does anyone have vintage pre-1987 central air condtioners, forced-air gas furnaces, and thermostats?

[abcomatic]

1897 draft control

I still have the 1897 draft control for the original furnace in my house. It must have been a Round Oak made in Michigan because that is what the plate says. Big plate with places for the chains to fit. One side says 'draft' and the other side says 'check'. The holes are still in the floor where the chains would have gone. I wonder what those terms mean? Gary

 

[petek]

Well I went ahead to install the new digital roundie seeing as I'd bought it a few months back only to find out after istalling it and seeing nothing, then rereading the package that it won't work on my two wire standing pilot system..GRRRRRRRRRRR and GRRRRRR again. My fault for not reading the back of the package thoroughly enough. Anyways all is well and I put the oldie back on, after blowing about 1 pound worth of dust of the mercury vial lol. I re levelled it and it's fine. I'm going to take the roundie over to moms house. Last year I put her in a new Honeywell, but a square shaped one with up/down buttons and buttons for switching between her a/c and heat and a button for fan on/off. It's done nothing but confuse her since I put it in. I even had to tape over the fan on/off button because she was always getting them confused. This digital roundie will be much easier for her to use since she's always said she liked those kind better anyways.

 

[danemodsandy]

Honeywell's "Round"

That thermostat is called "The Round", and was designed by no less than Henry Dreyfuss. It's one hell of a thermostat; so long as it's level and free of dust, it will operate essentially forever. One of the most unique things about The Round when it was designed was that it was completely self-explanatory; no one had to read an instruction manual to be able to use it. Many thermostats are like that today (well, non-programmable ones, anyway), but Dreyfuss did it first. It was also designed expressly not to take a chunk out of anyone who bumped into it in a narrow and/or dark hallway.

 

[fonografmaniac]

vintage 80+ high efficiency furnace

here a rheem furnace that was installed in 1986 at my dads house. 1986 is also the year i was born so this is my childhood furnace. during the time my parents were still together 'til 1993, but anyway back to this furnace. itz a spark to pilot ignition, inducted draft blower and itz a downflow with a bryant central ac and a-coil that was installed in 1999. my childhood central ac was a 1970 ge unit that came with the house. i love the sound of it and it sound like those heavy duty portable fans. too bad it went i missed that unit and that sound. also this furnace has a humidifier on it, but itz disconnected from the water supply.

 

[cammurray22]

Floor Furnaces

You should take a look at the pre-1987 floor furnaces. I had one in my mom's house. The brand name was Ward. They get extremely hot if you put it on 80, so be careful!

Chris

 

[bundtboy]

1968 Central A/C

I've got an original unit from 1968 still working in my one trailer trailer park next door. It's the original one that came with the mobile home when it was new, and has only had to be serviced once, under warranty, for it's evaporator fan motor. I keep it running by oiling the condensor and evaporator fan motors, cleaning the coils, and making sure the drain is free running yearly. It's an amazing unit, and I think it's the oldest central A/C I've ever known.

B

 

[sudsmaster]

Old General Controls Thermostats

Still work, if you don't mind manually turning them on and off.

 

[fonografmaniac]

bundtboy, is the unit a split system or a package unit and what brand it is? btw, on ebay i saw a ge central air conditioner ad from 1967 and it was the same exact ge ac my dads used to have, but his is from 1970.

 

[bundtboy]

it's in 2 pieces

The condenser unit is connected only by freon lines and electrical lines, and sits on cinder blocks seperate from the evaporator unit, which is hung underneath the mobile home from steel supports.

I'm not sure what brand it is, as my grandfather painted it in the early 70's, and I think he painted right over the name, but i'll try to check it out during the light of day tomorrow, and possibly snap a photo of it.

Do I win the oldest central AC prize?

Hurray!

