Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with Heater

Ah the pressure ( or lack of it )

rus — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:52:25 -0800

[PlubmingFilter] Last night Mrs Rus notice a very slow leak from our immersion heater. So in a flash of "brilliance" I turn it off at the (power) mains and would worry about it in the morning. Its now the morning and things aren't quite right I turned it back on as its a slow leak I figured damage would be minimal but then realiased we have no hot or cold running water and nothing more than a trickle down stairs coming out of the taps. What happened? Do I just have to wait for pressure to build up or has something horrible happened overnight. (BTW no obvious large water leaks just a very slow drip so I can't see a large tank emptying itself, I guess its about 100L)

We stopped the tide, but broke everything else

stormygrey — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 16:06:05 -0800

Plumbing Filter: After a water heater leak, our toilet is not filling correctly and our water isn't very hot. DIY antics ahead. My bf and I were cleaning out our basement when a can of spray paint fell off a shelf and knocked into the plastic drain valve on our water heater. Apparently it was old and brittle and it snapped off leaving us with a steamy wet mess. We turned off the gas and the water to the whole house while we tried to figure out how to fix the damn thing at 2 am. We turned off every valve we could find trying to find the main water valve. We thought everything go back right, but out toilet water level is very very low now and the water doesn't seem to be very hot at all, what might we have done and how can we right it?

make me all warm inside

shothotbot — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:06:56 -0800

What is the difference in efficiency between plain old ordinary electric heaters and hydronic electric heaters? I need to replace the electric heaters in a weekend house. Getting new standard electric heaters will cost around $3500 and getting hydronic baseboard heaters will cost around $7500. The people selling the system say that the hydronic heaters will be more efficient since the oil they are filled with stays warm longer than the aluminum radiators of the standard electric baseboards.

Well.

I was born at night but not last night and that does not make sense to me: if it takes longer to cool down it will take proportionally longer to heat up. Yeah maybe, says the plumbing guy but alls I know is that the hydronic ones are more efficient so you will make up for your pricier heaters with by using less electricity to heat the house.

We finally wind around to the question: are the electric hydronic heaters more efficient than standard electric baseboard heaters, by roughly how much and, ideally, why?

Zen and the Art of Water Heater Maintenance

po822000 — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 11:14:36 -0800

How do you maintain your water heater? I live in a home with a water softener, and I'm not sure how often/what kind of maintenance I'm supposed to be doing with my water heater, if at all. I've not noticed anything detrimental in the quality of water in my house, but we have lived there for about 3 years and have never done anything with it.

It's located in the garage, and when I was cleaning out the garage last night, I noticed that there was what I'm assuming were some salt deposits on the outside of the tank - is this normal?

It's a gas water heater, if that makes a difference.

Heater woes.

Darth Fedor — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:26:51 -0800

Can I fix my gas heater without hurting myself? My apartment's gas heater stopped working today. I took a look at it--the LED indicator flashes steadily, and the chart for LED indicator interpretation says that that means "Line voltage (115V) polarity reversed."

I don't know anything about heaters, but I am fairly proficient at splicing, crimping wires etc.

The heater has an automatic electric ignition system--no pilot light.

To my untrained eye, a reversed polarity sounds like a fairly isolated problem, and if I can fix it myself immediately without having to call for help, I'd prefer it.

Is this something I can safely fix myself? If so, how?

It's cold in here.

I'm cold.

vito90 — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 10:16:56 -0800

I'm too stupid to program the heater in my house. I have your typical 1970's house with a typical 1970's heater. I've never been able to get it to maintain a comfortable temperature during the winter. I think I'm confused about how the set points work. "Wait, it's set for 69 does that mean the house will have to get to 68 for the heater to come on??? It's 40 degrees outside right now!".

I'm not interested in programming it for daily use. I just want to walk up to it and hit arrow buttons until it displays a number I like and then make it make my house go to that temp.

I know the heater works because sometimes, due to some preset program, it will come on and heat.

The manual says, in the troubleshooting section, if the heat does not come on, and "If temperature setting is higher than current temperature, and display says HEAT ON, contact your heating and air conditioning contractor." This statement accurately describes my current situation. Is there something I can do or do I have to shell out multiple $$$100's for a service call?

Heater is a Honeywell Chronotherm 3.

