Good to know a water heater option exists. While I am sorting through the heating issue I will keep it in mind. Given I had to add a second water heater to fill the BH's big tub I will need to be VERY sure it works well enough to replace them.
OR 3) it's cheap and easy if you live on the lake. My system is just coils of pipe lying on the lake bottom with a pump that circulates the fluid. There is a heat sink coil that raps the exterior of the pump motor. The heat from the pump motor pre heats the city water coming in to an insulated water tank. This tank feeds the water heaters so they don't have to really add much heat. The whole system is extremely efficient for both heating and cooling.there's 2 ways for geo-thermal 'sourcing'
1) huge area of land with the piping laid in trenches, 6' under....
2) 2 or 4 very,very deep vertical wells
In my case, I didn't have the land area (only 1/3 ac) AND drilling 4 wells was super expensive.
Either is a 'one time ' expense and cost to run is cheap.
What is the BH's big tub? I did look back but could not find any reference to this...Good to know a water heater option exists. While I am sorting through the heating issue I will keep it in mind. Given I had to add a second water heater to fill the BH's big tub I will need to be VERY sure it works well enough to replace them.
Air/ water is different from hydronic. Basically hydronic has the "outdoor" unit in the ground using the earth to reject or absorb heat. Air/ water uses a traditional outdoor unit and transfers the heat inside to a water loop.Evil - the air to water is really the same as the Hydronic system? How does the propane figure in? As a separate back up somehow that is linked to the air to water system?
DustyRusty - yup, oil boiler feeding water baseboards. I didn't mention before I also have in-floor radiant heat in the shop so a boiler is a must.
GreensvilleJay - thanks for the lead - I did look at something like that but, at that time, it involved replacing the baseboards with small radiators. I will have another look.
My scheduled expert called to say they no longer do boiler work (a little surprise as I had indicated that right up front - welcome to Vancouver Island). She recommended "mini splits" as an alternative but was quick to point out the limitations.
So, I am back to square one. Oil is likely impossible to get approved here, propane has some in house resistance (danger zone) which leaves an electrical boiler (expensive to run I know). Maybe I will be lucky with the hydronic heat pump idea...
I did get a lead on someone that does boilers so we shall see.
racerboy - sorry - not trying to hijack your thread!
Yeah. Our area is a bit different. And I work from home. So the whole house is backed up. Even if it's a day or two I want to continue as normal. If feces hits the ventilator we roll out in the RV which has a generator.Quite right….that a “wide-area” outage would subject one to similar acquisition/delivery-problems… but the types of outages I’ve experienced in the past have not been area-wide or state-wide… they’ve been localized to only a portion of the county…. so diesel appears to me to have the advantage of being less dependent upon a delivery-service in those situations.
This quickly becomes a moot point in my view…. spending Ten-Large for a permanent standby generator to maintain for years….to deal with the hypothetical mere inconvenience of a two day or even a two-week outage is silly.
I’ll probably just stick with my contractor-generator and suicide cord to keep the refrigerators/freezers and lights/fans on. (Besides…if things really go “nuclear” … I can throw that portable generator in the back of the truck along with the “bug-out-bag” of food/ammo when I head for the hills.)
There is NOTHING quite like a Lister Petter!Buried tanks should be dug up periodically to inspect the condition of the sacrificial anodes that are on the tank to prevent corrosion of the tanks. A few years ago I was considering a buried tank and at the same time, I had an inspection of the home. The inspector advised me that the insurance company frowned on buried tanks of any kind. I originally had a 2000-gallon buried oil tank and had that removed, and was planning on putting the propane tank where the oil tank was located. I now have 5 larger tanks that are near the driveway for easier filling by the propane truck. I also got rid of my propane generator and replaced it with a 4-cylinder Lister Petter diesel engine spinning at 1800 RPM.
I have a 12 HP LP diesel that was developed for use in the Alaska pipeline. It was setting on a large air compressor tank when I bought it. The local LP engineer said "That model isn't made any more, but you change the oil it it and you can give it to your grand kids." Original cost was $3200. He said they ran them non-stop. Changed oil while running.There is NOTHING quite like a Lister Petter!
They are amazingly simple, and robust machines!
I have a 12 HP LP diesel that was developed for use in the Alaska pipeline. It was setting on a large air compressor tank when I bought it. The local LP engineer said "That model isn't made any more, but you change the oil it it and you can give it to your grand kids." Original cost was $3200. He said they ran them non-stop. Changed oil while running.
LP diesels can be found throught the world running generators on islands, and in junglesI have a 12 HP LP diesel that was developed for use in the Alaska pipeline. It was setting on a large air compressor tank when I bought it. The local LP engineer said "That model isn't made any more, but you change the oil it it and you can give it to your grand kids." Original cost was $3200. He said they ran them non-stop. Changed oil while running.
Engines which rarely shut-down usually have great longevity…. That shut-dn/start-up heating/cooling/heating cycles are killers.LP diesels can be found throught the world running generators on islands, and in jungles
It's not uncommon at all.Mon a side note, should the BH on my tractor wind up on the floor when I park it overnight (without the aluminum pin to hold it in place)? It did this over the weekend, and I thought because it got into the low teens at night, it was due to the cold. So I parked it in the shop, which probably stays between 45-50 at night, and the same thing happened. I didn’t see any hydraulic fluid on floor to suggest a leak. I can try tightening the fittings later.
Multiple smaller booms better than one big boom?hmm... 4 or 5 , 100g tanks blowing up is OK compared to a 500 g going 'boom' !!!
Sadly I understand their 'reasoning', which really is 'silly'..
I built 5, 9by12 tractor sheds cause city demanded building permit,site inspection, eng certif for anything bigger........ ...ONCE you know the rules, you can play their 'game'.
YES boom goes down overnight, nature of the beast ( well the hydraulic valves ). That itty bitty gap that allows the oil to flow inside the valve does allow a drop of oil to pass 'through',the weight of the boom pushes the oil back.How fast depends on how well built the valve was......
BTW pretty sure the pin is steel not aluminum..least my toe says so.....