Posted: 11/17/2011 7:25:30 AM EDT
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The boiler is up and running. It got the entire house (including unheated areas) up to temp in an hour or so. The crawlspace is still warming up, but that will take a night I think. Thanks to Alaska's Best Heating and Plumbing. Those guys did great freaking work. We actually have a mechanical room now. So, they ended up installing a System 2000 EK-1 Boiler system, new hot water tank (explained in a minute) and all new copper and exhaust. Hell, as our heating assistance packet is still being processed, they even threw in 20 gallons of heating fuel into our tank. Supposedly, if we run the system decently, we should be able to run through spring on the fuel we have. (I am going to let it run on factory settings and temps for the week and then check our fuel situation again) We have approx 16" in a 200gal above ground tank. As for the boiler, it doubles as a water heater. As the boiler runs, it heats water as a secondary system. Its pretty spiffy really. I'm looking forward to having my first hot shower in 2 1/2 days. Now I just have to figure out how to afford heating fuel. Upside is the wife is job hunting and dropping applications now that we have heat that we do not have to babysit. 
UPDATE: I spent $40 on reflectix (the mylar treated bubble wrap) and hit the major heat loss areas today after work (and after spending 3 hours in -43f working on the truck) and the house already feels warmer. I am going to chalk that up as a win for now. We'll see how my pipes are doing in the am. I can't keep up with the heat loss on the house. I stoked the wood stove 4 hours ago (3:30am) and *all* of my pipes are frozen that I can tell. Rachael is out of town for another few days, then we are going to have a serious talk about getting an apartment in North Pole. I cannot afford to heat this house, etc. Anyone in the fairbanks have a spare large propane heater to help me thaw the pipes? Just need to do it long enough to figure out how to drain the half assed water system. I cant have pipes bursting while I'm at work. Fuck my life. Edit: Buddy heater acquired. Once the house thaws, I am probably going to blow out the water system and shut it down for the winter. Downloaded interior weatherization application for when rachael gets back. |
after my initial freak out (pipes froze yesterday too) I think I am getting a handle on this. Kitchen and utility room are up to 50 bathroom is almost 40. Not bad for it being 33 in here this am.
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Damn
I was bitching b/c the tile at my front door was frosting up a little (bad sweep on the door). Anybody got a suggestion for garage door weatherstripping? I've got the crappy white vinyl on the sides right now and it gets cold and doesn't seal for crap. I'm looking to get the black brush looking kind but I can't find it anywhere. Tired of my heated garage being cold! |
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Damn I was bitching b/c the tile at my front door was frosting up a little (bad sweep on the door). Anybody got a suggestion for garage door weatherstripping? I've got the crappy white vinyl on the sides right now and it gets cold and doesn't seal for crap. I'm looking to get the black brush looking kind but I can't find it anywhere. Tired of my heated garage being cold! +1 See daylight around half my door... garage/shop furnace running quite a bit and I have it turned down to 50º. Hopefully Overhead Door brings down some weatherstripping when they install the door opener :- / |
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Quoted: Open cabinets and if you can run some water slowly.I can't keep up with the heat loss on the house. I stoked the wood stove 4 hours ago (3:30am) and *all* of my pipes are frozen that I can tell. Rachael is out of town for another few days, then we are going to have a serious talk about getting an apartment in North Pole. I cannot afford to heat this house, etc. Anyone in the fairbanks have a spare large propane heater to help me thaw the pipes? Just need to do it long enough to figure out how to drain the half assed water system. I cant have pipes bursting while I'm at work. Fuck my life. Edit: Buddy heater acquired. Once the house thaws, I am probably going to blow out the water system and shut it down for the winter. Downloaded interior weatherization application for when rachael gets back. Might have to wrap them and put some heat tracer wire on to keep the pipes warm. |
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Open cabinets and if you can run some water slowly.
I can't keep up with the heat loss on the house. I stoked the wood stove 4 hours ago (3:30am) and *all* of my pipes are frozen that I can tell. Rachael is out of town for another few days, then we are going to have a serious talk about getting an apartment in North Pole. I cannot afford to heat this house, etc. Anyone in the fairbanks have a spare large propane heater to help me thaw the pipes? Just need to do it long enough to figure out how to drain the half assed water system. I cant have pipes bursting while I'm at work. Fuck my life. Edit: Buddy heater acquired. Once the house thaws, I am probably going to blow out the water system and shut it down for the winter. Downloaded interior weatherization application for when rachael gets back. Might have to wrap them and put some heat tracer wire on to keep the pipes warm. Cabinets are open and getting heat. Back bathroom is still frozen solid, but I am assuming that toilet/sink is probably screwed and will defrost/fix it as time/funds allow over the winter. |
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Damn I was bitching b/c the tile at my front door was frosting up a little (bad sweep on the door). Anybody got a suggestion for garage door weatherstripping? I've got the crappy white vinyl on the sides right now and it gets cold and doesn't seal for crap. I'm looking to get the black brush looking kind but I can't find it anywhere. Tired of my heated garage being cold! Friend of mine bought about 20 feet of three inch wide rubber and screwed it to the bottom edge of the door. Seems to work for him. For mine, I use a rolled up towel. |
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Open cabinets and if you can run some water slowly.
