New England B.S. Thread

I’m very lucky in that I effectively have three options now to heat my house in an emergency. I’ve got basic forced hot air, a Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat ducted and ductless hybrid system and then a Jotul wood stove.

My stove is fine to use, although I haven’t used since my kids were born. When I had it reinstalled after it was disconnected for the tiling work I had done the stove guy said the stove was too close to the wall / my tile wall wasn't fire rated. I'm sure he's right, but that being said, I used it at least two dozen times over the years and I never felt like the wall behind the stove was even hot enough you couldn't touch it. I would only use the stove in an emergency at this point and I have largely given away my wood collection.

My oil system is a bit of a mess, but that's more my house than the heating system. I don't have any forced hot air ducts in my master bedroom and my family windows are exceedingly drafty, so that room is usually cold. The only other drawback is my hot water is oil fired, so I would need oil for that. I do have a backup generator with more than enough oomph to run both of those systems if I lost power.

My mini-split gets the house warm, but the electricity costs are exorbitant when the temperature dips below 40°F. It's integrated into my furnace system such that below 40°F the furnace runs as well and then below 30°F only the furnace runs. The biggest issue with that is the location of the sensor that runs the system. Because my house is only one zone only one sensor can trigger the changeover. The install contractor used the wall mounted mini-split sensor as the trigger, but that's conveniently located in the coldest part of the house, my family room. So on a cold day the oil heat will kick on and get that sensor location up to whatever we set it to (say 68°F) but then the rest of the house ends up at 74°F because of the differential. So do we freeze in that room to keep the costs down? I don't know. I know we can de-integrate it temporarily and run just the oil heat when it gets cold, but it's supposed to be a seamless system. I do run the electric heat before bed to get some heat into our master so it's not 60°F getting ready for bed.

 

Compare that to the 500+ a tankful in 2008. (Lasted the whole year). I still think I’m lucky to have natural gas. Our gas bill in the winter is around 120.00. Under 30. When we shut off the heat. We try not to put it on til after thanksgiving. But the folks that have oil are gonna feel not as lucky

 

This is kinda cool. Wish it would give me month ranges, or a way to pick out seasons instead of years. 22 is already better. Well probably be at zero in October.

I think some of those tiny bits on crossovers is me turning everything on to make sure it's all good, not necessarily running it for the HVAC.

 

Natural gas is really only available in the densely populated areas here. I think the closest gas line is about 3 miles from me.

 

Ah yes, add a layer of inefficiency by burning the NG to create electricity, THEN turn that into heat!

 

What an awful game yesterday from the Patriots!

 

The scary part is their are thoughts about exhaust fumes that are downright inaccurate

 

Funny that that is actually how a NG power plant works. They burn fuel to create electricity, the exhaust super heats water to make steam to power a steam turbine (if the plant has one, could just be a NG plant as well), which the steam turbine by itself creates more electricity than two NG ones. Then the steam goes down the line for building heat, and other things, and the end for heating water for hot water in the building

 

Whats this software your using? Looks really good to keep a keen eye on everything?

 

Honeywell. It's a Honeywell t stat. Our nest failed miserably even with a c wire. This app (Honeywells) has taken some time. Run times is relatively new. But I've always been able to control remotely and set vacation etc. For the cost of the t stat vs a non "smart" one, it was worth it. Only about another 20$ and I can set vacation blocks, control it a loooot easier for schedules, etc.

 

Which NEST and what failed? I have three coming from the MassSave program.

 

It was like 5 years ago. The first one fried a board so we ran a c wire. The second one after about a month just stopped sending the call for heat. It said it was but multimeter determined that was a lie.

 

It's already under fire, but quietly. A lot of new town/city funded buildings are all electric (and sometimes the grid is not able to handle that sort of load).

 

Good to know. I’m planning to run C Wires to the two on the main floor since the basement is all exposed right now so hoping I have no major issues with a few Nest E thermostats

 

I’m hoping the new stove we got will cut down on oil usage. I won’t have to babysit it like the old one and constantly feed it. Hopefully when I get up at 0400 it will be burning enough to revive and keep it going till around noon . That’s my plan anyway.

 

Anybody recommend a good heat activated fan for the stove?

 

what's up bitchezzz, @mach1man001 was over the other day and reminded me i need to check in more often. this rain is bananas

 

Heading into work. The horror. The horror

 

Do any of you know what the deal is with Toyota fuel pumps and a class action lawsuit? I just got a letter about it. I assume it’s for our 4Runner not the Tacoma.

 

C wire is worth it. It's easy too, usually. Was for me.

Don't know about the "E". To me they're all kinda the same. We only have one zone for heat and AC though so it's just one t stat for the whole house. My in laws have two zones and two nests t stats.

Tacoma pre 2020 had some fuel pump issues. I think it was only turd gens. Probably the 4runner.