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Sparks let you know it has power
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Nov 20, 2022 23:36
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Lol it's gotten noticeably worse the past few weeks but I've had the power off at the breaker once it started sparking and I noticed the burnt wiring. It's in the pool pump enclosure area so away from the house but should've taken care of it earlier before it got to this point.
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Nov 20, 2022 23:44
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cr0y posted:Not sure if this is the right thread or not but I figure someone probably knows. I've been looking into this myself, got a quote from the one place that responded to me of ~$1400. The units themselves being $2-300. I just ordered a honeywell HE360, looking at the instructions and watching some youtubes the install doesn't look too bad. Going to try and do it on Friday and can report back how bad it is.
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Nov 21, 2022 04:41
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brugroffil posted:I installed an aprilaire 600 on my forced air natural gas furnace last winter. It was probably 3 hours all total. I did the plumbing first one day and the duct and electrical work a second. A pro would take half the time, maybe. I have one that looks like they just swapped the label on this one, and it works wonderfully. I had a tech install it about a year ago, they were done in about 1.5 hours and my total cost was $750, including throwing out the saddle valve that came with the unit and putting in a proper valve  . At that price it wasn't worth it to do it myself personally.Motronic posted:Evaporative (they are poo poo) What's the issue with the evaporative ones? Ours will keep the humidity above the point where we get condensation, so it seems to be able to do more than we need (and I've managed the setpoint so that I'm not getting condensation). Wondering what I need to be concerned with / watch for.
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Nov 21, 2022 14:56
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TrueChaos posted:What's the issue with the evaporative ones? Ours will keep the humidity above the point where we get condensation, so it seems to be able to do more than we need (and I've managed the setpoint so that I'm not getting condensation). Wondering what I need to be concerned with / watch for. Yours is only a year old so you'll have to see how it goes. I've seen nothing but leaks and clogs on every one I've had the displeasure of being around. Including the one that used to be on the heater for this house which someone removed - surely because it was broken. Calcification is a huge issue and get worse the harder your water happens to be.
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Nov 21, 2022 15:01
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Access is excellent with ours and I'm comfortable dealing with calcification / buildup on the solenoid, but good to know! Our water is quite hard but effectively managed with a softener, so we'll see how it goes. We looked into the steam ones but the cost difference was quite significant.
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Nov 21, 2022 15:26
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The only interactions I've had with evaporative units is ripping dead ones off of the plenum so I can treat the rust in the plenum.
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Nov 21, 2022 15:27
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PainterofCrap posted:The only interactions I've had with evaporative units is ripping dead ones off of the plenum so I can treat the rust in the plenum. Yeah, exactly this. 99% of dead steam units just stop working and flash an error code. 99% of evaporative units over a few years old that I've seen are leaking at least a little bit, or if the float gets stuck a lot. The reason evaporative units exist is cost. They are cheaper to make and cheaper to install.
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Nov 21, 2022 16:01
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In a set of luxury condos I was working on the plumber agreed fully with the above. Steam required annual maintenance and evap was twice yearly that usually gets skipped and they fail. Not worth the savings, the install cost is about the same.
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Nov 21, 2022 17:26
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StormDrain posted:Not worth the savings, the install cost is about the same. Install cost differences depends on power primarily. If you have easy access to a dedicated 240v run no problem. If it's a small house you don't need 240v so also no problem. But most of these units need to be wired with 20+ amp 240 for anything over ....lets just say 2000 sq ft and more than a few decades old in general or you're just not going to be able to generate sufficient steam per hour to satisfy. You barely need any amperage for the evaporative units.
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Nov 21, 2022 17:37
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Motronic posted:Install cost differences depends on power primarily. If you have easy access to a dedicated 240v run no problem. If it's a small house you don't need 240v so also no problem. But most of these units need to be wired with 20+ amp 240 for anything over ....lets just say 2000 sq ft and more than a few decades old in general or you're just not going to be able to generate sufficient steam per hour to satisfy. Oh that's a great point. I was probably only discussing it with the plumber at that point and didn't get quotes for power.