What's the cheapest form of heating: central air or other electric heating options?

bjork24 — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 22:07:00 -0800

Which costs more: keeping my thermostat at 69 all winter, or using an electric blanket and radiator-style space heater in one room? In the first case, assume that the thermostat would be set to 64 when we're not home (14 hours), and only go up to 69 when we're here. In the second case, we'd only use the electric blanket and space heater at night.

Transform my grill

c:\awesome — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 14:02:09 -0800

I have a Weber brand Smokey Joe® charcoal grill, and I'd like to modify it someway to transform its main duties from cooking to heating human beings on an outdoor porch. Modifications need to be temporary, or if they're not temporary, they need to be minimal. Meaning, I'd still like to use it to cook food in the summer. But in the winter it's cold on the deck and I don't want to pony up for one of those super expensive outdoor heaters/fire pits. So, great ones, what can I do to ole' Smokey to maximize his human-heating abilities? We're cold!

How to deal with automatic heater in apartment?

shivohum — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 10:45:57 -0800

My landlord in NY claims that our heater must turn on when the temperature drops. If we wanted to prevent this, a technician would have to "turn the valves off" -- a cumbersome process that risks the valves later freezing and "popping" and steam destroying our apartment. True? Is this common? And if so, how can we deal with a too-hot room, other than by opening the window?

Do I really need two air filters for my heater?

the ghost of Ken Lay — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:56:03 -0800

Do I really need two air filters for my heater? I rent an apartment with forced air heating. While doing some cleaning I noticed that the intake on the furnace had a lot of dust so I opened the grate and found a two stacked air filters wedged between the grate and where the heater begins behind the wall. The first one was filthy but the second one wasnt looking too bad. I replaced them both by buying new ones at home depot. While trying to find the proper size I read that one of these is "low flow" or something like that which helps with efficiency.

Considering that the current set up is two filters stacked on top of each other, am I hurting efficiency? Can I just leave one filter in there? I'd ask the landlord but his english isn't so good. Thanks.

Will I suffocate?

beerbajay — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:55:02 -0800

How dangerous is it to live in a small room with a gas-powered water heater? Will I die? I am considering living in a small (6' x 10') room with a slanted roof (10 feet on one side sloping down to 7' on the other). There is a hot water heater on the tall side of the room; the standard type found in california: 5' tall, raised off the ground, gas powered, vented to the outside world (not a enclosed vent, but one which is open at the top of the water heater, then there's a pipe which leads to the outside world). I would be building a loft bed on the low side of the room, and would likely sleep with the doors and windows closed.

I read that building a bedroom with a water heater is not legal, and that living in a room with a water heater is "potentially lethal" due to oxygen consumption or improper venting or something.

So; should I do this? What's the likelihood of me dying? Can I mitigate the risk in some way? etc!!!

Hot, hot, hot, not, not, not

The Behatted Wild Man of Greenfield — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:52:08 -0800

Noob house owner: The water heater is now only putting out lukewarm water, not hot. We noticed the water was cooler over the winter, but just chalked it up to an older house and the long distance the water had to travel through cold pipes.

But it's warmer now, and no hot water is happening, just warm water you can barely take a shower with. It doesn't heat up if we let it run for a few minutes. This is our first house and haven't even been in it a year yet.

Is there something we can adjust or change or inspect to get it hotter or see if something is wrong? It's an electric one, with no manual and I can't find dial or anything on it.

Recommendations for a gas water heater

cfg — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 19:57:15 -0800

My current water heater is about 14 years old now, and I'm looking to replace it with a traditional 'tanked' water heater (I'm not going to be in this house long to justify a tankless unit). For the most part I'm only looking to heat water for two people, and I'm thinking a 40 gallon tank with a large burner will be sufficient. Does anyone have any suggestions or good resources for comparison?

How do I get hotter water sooner?

mosk — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 14:59:56 -0800

Cure for the takes-too-long-for-our-water-to-heat-up blues? We have a 40+ year old house in the usually temperate SF Bay Area. It takes about five minutes for the water in the shower, bath, or any of the sinks to begin to get warm, and then a few minutes more to actually get hot. What can I do about this? I hate wasting water waiting for things to heat up, but I hate cold showers even more.

The house is a split level, with almost all of the house above the garage. Our 10-15 year old gas hot water heater is located in the garage -- probably a 30' run of pipe from water heater to our shower. The water pipes are copper, uninsulated, and accessible. Water pressure is fine. Will the simple foam pipe sleeves that are sold at Home Depot make a noticeable difference? Would a better/different water heater make a difference? Once the warm water arrives, there's plenty of it. Thanks!