I can't keep up with the heat loss on the house. I stoked the wood stove 4 hours ago (3:30am) and *all* of my pipes are frozen that I can tell. Rachael is out of town for another few days, then we are going to have a serious talk about getting an apartment in North Pole. I cannot afford to heat this house, etc. Anyone in the fairbanks have a spare large propane heater to help me thaw the pipes? Just need to do it long enough to figure out how to drain the half assed water system. I cant have pipes bursting while I'm at work. Fuck my life. Edit: Buddy heater acquired. Once the house thaws, I am probably going to blow out the water system and shut it down for the winter. Downloaded interior weatherization application for when rachael gets back. Might have to wrap them and put some heat tracer wire on to keep the pipes warm. Cabinets are open and getting heat. Back bathroom is still frozen solid, but I am assuming that toilet/sink is probably screwed and will defrost/fix it as time/funds allow over the winter. If they're porcelain don't be suprised if they crack/shatter. Idjiot using my little cottage out back let it freeze and didn't let me know, toilet grenaded at 55 below. |
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Ugh, was just going to message to ask how the pipe situation was when I saw this. I don't have a propane heater, but I might still have a few small electric ones from when the furnace went out some years ago. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Open cabinets and if you can run some water slowly.
I can't keep up with the heat loss on the house. I stoked the wood stove 4 hours ago (3:30am) and *all* of my pipes are frozen that I can tell. Rachael is out of town for another few days, then we are going to have a serious talk about getting an apartment in North Pole. I cannot afford to heat this house, etc. Anyone in the fairbanks have a spare large propane heater to help me thaw the pipes? Just need to do it long enough to figure out how to drain the half assed water system. I cant have pipes bursting while I'm at work. Fuck my life. Edit: Buddy heater acquired. Once the house thaws, I am probably going to blow out the water system and shut it down for the winter. Downloaded interior weatherization application for when rachael gets back. Might have to wrap them and put some heat tracer wire on to keep the pipes warm. Cabinets are open and getting heat. Back bathroom is still frozen solid, but I am assuming that toilet/sink is probably screwed and will defrost/fix it as time/funds allow over the winter. If they're porcelain don't be suprised if they crack/shatter. Idjiot using my little cottage out back let it freeze and didn't let me know, toilet grenaded at 55 below. I'm planning on slowly thawing it before it turns solid and does that lol. Water is cut off and I have been pouring salt into it to help melt the ice. Soon as it drains or gets enough liquid to drain, its getting emptied. I cant wait for interior weatherization to get here after thanksgiving and get a new boiler put in. That would solve a ton of problems. Not to mention my insane ass raping gvea bill for this month. |
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Damn I was bitching b/c the tile at my front door was frosting up a little (bad sweep on the door). Anybody got a suggestion for garage door weatherstripping? I've got the crappy white vinyl on the sides right now and it gets cold and doesn't seal for crap. I'm looking to get the black brush looking kind but I can't find it anywhere. Tired of my heated garage being cold! Friend of mine bought about 20 feet of three inch wide rubber and screwed it to the bottom edge of the door. Seems to work for him. For mine, I use a rolled up towel. Bottom edge is good, the sides are the leaky part. |
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Damn I was bitching b/c the tile at my front door was frosting up a little (bad sweep on the door). Anybody got a suggestion for garage door weatherstripping? I've got the crappy white vinyl on the sides right now and it gets cold and doesn't seal for crap. I'm looking to get the black brush looking kind but I can't find it anywhere. Tired of my heated garage being cold! Friend of mine bought about 20 feet of three inch wide rubber and screwed it to the bottom edge of the door. Seems to work for him. For mine, I use a rolled up towel. Bottom edge is good, the sides are the leaky part. layer up on the weather stripping I was getting cold air coming from the unheated garage into my house and wound up pulling the molding on the garage door side and found a 1/2 -3/4" gap between the door frame and wall that never got insulated 
My garage door I put the garage door seal around the outside and made it as tight as I could last summer and it shrunk in the cold so it isn't doing a damn thing now. |
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bummer man, if you are using propane inside be careful of CO poisoning. also you can do the shrink wrap over your windows thing, they sell kits at HD and fred meyer and could help some. There are only 2 windows in the area of the house that is heated currently. I'm planning on doing the upstairs (master bedroom) this upcoming week. (I go back to work tomorrow) I did realized that I can reflectix off the boiler room from the leaky backroom (where the frozen bathroom is) and seal the back room off from the house to save some heat. My electric bill is going to be insane as the boiler room heater has been running constantly trying to keep it above freezing in there 