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Nov 21, 2022 17:43
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The fun of home ownership: Roof repair will be 500 for a patch, some reflashing and caulking. Go ahead and repair the interior stain. Oh look, the can that the PO had labeled as ceiling paint is a different paint color! And the ceiling is 17ft up
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Nov 21, 2022 17:50
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I love my steam humidifier. Installed it last year at the start of winter. It was an excellent upgrade that's set and forget with an Ecobee with frost control mode. It makes the house more comfortable, protects the woodwork, and humidity makes a given temp feel warmer. However, it straight up uses $100+ of power a month at new rates. Just a heads up. It's like running an AC through the winter.
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Nov 21, 2022 19:24
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Any thoughts on installing electric baseboard heaters with thermostats in our upstairs offices and small hallway? We've been using electric oil-filled radiators to warm the offices until the heat starts rising through the day, but it'd really be nice to have a programmable thermostat so we can dial in more precise settings and also not have the hallway be freezing as gently caress and suck all the heat out the second we crack the door to let the cat come and go. I haven't dug too deeply into costs but given that our other option is to just crank up the central heating, I'd imagine it would probably be more cost-effective to get the heaters+thermostats installed. It's two rooms, around 100sqft each, and the hallway is probably only around 20sqft between them.
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Nov 21, 2022 20:55
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The equipment is cheap and easy to install. This all comes down to power. How hard is it going to be to get a new 240v run up from your panel and do you have the space and excess capacity for that?
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Nov 21, 2022 20:57
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Got the first quote for the plumbing work I need done while I have my wall completely torn open, adding an outside faucet. Another benefit of where the water will run from is that I am getting rid of a saddle tap for the fridge line. The threads on the current water box faucet are broken, so instead of doing it right they did the halfway solution. Then run all of that to the corner where the brick is temporarily being ripped out for the outside faucet. Specified copper for all the important bits as well as an inside shutoff for the freeze proof valve. I should start a thread for all of this, least of all to keep track of all the project management bullshit lol.
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Nov 21, 2022 23:45
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Motronic posted:The equipment is cheap and easy to install. This all comes down to power. How hard is it going to be to get a new 240v run up from your panel and do you have the space and excess capacity for that? Heck, I thought it was just something you run through an existing box near an outlet. Is it just one 240v line from the panel to the upstairs and have the baseboards split off from that as their own circut?
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Nov 22, 2022 01:56
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MJP posted:Heck, I thought it was just something you run through an existing box near an outlet. Is it just one 240v line from the panel to the upstairs and have the baseboards split off from that as their own circut? No, it's not that at all. They are high draw appliances. You don't just "split" something off to them. In fact depending on how much heat you need it might be multiple runs but hat hardly matters because the first one is the expensive one. Your existing wiring in this location, assuming regular 120v in a place old enough to need what you're talking about, can barely boil a pint of water inside of 5 minutes without tripping a breaker. It's not gonna heat a few hundred square feet. There's a really good reason why your electric space heaters are so anemic. It's because of exactly this.
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Nov 22, 2022 02:01
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I just installed a Honeywell HE360 yesterday. Had power close enough by, drain is right in front of the furnace for the condensate drain and the water softener discharge, hot water source about 10' across the room. Took a couple hours, including flushing my water heater at the same time since I was already doing that to install my quarter turn valve. Biggest pain in the rear end was cutting the holes in the ductwork, but I'm just no good at it. Traced my lines, and got them cut close enough that everything lines up good enough. I don't know how the analog humidistat is supposed to be set, but 50 on the dial has us at about 28% humidity. I'm just slowly bumping it up until we hit ~35%.
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Nov 22, 2022 02:06
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Had my shower rudely interrupted by screams of "Leak" from the basement below. Sigh, luckily the basement is unfinished, no ceiling, floor drain directly below the shower. Looks like the leak is a failed drain gasket? Which is weird because I installed the shower less than three years ago. Will report back with pics once I have more time to assess. Letting it dry out over night.