Haunted radiators

azuresunday — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:55:45 -0800

Weird noise filter: the heater in my new apartment makes this metallic noise every so often. What is it, and can I make it stop? My apartment has these radiators (one or two in each room) that look like electric baseboard heaters, but they use hot water. The one along the wall in the living room makes this odd noise every 2 to 3 minutes. The radiator works fine otherwise and appears to be identical to the other, silent, radiators in the apartment. The sound is similar to a metal folding chair being scooted across a hard floor, and its quite startling, especially when I'm trying to sleep in the middle of the night.
Its not a major problem, but I'd like to hear if anyone else has had the same experience, and what your solution(s) were.
More info: the building is medium sized, about 40 years old, and uses a central boiler for heat. It hasn't been remodeled as far as I know, but its in decent condition. I've heard the same noise in the basement garage as well (something with the pipes?) but I'm still at a loss.

Home furnace timing question

Salvatorparadise — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:49:14 -0800

I just moved into a house that I bought, and the heater makes this 700 square-foot house nice and toasty, but the timing seems off. First something comes on, it makes a humming, sounds like a motor, but no air is coming out yet....that goes on for a minute or two, then the igniter clicks on and glows for about a minute, then flames come on for 3-5 minutes, then the fan comes on and blows heat up throughout the house. Inspector said... The inspector said it has a timing issue....is this the case, what is likely the problem, and is this an expensive fix...?

Also, is this that big of a deal? It would seem, for fuel conservation purposes, not to be very efficient to have the flames on for a few minutes with no fan blowing...because once it blows it does so for only a few minutes before tripping the thermostat and shutting off...

i'm just trying to get a handle on how much it might cost to get this thing timed right.

the heater is a 1994 Fraser-Johnston.

Help me fix my heater

shaneflyer — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 12:22:00 -0800

I have an old furnace in my home that I can't get working. Now that summer is over, I'd like to run the heater again, but the burners won't ignite. I've just replaced the thermocouple and that didn't seem to help. It seems it will cost ~$100 to just get a diagnosis. If I could narrow down what was wrong, I might be able to fix it myself. Any ideas? I can post photos if that will help.

Installing a Water Heater - what about the water pressure?

katyjack — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 14:36:41 -0800

What does the water pressure coming into your house have to do with installing a water heater? I live in a 20 year old house with 2 water heaters: one in the basement and one in the attic. The attic water heater started raining water into the bathroom below yesterday so we decided it was probably time to get a new one. Now the guy installing it tells me that in addition to the $299 installation fee, I also need to install flexible piping ($60) and that the water pressure coming into my house is too high and that they need to install a new water pressure valve for $199. I think they're ripping me off - I can understand the need for the new piping because the current water heater is connected with rigid copper piping, but I already bought an expansion kit to go with the water heater that I thought controlled the water pressure coming into the water heater. So do I really need to change the water pressure for the whole house? Not to mention the fact that I've always thought this house had terrible water pressure and I'm not too keen on bringing it down further. So can anyone tell me if this is something that really needs to be done?

water heater pilot light won't stay lit

MrMoonPie — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 18:17:32 -0800

Our water heater pilot light won't stay lit. Is it time to call a repair man? Just this morning, with no warning, the pilot light on our water heater went out. Yes, I hold down the little button and press the other little button, and the pilot light fires up. Yup, I hold the little button down for a minute (or more). But when I let go of the button, the light goes out. Do I need to make the dreaded call, or is there something I can do myself?

What kind of water heating system is this?

schoolgirl report — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 10:09:23 -0800

What kind of water heating system do I have? And can I install a timer on it? Here's the setup: oil-fired furnace is in one part of the basement. From there, copper pipes run into a tank in another part of the basement. According to the tank, it's an electric water heater (State Select brand). But given the connection to the furnace, and the fact that the furnace turns on when we're doing laundry or taking a shower (or at random, for a few minutes at a time), clearly my water isn't heated by electricity alone.

I thought perhaps I have an indirect system, as that's the only scenario that seems to fit the setup I've described. But wouldn't such a system use a storage tank rather than an electric heater?

Because heating oil is so pricey, I'd like to put the system on a timer. In order to determine if that's possible, I need to figure out how the system works.

