How Is Everyone Keeping Warm?

[launderess]

Who turned off the heat? *LOL*

Christmas eve wasn't so bad, but by Christmas Day temps had dropped down into the 20's. That was bad enough but the wind! Things haven't improved since. They are predicting record low temperatures for those brave (or foolish enough) to attend the Big Ball Drop on New Year's eve in Times Square.

I blame you lot; it was all your talk about thermostats and so forth that did it. *LOL*

 

[tomturbomatic]

I know I am jinxing everything by typing this, but since the temps dropped into the teens in this cold spell, the winds have not been too bad; nothing howling out of the north or northwest. Cold is bearable without wind.

 

Warmest New Year's wishes to all!

 

Gasoline went up another 6 cents overnight.

 

[norgeway]

15 here

Just a few minutes ago when I came in from work...I LOVE it! Good and warm in our house, old oil furnace running right along.

 

[frigilux]

We have run out of degrees this morning on the open prairie of southwestern Minnesota. Unfortunately, zero will seem relatively balmy by tomorrow and Sunday, when temps dip to -19 with wind chills in the -30's. Morning temps (actual) were -13 and -16 Monday and Tuesday.

On the plus side, my natural gas bill was only $36 for December. Granted, December temps were, until recently, above normal here, but keeping the apartment at 64 degrees (68 when company arrives) costs a fraction of heating the house, which had a far more efficient furnace. Only the north and west walls of the apartment are exposed to the exterior.

 

[gusherb]

Same here as Tom said, there has been very light wind since the cold started. The furnace has only run a little bit in second stage while it was below zero which is surprising me a little cuz first stage is only 40,000 BTU's...heating 1,850 sqft with lots of glass. If it were windy it would be a different story.
I dry out like a prune more than ever so I've setup two extra humidifiers to supplement the whole house one.

Now expecting 2-4" today and the forecast keeps dropping and dropping...

 

[DADoES]

 
Current outdoor is 42°F.  Predicted high Sat 63°F.  Sun 59°F high with 30°F Sun night.  Mon 39°F/27°F.  Tue 34°F/28°F.  Wed 45°F/31°F.  Thu 47°F/31°F.  Fri 50°F/34°F.

Those are revised a bit upwards from 25°F I saw forecast yesterday for Mon night.

Difficult to imagine the -°Fs.  23°F is the lowest I can recall happening down here, although the state record low is -23°F recorded in the Panhandle.

 

[washman]

With a non union Goodman 96% AFUE gas furnace.

 

[abcomatic]

We are 140 miles southwest of Chicago and it is snowing out now. We have an 1897 Queen Anne Victorian house with over 32 windows. I have had 98% of those replaced so that does help keep things warmer. The new furnace helps too and helps to cut the gas bill, but after all it is winter. High utility bills are expected when it is this cold there you go.
My neighbor heats here huge house with a gas fired steam boiler. I love going over there to hear all of the noises that radiators make when the boiler is running. I'll see if I can find a picture of our house. Here is what it looks like in the spring. Gary

 

[firedome]

Our heat DID get turned off...

when it was -3 outside at around 1 AM very early Thursday morning!!
The Honeywell RTH221B decided at that time that its aaa batteries were done, despite no warnings at all at 11:30 PM the previous evening. Woke up at 3 thinking it seemed awfully cold inside the house, checked the display, nada info, blank screen. Threw in 2 new batteries and the big, hulking 1955 Williamson Gasaver downstairs (natty gas, original to the '55 house) sprang to life and slowly proceeded to stop our shivering... we love Willie and hope he never dies! But thinking that an older style hard-wired Honeywell might be a good idea! Phooey on batteries!

 

[twintubdexter]

sort of like rubbing a grapefruit in your face

<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">It was 81 degrees yesterday...81 today. Let's go out and run through the sprinklers.</span>

[this post was last edited: 12/29/2017-15:37]

 

[miele_ge]

actually grapefruit is good for you skin

acts as an exfoliant I think

 

[supersurgilator]

Do you have any pics of your 1955 Williamson? I would love to see it.

 

[norgeway]

55

Williamson, a REAL furnace!

 

[cuffs054]

Have to say I am getting cold. It's been in the 30's and 40's here in Beautiful Downtown Monticello and with new windows the 1896 mini manse is staying comfortable but it's like the cold is getting into everything. The dishes are cold in the cabinets, the dogs are hibernating and the humidity levels are way low. Next week is supposed to be even colder. I used to like winter but now not so much.

 

[moparwash]

I'm going to call Dial-a-Bear for some heat

 

[cuffs054]

The best suggestion yet!

 

[supersuds]

Lovely house, Gary.

It hasn't been all that cold here as yet, though it is supposed to get down to 10 next week. By no means a record, but cold enough. I'm hoping it will kill off some of the wooly adelgids (bugs) that are killing our hemlocks. The hemlocks don't mind lie temps but the bugs can't take it.

 

[iowabear]

Insult to Injury

We got 5" of new snow today. 

 

The upside the forecast has improved for New Year's Eve.  Now the low is only -18F vs. -20F.