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Nov 22, 2022 02:20
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I got my permit for this bath remodel approved. A couple interesting notes, they require the smoke alarms to be updated to contemporary code. Which I already have nearly done so that's nice. I have one in each bedroom, one in my office, and a hallway all interlinked. I'm missing one on the first floor though so I will plan on adding it. They also did require a bath fan despite having a window which I half expected. I am fine with this of course, I'm just annoyed that I'll have to penetrate the roof. Any suggestions on the make and model? I was going to get a Panasonic with a humidity sensor. It's a 30sf space and quiet is the main goal. They also listed the smoke detector and fire alarm stuff twice. Which is weird, seems sloppy on a standardized note sheet. I realized that the code for toilet clearance is a little more forgiving than I thought. I will need to rotate it for proper front clearance, however it looks like I can easily fit it off center which is more convenient for my window operation and general floor space for moving around and operating the door. My new toilet also seems to need a full 1800w so it looks like I'll be pulling two new circuits instead of the one, although it also opens me up for combining both bathrooms onto the new bathroom circuit instead, which helps reduce the load on that existing circuit. That existing feeds an outside outlet and the garage outlet, so I couldn't smoke meat when m wife dried her hair.
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Nov 22, 2022 07:25
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Do you get your sewer scoped regularly? Plumbing businesses claim once a year, but I've never heard of anyone actually following it. Is it recommended or just a way for them to sell services?
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Nov 22, 2022 07:59
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StormDrain posted:My new toilet also seems to need a full 1800w What kind of toilet is this thing, lol
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Nov 22, 2022 13:36
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Johnny Truant posted:What kind of toilet is this thing, lol Oh come on, we all know what it is....
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Nov 22, 2022 14:45
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Guess who's appliance store actually had 4 Bosch dishwashers on hand when we went to look.  The salesman jokingly offered to sell us 2 so we could resell one at double price to recoup the cost.
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Nov 22, 2022 14:52
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   For those who were on the edge of their seats in suspense about a leaky chimney. Had a guy come and look and he says the flue is in great shape, the chimney is in great shape as well. He thinks its an issue with the slope of the house or gutters near that area of the house. For some reason that one corner of the basement wasnt tiled to drain to the sump pump. My guess is because its the lowest spot of the house and the sump is up slope from it. I dont know.... Will just try and throw money at it this spring or summer I guess.
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Nov 22, 2022 15:20
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Comfortador posted:Oh come on, we all know what it is.... Candelabras are p cool not gonna lie
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Nov 22, 2022 15:24
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Vim Fuego posted:Do you get your sewer scoped regularly? Plumbing businesses claim once a year, but I've never heard of anyone actually following it. Is it recommended or just a way for them to sell services? What? No. That's not a thing at all. You don't even need to pump septic tanks (properly sized ones) more than every 3 years.
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Nov 22, 2022 15:28
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aaa DP. Here, have a random claim photo:  Rando vehicle hit a fire hydrant hard enough to punt it 30-feet into my insured's business office. Through a thick wire-mesh screen & window. Keep in mind that a hydrant weighs about 400-lbs. PainterofCrap fucked around with this message at 15:43 on Nov 22, 2022 |
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Nov 22, 2022 15:33
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Vim Fuego posted:Do you get your sewer scoped regularly? Plumbing businesses claim once a year, but I've never heard of anyone actually following it. Is it recommended or just a way for them to sell services? The latter. I had to have the line at my Mom's house scoped & augured in order to sell it (borough requirement). The house was built in 1950 and nothing had ever been done to it. It was fine, although it has no outside clean-out. BaseballPCHiker posted:
See the flashing at the rear of the chimney structure under the shingles. See the visible rust through the paint? The flashing is is heavily rusted underneath. I suspect that that is your leak point. You could try sealing it with cold patch for the short term, but the proper solution is to pull off the shingles above the flashing & a bit around the side, and at least re-flash the back. The rest of it does, indeed, appear fit.