Bob

 

[cuffs054]

My M-I-L had a terrific ARKLA SERVEL water cooled ac/heat unit for many years in ATL. When she got it (1957) Atlanta Gas had a program that included twice annual service as long as she kept the house. Toward the end they had trouble finding service people who knew anything about gas absorption units and residential cooling towers. It worked perfectly until she sold house in the late 90's. I used to love watching the cooling tower work. The whole unit was very quiet in both heat and cool modes. On occasion it would build up hydrogen which would block the heat/cool absorption cycle. ATL gas would come and remove it always with the warning that the hydrogen could cause an explosion and/or fire!

 

[rp2813]

My parents' house had the original gravity furnace from 1925 up until my mom developed asthma and they replaced it in the early 80's with a super filtrated forced air system. We didn't even know it until the old furnace came out, but it had a large metal plate on it, probably 12" by 18" that indicates it was a Mc Laughlin Warm Air Furnace with "gas fuel, electronic control." I saved it and used to have it on the wall in my office when I worked for an HVAC contractor. Still have it up in my garage now.

I pulled an old roundie Honeywell t'stat at my house to replace it with one that has a timer. My sister has a really old (probably 60's) t'stat that seems to be acting up so I gave her the roundie. If she hasn't installed it yet (she's in LA so likely hasn't needed the furnace for several months) I will do it next time I visit her. These are great units that are completely accurate and reliable.

 

[rp2813]

What Brand of Thermostat is This?

The nursing home my mom is in was built in the 60's, maybe late 50's. She was moved to a new room recently and I noticed an older looking thermostat in there. It's the usual smoky gold plastic and appears to be a loose interpretation of a round Honeywell. It has a large "P" with a shield-shaped outline around it for a logo on the front. Anybody know what this one is? Might the "P" be for "Payne"?

 

[toggleswitch]

~M-I-L?
What is that?

~One side says 'draft' and the other side says 'check'.

Draft=> To induce greater draft/heat?
Check => To reduce or prevent draft/ heat as in "check-valve" or "check-mate?" Or the saying "keep it in check?" As used, to mean => "Keep it controlled?"

~I see electric forced-air furnaces....but they cost frightening amounts of money to run.

Yes, in most areas WITHOUT hydro-electric (read: super-inexpensive) power they can cost double to quadruple what a fossil-fuel-fired unit costs to run. But Dan, I thought your area has some of the most inexpensive power in the country due to hydro-electic generation, so I'm confused by your statement.Woudja fill me in, please. First thing that can be done if electric heating is painfully costly is get a heat-pump, well at least, if fossil fuels can't be done. Without ducts, a Mitubishi Mr. Slim is a good option. IMHO







http://www.mrslim.com/

 

[petek]

What Brand of Thermostat is This?

Could it possibly be a rheostat for an old Pryne Blo Fan ceiling exhaust. Mom still has one in her kitchen ceiling but I can't remember if it has a shield on it or not.. I'll have to take a look.
Search Pryne Blo Fan on Ebay there's some stuff there as well as some of their 50's cheescake calendars and desk blotters which are a hoot of hooters and gams

 

[toggleswitch]

pricey pricey pricey electric heating!

http://www.naturalgas.org/overview/uses_residential.asp

 

[polkanut]

Togs dear,

M-I-L stands for mother-in-law. Now lay off the caffeine!

 

[toggleswitch]

Hello Shady Pines Rest Home?

LOL

I started with Mid-century, In-Line.........and could not visualize past it!

(They're coming to take me away, ho ho he he ha ha, to the funny farm....)

That's OK I could not get past a prior interpretation of "FF" till I saw Filter-flo! AND IT WAS SO OBVIOUS!

 

[toggleswitch]

Natural gas powered heat-pump that heats and cools.

Since this thread appears to have peaked, I thought I might hijack..........er...... re-direct it at this time.

In the summer it cools with natural gas, using that fuel when sales/consumption is at its lowest. Relieves over-burdened electrical grid in summer YAY! In the winter it functions as a heat-pump extracting heat from the outdoors, concentrating it then releasing it indoors.

There is always some degree of heat outdoors; absolute zero (no heat @ all) is measured in degrees Kelvin. Hence "Kelvintor", get it?