God I hate this house. Thankfully Interior Weather should be coming out within 2 weeks or so to work on the heating system. I've burned 2 wheelbarrows full of firewood yesterday alone. I've got to bring in a ton of wood for this weekend :( |
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if oyu slow heat loss out of the rooms that are not heated less draw from the heated areas, The unheated rooms are on the other side of an insulated wall. After I stop the major heat loss, I am planning on working on that. Btw, this spring, anyone want to make a few bucks helping me with drywall? N95 respirators will be needed though. (MIL did a crappy job patching the sheet metal roof and the sheet rock got soaked and grew black mold in the (unheated currently) living room.) So, I'm going to be cutting that section out, fixing the roof and insulation, then putting a new one in. Back on topic though, operation reflectix is a go. Will be picking up the supplies tonight and doing it in the am with some help from friends. One step in the right direction. Oh, and the pipes are doing fantastic. Had my first hot shower in 3 days today. No breaks in those lines 
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You buy the food/beer and my girl and I will help you with the drywall in spring. She ran her dads drywall business in CA for a few years during college. You've got a deal 
Big thing is that I'll have to figure out where exactly the roof was leaking or wether it was because the flange around the wood stove was half ripped off and leaky. God this house needs a lot of work. |
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What is interior weatherization application? If you make below a set income (I believe 25k which I am under half that by a bit) the state takes out a loan against your house, installs new appliances, windows, boiler/wood stove, etc to make it energy efficient and livable. In the fairbanks area, interior weatherization is the non profit that does it. They contact out to altrol, etc for the specific work as they just do insulation and windows I believe. A friend of mine is one of their foreman. Apparently my living conditions would get us put on the top of the list for needing help. Truthfully this is how I figured a lot of folks lived, but I am well below the norm in terms of housing apparently. Hell, starting 2 months ago was the first time I wasn't sleeping on the floor in 6 years. Having a mattress thrown on the floor is infinitely nicer.
That said, I am always applying for jobs around town, trying to increase my net value and income. If I got a 50k a year job, honestly, I wouldnt have the slightest clue on what to use the money on. Probably bank it all or something. |
| How are you set for fire wood? If you can locate a source of trees I am willing to help saw them down and split them, for at least a bit of wood. Granted standing green spruce and birch are inefficient firewood but will do in a pinch. I would be willing to change a couple hours labor for a semi heated couch vs sleeping in my car when I am up there for a couple days in early Jan/late Dec. |
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How are you set for fire wood? If you can locate a source of trees I am willing to help saw them down and split them, for at least a bit of wood. Granted standing green spruce and birch are inefficient firewood but will do in a pinch. I would be willing to change a couple hours labor for a semi heated couch vs sleeping in my car when I am up there for a couple days in early Jan/late Dec. Well, the boiler should be up and running shortly. They are supposed to be calling to let us know when they are coming in. The entire utility room is getting ripped out (literally cutting out the current boiler) and having a new super efficient unit put in. IF the temps hold out, we have a month ish of wood, so that should do us. Worst case, I have a shed full of scrap 2x4 lumber from construction projects that will burn nicely. If you need a place to crash when you come up, I can check with the wife. Personally, I have no problem with it so long as we have the living room/extra bedrooms heated by then. All depends on zone valve condition, etc. |
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We have almost the same setup but with a Burnham boiler. You may find that the heat from the boiler gets on your nerves in the summer. Been wanting to get a small electric water heater one day and just switch the boiler off in the summers Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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I just had to poke the thermostat they put in the crawlspace with a stick to turn it off. (pushed the lever all the way left till it clicked) The boiler kept coming on every 10-15 minutes and running for the same. Don't need heat in the crawlspace at the moment.
That said, this boiler is nice. So far the house is holding at 60f or so. We are going to see how it does tonight, then start supplementing with firewood to raise the temp in here. It will be interesting in the summer though. The hot water makes you feel like a lobster
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Quoted: We have almost the same setup but with a Burnham boiler. You may find that the heat from the boiler gets on your nerves in the summer. Been wanting to get a small electric water heater one day and just switch the boiler off in the summers Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile We isolate the boiler from the house in the summer and leave the hot water circuit on. The dummies that worked on the house before us moving in did not put zone valves in so all it is a 1 big circuit.  |