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Nov 22, 2022 15:38
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Vim Fuego posted:Do you get your sewer scoped regularly? Plumbing businesses claim once a year, but I've never heard of anyone actually following it. Is it recommended or just a way for them to sell services? Depends on what the sewer line is made of and what your root intrusion situation is like. I was told I should have mine cleaned out yearly when I bought the place. From the video inspection it didn't seem like the PO had done it in about 30 years, so I thought the plumber was upselling me. I made it two years before needing an emergency roto-rooter visit on a Sunday. I'll be doing it yearly now. Edit: I probably should also be doing the root killer down the drain stuff. Sirotan fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Nov 22, 2022 |
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Nov 22, 2022 15:41
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PainterofCrap posted:See the flashing at the rear of the chimney structure under the shingles. See the visible rust through the paint? The flashing is is heavily rusted underneath. I suspect that that is your leak point. I do see it now that you've pointed it out! Looks like a project for this spring or summer. The roof is only about 5 years old so I hate to start pulling off shingles, but oh well I guess. Could I cheap out with a can of Flex Seal to buy me like 5 years?
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Nov 22, 2022 15:44
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Get roofing tar (do NOT get silvercoat, that's for cooling only, does not seal) , and scrub the area clean with a stiff bristle brush first. Apply it evenly, but sparingly, maintaining a smooth finish. It'll ruin the last run of shingles for the next guy, but should buy a few years. Flexcoat is thinned-out rubberized undercoating, Unless you have a can of screen-boat sealant lying around, use undercoating, at least three passes. If using Flex-Seal: at least six
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Nov 22, 2022 15:47
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Oh hey humidifier chat, i was coming to askKS posted:I love my steam humidifier. Installed it last year at the start of winter. It was an excellent upgrade that's set and forget with an Ecobee with frost control mode. It makes the house more comfortable, protects the woodwork, and humidity makes a given temp feel warmer. Care to share how much it cost? I was quoted $2800 for a aprillare 800 steam which seamed outrageous at first but the more i look is maybe high side of expected? Its a small area amd there is basically one other hvac company i can call, gonna do that later today... Any idea what your electricity use on it is a month? Whats the maintenance on these things just replace a filter seasonally? We've all been dying this winter from sinus problems and dry air and I have never realized this was a common problem till getting on a bunch of medicine did jack poo poo and i looked elsewhere, I guess this is just a particularly dry season. For those of you with them, is it worth the cost? Seems like refilling a portable one is gonna get old real fast if im doing it all winter
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Nov 22, 2022 19:55
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TerminalSaint posted:Guess who's appliance store actually had 4 Bosch dishwashers on hand when we went to look.
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Nov 22, 2022 20:35
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I don't think they were joking.
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Nov 22, 2022 20:58
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Thread appropriate, look what just showed up today:
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Nov 22, 2022 21:21
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Mr. Crow posted:Care to share how much it cost? I had it bundled up with an ERV and a bunch of ductwork so hard to say, but if that includes electrical and plumbing, $2800 is not out of line. The unit itself is $900. I guess I'd ask about the controls. Does it include replacing your thermostat with something that can control it? Mine's carrier branded but it's exactly the same unit and it's fantastic. Well worth the cost (both initial and power). Mr. Crow posted:Whats the maintenance on these things just replace a filter seasonally? $100 canister that needs replacing every year or so depending on water hardness. $25 electrode every few years. KS fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Nov 22, 2022 |
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Nov 22, 2022 23:02
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KS posted:Does it include replacing your thermostat with something that can control it? It comes with a humidistat. There is no reason to have thermostat control or to have the stat for this thing anywhere other than right by the unit, as it's metering humidity in the return plenum, not somewhere in your living space. There are alternate ways to set this up, but I'm not sure they're relevant to residential service. This is a set it and forget it type of device.
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Nov 22, 2022 23:11
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Ah, just looked at the manual and I see it. That works. I have three zones, so it had to be tied into damper controls. The Ecobees have the same feature that varies the humidity setpoint with OAT.
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Nov 22, 2022 23:17
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