°F = (K × 1.8) − 459.67
°C = K − 273.15

Anyhoo the heat used to power the unit is also harnessed in the winter resulting in efficiencies of 136% +/- IIRC.

At one time the ammonia/water mix used in the process was thought-of as dangerous. It is now touted as "environmentally friendly." Go figure!

http://www.robur.com/home_eng.jsp

 

[toggleswitch]

Kelvin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin

 

[selectomatic]

Thanks to the link that reminds me how overpriced my heat is

Due to some unexpected bills, etc., I was unable to go forward with my plan to install some sort of Propane-fired heat in my home for this winter.

I still favor in-floor water heat, but that's quite a bit of investment -- and the payback would be 10-15 years at least. Once again, I'll probably have to rely on measures which will reduce heat loss, and which can be achieved without a huge cash outlay.

-kevin

 

[jons1077]

1915 Gravity Charcoal Heater

Sorry I cannot remember what the brand on this one is. It is what's in our house in Portland at the moment. The picture does it absolutely NO justice as far as its size is concerned. It originally was charcoal burning since there is a chute going from the side of the house to the basement. It was eventually converted to oil and now resides looking more beautiful than ever. I can't wait to slap on a MOP suit and get rid of it.

 

[toggleswitch]

~Thanks to the link that reminds me how overpriced my heat is, Toggle.

*LOL*

Even one propane heater (VENTED!!!) in the form of a wall-furnace or console-unit or even a floor-furnace will reduce your heating bills dramatically compared to resistance electric heating.

In a financial crunch you can get a "temporary" through-the wall heat-pump A/C "sleeve-unit" [i.e. back-breather]in a standard "Fedders" sleeve to hold you for a winter or two......Or just replace an existing through-the wall A/C with one. It will be electric but MUCH less expensive to run.

If you don't have central A/C it might make sense to add one of these with a heat-pump or propane furnace. Adds value to your house and then you have more than just duplicate heating systems with no cooling.

Since I beleive you have baseboard heating (albeit electric) you might even want to have the air vents in the ceiling, for ease and economy of installation costs, (which is NOT ideal for heating), but BE SURE to have a low-wall or FLOOR return to pull the cold air into the system which pulls the heated air down (thus avoid stratification=> hot head, cold feet).

Too much said.

Later!

 

[toggleswitch]

Friedrich brand heat-pumps, through-the-wall.

It may hurt now with the intial outlay, but these will pay for themselves, I'd say in three years or less.

Again, the Mitsubishi mini-spilt systems (a/k/a Mr. Slims) are quiter than through-the-wall unit (nearly silent except for a blower indoors, actually). Three or four indoor untsts (read: rooms/sapces) can be connected to one outdoor unit. The compressor works up to 50% faster in severe winter to help extract more heat from the out-of-doors.

It is understandable to want perfection in your new heating system, but the intial outlay as you said will be very dear in cost. Perhaps an interim measure will suit you well!

Best of luck and happy choices!

BTW, Jon, more pics of that gravity coal furnace would be much appreciated.

For those of you with oil heat, RIELLO oil-burning heads are Italian in origin and burn CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN! [A very high pressure atomitizing nozzle-head breaks the oil down into very fine easy-to-burn mist.] I was reluctant to steer away from the (former) US market-leader of a Beckett brand burner-head. NO REGRETS SO FAR! And I no longer need an annual cleaning. *LOL*, well my heater doesn't anyway! LOL

http://www.friedrich.com/current/php_prodline.php?line=TTHP

 

[selectomatic]

Ceiling heat is definitely a bad idea.

The house has electric baseboard heat, and when I bought it, it also had air-conditioning upstairs with ductwork in the attic. After the first few years, when rusty, dusty water would drip out of the vents all winter (yes, the ducts were insulated, but when the attic gets to be well below 0, that doesn't help much -- the warm, moist air rises up, condenses, and drips out), I took out the offending ducts and vents.

Besides, the air conditioner was only on the upper level, and it never worked anyway.

I've looked at a few stand-alone Propane single-room furnaces which vent through the wall, but they're pretty pricey and inefficient. And since I live in the country, I'd have to get a gas tank and lines installed before I could actually use anything other than jiggling electrons to heat the house.

