr 24, 2021 21:51
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:I live in Hurricania and I have noticed that my old-school tank gas water keeps working when the power is out (I just looked and it has no wires?) whereas my parents' tankless gas one doesn't work if there is no power. Even when it's hot as balls and there's no AC, a hot shower is nice. If you're in an area that loses power often it's something to consider. Their new tankless one is entirely external and they did gain a good bit of storage space in the broom closet when they got rid of their big old tank. That's one nice thing about basic old poo poo with pilot lights - it doesn't know or care if the power's out. Our house came with a lovely old gas range and it's fully operational without power, oven and all, no lighting with a match required. The thing that put the final nail in the coffin on tankless water heaters for us was when the power went out while my husband was in the shower. We were leaning towards another conventional one anyway.
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Apr 24, 2021 22:00
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Both my boiler and hot water heater will need to be replaced soon, so I'm looking into combi-boilers that do both, provide hot water for heating but also act as a tankless water heater. Seems like having a single unit removes some of the disadvantages when comparing tankless vs tanked just for hot water supply.
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Apr 24, 2021 22:17
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Queen Victorian posted:The thing that put the final nail in the coffin on tankless water heaters for us was when the power went out while my husband was in the shower. We were leaning towards another conventional one anyway. This doesn't matter at all to me. (because without power I've got no well pump either  )FISHMANPET posted:Both my boiler and hot water heater will need to be replaced soon, so I'm looking into combi-boilers that do both, provide hot water for heating but also act as a tankless water heater. Seems like having a single unit removes some of the disadvantages when comparing tankless vs tanked just for hot water supply. I have a friend with a Naveen combi and he loves it.
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Apr 24, 2021 23:03
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Yeah losing power is a bummer with a tankless heater, I’ve always had a backup tank somewhere that supplied at least one shower to make up for that...
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Apr 24, 2021 23:06
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Phil Moscowitz posted:Yeah losing power is a bummer with a tankless heater, I’ve always had a backup tank somewhere that supplied at least one shower to make up for that... Nothing has made me shower faster than the lights turning out on me mid-shower. "Ok, I have about 70 seconds of hot water until... YUP IT'S WINTER."
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Apr 24, 2021 23:16
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Phil Moscowitz posted:Yeah losing power is a bummer with a tankless heater, I’ve always had a backup tank somewhere that supplied at least one shower to make up for that...
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Apr 24, 2021 23:32
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I'm an incredibly stupid idiot when it comes to most house stuff so please laugh at me: I have been slowly transition all my outlets and switches to leviton decora. I almost did all the outlets right, but had to have an electrician come because I was befuddled by some extra wires in one of the boxes and I couldn't get the power working in that room. today I replaced two kitchen GFCI outlets with decora ones to match the wall plates. When I took out the old ones, what I should have done is identify the load and line for black and white, since both have four wires. Instead I simply oriented the outlet the same, and then attached the wires in the same position. I turn the power on and the indicator light is green. I think this means everything is good, but it's not. For some incredibly dumb reason, a solid green light after initial power-on means the wiring is wrong (but otherwise, solid green means everything is fine). who the gently caress designed this? anyway after looking online, I found someone with the same problem who had the line/load switched. So I switched the black wires, and tried again. Now it's red, also bad. Finally I realized that oh yeah, I have to switch the white ones as well. I thought the white ones were interchangeable, but I guess not. Many eons later, it's working, but I'm still confused - why didn't simply moving the wires to the corresponding spots on the new outlet, while having the outlet in the same orientation as the old one, work? Do some outlets have the line and load positions flipped?
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Apr 25, 2021 00:01
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actionjackson posted:I'm an incredibly stupid idiot when it comes to most house stuff so please laugh at me: You sound like you are doing this based on luck not empirical testing. What tools do you have and why isn't one of them a non-contact voltage tester? That would tell you instantly which one is line. Also your outlet comes clearly labeled. You should test, then install based on the labels. That's all anyone can tell you because orientation doesn't matter here. Your old outlet had those same labels if it was a gfci.