 

We had a nice fall and decent weather right up until Christmas Eve...but now winter is making up for lost time.

 

 

 

[wayupnorth]

-19 this morning and high of 2 and going down again for the next week AGAIN. My boiler runs constantly to chew up more oil and I keep in layers and no need of all that crap after a 43 high last year today. Regular heating oil was !.85/gal. when I filled my 2 big tanks in October and now its jumped to 2.85 and still going up. Natural gas has went thru the roof too. What else is new, same old, same old.

 

[gusherb]

Our 5 day forecast is still continuing to drop. I just hope it doesn't snow anymore at this point. We got 3-4" today, just enough to make the roads extra extra shitty for Friday rush hour.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

-4 now in the Twin Cities:

Down to -13 tonight and only up to -5 tomorrow. I don't see any relief in the near term. At least we aren't up to our ass in snow. As far as staying warm I LOVE my Heat-N-Glo fireplace.
WK78

 

[arbilab]

More Americans are now below freezing than were alive any time prior to 1968.

 

DFW is no stranger to freezing but seldom for 72 hours at a stretch as forecast Sat-Mon.  Could bundle up, sit on the pawch and listen to the pipes break. Codes here ignore extremes, though they occur with regularity.  All our TX houses had days when heat/air ran continuously, not quite keeping up.  If you wanted it warmer or cooler, tough.  Wait.

 

This 15yo Howard Johnson lookalike retirement poorhouse has already had 3 indoor flood events; two from freezing and one from shoddy construction.  No, they didn't upgrade the repairs.  So it will happen again.  And they don't compensate inma... er, residents, when the building becomes uninhabitable.  Renters insurance might.  Might otta call them.

 

[diesirae7]

Warmed up to 14 today, felt great, another 6" of snow on top of the 6" we had over Christmas. Spent the day shoveling, only one of the three snow-blowers decided to start and of course it was the smallest of the three LOL. And now its slowly dropping to 1 degree F by 8am. The 50s Lennox furnace is doing fine, lucky I have a small one bedroom house, easy to heat, just wish I had the wood stove installed about now...

 

[tolivac]

My heatpump chugging away-wish my place had GAS heat for these REALLY cold days!Had to fire up my portable 'Lux heater in the TV room while watching TV.The heat from it felt good!

 

[rolls_rapide]

Boiler malfunctions

I returned from a few days away, to find that my 'combi gas boiler' was delivering hot water to the taps, somewhat erratically. (Why is it always this time of the year - never during the Spring/Summer???)

One emergency callout later - and lo and behold - it appears the 'annual Service Agent' (a different company) hasn't been doing their job properly. The 'combustion condensate drain' was choked with silt, causing the erratic behaviour. This is supposed to be cleared at every service interval. This is the first time I had seen anyone remove this component for cleaning!

It appears that the condensate drain has to be thoroughly clear and clean, else the boiler shuts down. I remember several years ago during a cold winter, peoples' boilers shut down - because in some cases, their condensate drain went through the external house wall, and froze solid - shutting the eco boilers down. Needless to say 'Ye Olde Fashioned' gas-guzzling boilers were still merrily steaming away.

 

[xraytech]

It’s been in the teens for highs here with lows at near 0 and looks to stay there through next weekend.

Got cold enough to fire up the big old Englander wood/Coal stove. It keeps the house warmer and it keeps the natural gas 1995 ComfortMaker enviroplus90 furnace from coming on much.

 

[DADoES]

 
To answer the topic question ... 14-years-old Carrier 5-ton heat pump, with a Vornado in the bedroom at night and a Honeywell in the office room for occasional spot-heating.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Boiler Malfunctions

Rolls_rapide,
I hope that your house did not suffer any cold-related damage in your absence. I don't understand about silt in the drain. This is a condensing gas boiler, right? I have never heard of silt in the drain system of a condensing furnace and I am on my second one. The water drains out of my furnace about 5 inches above the floor and into a condensate pump which periodically pumps water up to a standpipe.

Is this silt situation related to dust from the outside being drawn into the combustion chamber and then precipitating out as carbonized particles which they are calling silt?

Hope you stay warm and happy in 2018.

 

[rolls_rapide]

Boiler malfunctions

It appears that the silt is composed of metal particulates, according to this link.

Later models have an improved separator/drain, apparently.

http://www.expert-boiler-repair.co.uk/worcester-blocked-condensate-trap/

 

[rolls_rapide]

@tomturbomatic

Thanks! The house was fine ta, nothing to report, other than decidedly cool 'hot' water. The radiators were operating okay.

Our snowy weather has been absolutely nothing like the deposits in Erie, Pennsylvania - that was something else entirely!

Yet our silly news reporters (BBC, ITV, Sky) have all got to make a 'song and dance' out of a few centimetres of snow falling on the UK - and it's not even the whole country like it was in 2009-2010! Honestly, the way they carry on, it's like it's the end of the World. Basically, they see a snowflake fall somewhere, and they panic.

Mind you, our news reporters and presenters in bygone days simply reported the news. Nowadays they have to act it out too - usually at the side of a busy motorway, where it is impossible to hear the dialogue. That irritates me something awful.