I'm still looking at all of the options, but nothing good is cheap, and nothing cheap is good.

I'll try and remember to take a picture of our old boiler at work tomorrow so that I can redeem myself a bit for having contributed to this derailing.

-kevin

 

[toggleswitch]

~After the first few years, when rusty, dusty water would drip out of the vents all winter.

How do other homes in your area/climate handle this?
Do the vents all have to be closed all winter?

My ducts [to a newly installed colling-only system]are in an unheated attic and so far no problem. Then again my ducts are basically like vinyl dryer hoses, but insulated and have a larger hose over the insulation. Nuttin' to rust except the register "boot", and the grille itself.

Seriously, any type of heat-pump will reduce costs and pay for itself. At one time I had heard that my latitude was the furthest-north ridge suitable for a heat-pump. But
in am sitting in central CT (further north) at this moment in a community full of heat-pumps!

 

[washertalk]

Remember, if you do change any Thermostat that has Mercury in it to turn in at the local chemical recycle center as the Mercury is extremely poisonous.

Jonathan, that snowman is scary. Is it covered with Asbestos or is that fibreglas.

It is awesome how much smaller and efficient today furnaces and boilers are. I replaced a FA furnace 2 years ago with a 96% efficient, gas furnace. It vented out the sidewall and used outside air for combustion. So much different than 20 years ago.

Unfortunately, the savings that are recognized through these new furnaces have lead people to believe they can build ever larger and impractical homes, Mcmansions. blah. That ends up cancelling any savings we could have had as a society.

 

[selectomatic]

Sorry, this isn't really forced-air

Here are some shots of the boiler in the building where I work. It hasn't been used in many, many years, but it's still there. It has to be -- there's really no way to get it out of the building. You'd have to remove the building from around it.

Our shop is located in what was, in days past, the showroom and offices for a car dealership. We don't know exactly when the original section of the building was built, or what it was built for. We're pretty sure it was built in the early 1900s.

It's been built onto and remodeled several times. The section where the boiler is located was probably added in the years immediately following World War II, when the automotive industry (like so many industries) was booming.

It's our guess that the boiler was originally coal-burning, but that it was converted to natural gas at some point. You can see in the pictures below that it has the sort of doors with adjustable vents that you'd expect on a solid-fuel furnace.

As part of the natural gas conversion (presumably), a combustion-air blower was added to the front of the firebox (shown in the bottom picture). Unfortunately, it sticks so far out of the front of the thing that the boiler-room door no longer opens all the way. That's why the pictures only show half(!) of what's there. You can get an idea of scale from the normal-sized door in the foreground.

This thing is really huge, and it's kind of scary -- it's the sort of thing you'd expect to show up in a Stephen King movie. People in the movie who ventured into the boiler room would not meet with a happy fate.

-kevin

 

[toggleswitch]

There is no EASY way....................

~there's really no way to get it out of the building.

Smash it into smaller pieces with a sledge-hammer as was done with my old boiler.
(Boilers heat water; furnaces heat air.)

 

[cuffs054]

I would think the shutters were used for coal fire to control draft.

 

[toggleswitch]

Hmmm I would have assumed that air-shutters for coal burning are non-electric and use a bi-metal thermostatic damper control. Unless there was an auger-screw electric coal-feeder coal burning was not normally electrically controlled/regulated, IMHO.

The beauty of coal-burning steam-generating central heating systems systems (as were typically found in NYC) is that they were totally non-electric.

I would further assume these pictured to be electrically operated and for a gaseous or liquid fuel.

Gas burning conversion heads are known as power-burners (they look like oil-burners)and deliver a ball-of-flame in one location rather than a more typical designed-for-gas furnace or boiler which has a number of gas burning tubes or jets that spread out the flames. The power burners typically have a fan to push secondary combustion air into the combustion chamber, and to induce a positive draft. Of course the (non-powered) gas venturi used to mix in primary air for combustion is normally outside the combustion chamber.