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Apr 25, 2021 00:19
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yes, as I said I am stupid I do think the green light thing is incredibly bad design though
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Apr 25, 2021 00:26
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actionjackson posted:yes, as I said I am stupid I agree with you there, but bad design is why you must read the instructions. It's why you MUST test with a noncontact tester every time. Every time you approach a circuit just whip it out. Every time you touch your panel. Every time you return to work. It is dangerous to not do that - you're working on hot circuits until you prove otherwise. You might watch electricians do it all day long, they have decades of experience with it. And they still shouldn't be. Some outlets it's a trip indicator, some it's a normal function indicator, some it's apparently multi modal? What's your exact part number here? Read it off the box.
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Apr 25, 2021 00:34
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H110Hawk posted:
yes, the model is Leviton GFCI Outlet 14A-125V GFCI outlet, GFNT1-KW https://www.leviton.com/en/products/gfnt1-kw It doesn't actually explain the lights that well in the instructions, but from my understanding: after first installation, when you turn power on: light should flash red and then go off then hit test, then reset, after which the light turns red quickly and then turns green, and stays green if everything is working normally if after installation you get: constant green - outlet is wired incorrectly constant red - outlet wire issue or other issue (unclear), instructions are to reset. In my case it appears that constant green meant black wires flipped, and constant red meant white wires flipped https://blog.leviton.com/gfci-status-indicator-light Note that this does not say anything about a green immediately after install and power on signifying a problem. I had to go here to find out https://diy.stackexchange.com/questions/122125/new-gfci-outlet-green-light-is-on-but-no-power#133562 quote:The key is that is the Leviton GFCI is lit green from the start it means its wired wrong. Counter-intuitive but true.
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Apr 25, 2021 02:05
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actionjackson posted:Do some outlets have the line and load positions flipped? Well I did basically the same as you, switched everything to decora style. The one complicated thing I encountered was a set of 3 switches where two were 3 way and one was 4 way. Once I figured it out (unwiring everything in all spots, re wiring based on some internet diagram) I realized that my 4 way switch terminals were totally different than the previous one, and precious one from the 80s didn't really have any markers on it.
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Apr 25, 2021 02:46
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ugh that sucks did you do decora inserts for phone and coaxial? is your kitchen finished?
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Apr 25, 2021 03:53
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What is "decora style"? Is that just another way to say paddle switches?
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Apr 25, 2021 04:32
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FCKGW posted:What is "decora style"? Is that just another way to say paddle switches? https://www.leviton.com/en/products/brands/decora very popular with modern interiors, especially with their system where you can do a screwless wall plate with pretty much anything they do make paddle switches (i.e. rockers) but several other big companies make that as well, like lutron
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Apr 25, 2021 04:52
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Kaiser Schnitzel posted:Even when it's hot as balls and there's no AC, a hot shower is nice. lol If I wasn't lazy I would go into the roof and insulate my cold water pipes so I could have an actual cold shower in summer.
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Apr 25, 2021 12:43
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actionjackson posted:ugh that sucks For non power stuff I have a few coax and rj45 jacks, I did decora sized keystone plates where you can snap in the type you need. Also yes kitchen! I never really posted final stuff. Well I have one minor thing left to do out of frame but here's a photo right now. I love that phone and need to move it to a more logical spot. It *does* work fine with an ATA to VOIP adapter so it's a fun thing whenever someone sees it and wants to try it out. Opinions from the few that have been here are moderately polarized on the pendants and lower cabinets colours but I like it so.. also I can't figure out where to put that painting so it's in a weird spot atm.. 
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Apr 25, 2021 13:42
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I love the phone. Part of me nostalgically wants to put an old phone somewhere in my house...but I don’t have a landline. I have this old Socotel one that was in my French grandparents’ home office: 
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Apr 25, 2021 14:32
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You don't need a land line but do need standard telephone wiring in your house. https://falz.net/wiki/Rotary_Phone_POTS_VoIP_Line
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Apr 25, 2021 14:40
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You could get one of these to do a home intercom with old phone handsets. https://www.vikingelectronics.com/products/dle-200b/ I’m considering one between my kitchen and the detached shop. You just pick up one phone and the other(s) start ringing until answered. eddiewalker fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Apr 25, 2021 |
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Apr 25, 2021 14:45
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I found an old one at a thrift store and just hung it on a wall in my office. I ripped out all the rj11 and coax when I moved in, it felt great.
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Apr 25, 2021 14:46
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