Make my heater green!

shokod — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 21:44:05 -0800

What's the most energy efficient way to run the heater in my office? I am an English teacher in a school in Korea (background: in Korea they don't heat the schools whatsoever, only the individual classrooms and offices are heated). I have a swanky new English Zone with nice big office and classroom that came with a swanky new ceiling-mounted heater. The problem is that in these cold winter months, with poor insulation and no school heating, it takes up to 4 hours of 30 degree C heat pumping just to get the room remotely pleasant (it's worse for classroom than office).
I'm in my office for 8 hours and in the classroom for about 6. Subsequentally, almost right after the temp is finally nice, it's time to leave and I just turn off the heater (as I was told), giving ample time for the heat to dissipate and to start the process over again the next day.
My question: is it more efficient (in terms of wasted energy/energy consumed) to do it this way or, after it reaches comfortable temp, to lower it to, say, 19C for the ~16hours it's not in use? I wish I could give you information about the heater itself but searching the website (it's an LG Whisen) I couldn't find it, especially since it the website is in Korean. But it looks really new and nice (it's also an air-conditioner) so I assume it's not like some old lunker.
More info that might be useful: Office is about 6m x 3m, with a "normal" door that seals it pretty tight. Classroom is 10m x 7m (it has two heaters) and is connected to a hall (30m x 2m) and has two "swing"-type doors that close, but not extremely tight. Even though I'm not paying, I'm not looking for the "leave the heat on all the time! you might as well!" answer; I am curious solely from the energy consumption view. Thanks!

Should I buy a tankless gas water heater?

pwb503 — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 19:19:13 -0800

Anyone have any thoughts on Tankless Water Heaters, specifically gas ones however thoughts on electric ones too would be nice I guess. Distance to kitchen/shower? Ok to put one in a cold room such as a garage? Other important things to know about one before calling the plumber? For what it is worth, I live with one other person in a house the mild Pacific North West but like the idea of only paying for heating water that I'll actually use rather than just keeping the tank warm.

Where can I find a very accurate water heater?

nickerbocker — Tue, 11 Oct 2005 08:33:47 -0800

Where can I find a very accurate water heater? I'm working on getting an old test system from 1979 up and running and one of the requirements is that it needs a water heater that can keep a water supply at approximately 150 deg F and pressure of 40 psig. I can install a reducing valve to keep the pressure down to what I want.

The main thing is I need to be able to set it to a particular temperature and get little variance from it. Any recommendations? I'm thinking 20 to 50 gallons should be sufficient. I wish I knew more, but I really don't.

The water heater that is suppose to go with the testing system is no longer available. If you want any more information check out the 1241 Adiabatic Oxygen Bomb Calorimeter over on Parr's web site.

Thanks

How to get the funky smell out of my hot water

Saucy Intruder — Tue, 30 Aug 2005 06:30:16 -0800

Moving into an apartment that was built a year ago and never lived in. How do I get stale water out of the tank and pipes? This is a townhouse unit; water is heated by gas in a boiler that sits in the garage. Cold water is piped in from the city; hot water comes in through the tank. The latter smells metallic and has likely been sitting in the tank for months; I want to get rid of it all and start over with fresh water running through the heater.

What's the best way to flush out the system? I ran hot water through the kitchen sink for a while and ran a dishwasher cycle, but the smell is still there. Should I keep running hot water until the smell goes away? Are there any safety concerns that remain after it does?

For what it's worth, the manual attached to the hot water heater contains a diagram that looks nothing like the actual boiler; the landlords are not very handy or knowledgeable. I don't want to tinker with the thing too much lest my house asplode.

Where the heck did my hot water go

felix — Mon, 13 Jun 2005 08:36:38 -0800

I've painstakingly and scientifically ruled out all of the other possibilities. My hot water heater is inhabited by the Virgin Mary. Mysteriously, when I turned on the hot water tap yesterday, only cold water came out. The hot water heater's pilot light was lit; it was making reassuring noises; we had not been using any hot water during the day; and the temperature in California was not cold enough to affect the pipes. There had been a mild earthquake in the morning. The hot water heater is 1 year old; the pipes, 25 years old. Broken pipes, right? So I resolve to call the plumber in the morning. The only thing is, I turn on the hot water this morning, and it works just fine! Does anyone have any rational scientific explanation for what the heck happened to approximately 30 gallons of hot water yesterday?