Some heating system pictures

Here is the control panel, 90% wired, with a the temporary power via an extension cord.

Here is the wiring diagram. Why such a complicated diagram for a single family house? Why not? Even though there are simple single-box controls for this, billn is cheap and likes to develop his own system.

Here is the beginnings of the kitchen radiant zone pump and piping. Senior holds the work while billn applies the torque on the fastener.

Here senior adjusts the position of the globe valve (important to create some pressure drop across the P-S zone that feeds the kitchen radiant).

Here is the return manifold, with the not-spooky anti-ghost flow loops bending down and to the left.

We love 1/2" barrier PEX.

Shirlsd visit, Local Park Story trail

Recently friend-of-the-blog Shirlsd visited us in Vermont. This was her first trip on the right coast and we were surely glad to have her visit. Unfortunately the weather was not perfect for her trip and the leaf colors were less than perfect (one week later, splendid).

Here are senior and junior outside a cider mill (in VT language cider mill = tourist trap).

Here are junior and senior whale watching. Or more accurately, statues of whale tales next to the highway.

Here are senior, Shirlsd and junior at the same statue. The weather looks like Kansas right before a tornado.

Here is the view from the top of a tower in a local park where senior, junior and friends A and C did a "story walk" where a single page of a book hangs in a tree (the idea is you walk, read/rest and walk more). That odd looking mountain in the background is Camel's Hump.

Here are Senior and C at the base of the tower.

Pumpkin Picking with local Friends

Recently our kids, Jenm went to pick pumpkins with C and A (son and daughter of K, all friends from the town we used to live in). Here are some pictures of that trip. Pumpkin hats made by Jenm.

Here are Senior, C and Junior.

Here K helps the children load the wagon.

A semi-artistic shot of Junior Senior.

Senior's birthday

Last weekend was Senior's birthday weekend (five years old, how time flies). We took a trip to the Bronx Zoo, staying at Aunt E and Uncle L's house in Southwest CT. We went to the zoo with some old LI friends, here you see senior's painted face and friend T.

Here is a cut cake set Aunt E. put together for senior.

Here is a goat at the children's zoo who was a little eager to eat.

Here senior lays claim to her llama.
Senior in the prairie dog simulator, in the children's zoon.

Junior in front of an eagle statue.

Junior (ballerina), T (Alice in Wonderland) and senior (veterinarian).

Some of senior's favorite animals.

Heat! Limited, temporary, incomplete, HEAT

Tonight we have heat. The wiring is 80% right, only the thermostat wiring is hanging out of the control panel and the main 120 Volt power is an extension cord. But the other 80 or 90 wires are all terminated, and right on.

The boiler is not working in sealed combustion mode, that comes later.

The single expansion tank is inadequate, billn must add another.

The kitchen radiant zone is 0% complete, that comes later.

The domestic hot water is 0% complete, that comes next.

The boiler needs to be vacuumed and tuned, but we are running zero smoke, 80.5% efficient right now, so that is good.

There are no baseboards in the dining room, that comes soon.

There are a lot of undone parts, but the boiler is firing, the zone valves are operable and the heat is flowing to the house. No pictures today, maybe later. Standing here in the kitchen posting this note, billn can hear the boiler cylcing on and off. That is a nice sound.

Update: Four zones high and tight

Now we have four zones pressurized and air relieved.

Tomorrow, clean up in the boiler room and start electrical work.

Three zones high and tight

Today billn took the children and jenm's parents to the farmer's market. Jenm worked for pay at her weekend job. Billn also tied in three zones (old piping from each baseboard comes into the basement to connect to the new zone PEX). This job took all day. However, it is done, so billn is happy. No leaks in any piping.

Also, billn fixed the faulty valve identified yesterday. The air separator definitely drips, this is a problem. Billn does not want to buy a new one (they are $80), but billn may not have a choice.

Finally, billn identified another potential faulty valve. We'll keep our eyes on that.

Tonight billn will do the fourth zone and tomorrow start electrical work.

Heat is in the future, domestic hot water a little after that, then kitchen tile, then the kitchen radiant heat after that, then complete the electrical work in toy and guest rooms, then .... then ... then .... then ....

High and tight

Last night billn pressurized the manifolds, expansion tank piping, boiler and water heater. To borrow a phrase from a pair of west coast fitters we know, we are high and tight. Good news, no leaks in any billn piping. Bad news, we have one defective valve and the air separator we reused from the original house seems to be plugged, so it drips. We will replace the valve, but the air separator we might leave.

The wiring diagram is 1/2 done, hopefully that will be done tonight and tomorrow we work on installing conduit and wire.

Supply manifold, dip tube done

Today billn figured out how to make the dip tube work. Even though Ergomax is the best water heater ever, they are not perfect. Their plan for the dip tube for the user to purchase a double tap bushing and have a straight pipe down to act as the return connection for the heating system (if you don't understand, don't worry). First of all, nobody seems to sell a double tap bushing and secondly, a straight pipe hits the internal coils of the unit. Billn solved this by drilling out the 3/4" sweat by 1" MPT adaptor and sweating a short length of tubing in. To solve the straight shot problem, billn used a short length of PEX with a recycled hunk of male adaptor to act as a weight.

This method threaded into the return tapping and should be just fine.

Here is the finished (boiler-water only) water heater. Billn still has to connect the domestic hot and cold water lines, but this is good progress.

Here is the supply manifold. Billn still has to connect all the distribution lines out. A prize goes to the reader who notices the problem with the pressure gages.

The wires will all bundle together into a loom, then will be butt spliced onto longer wires to go to the control panel.

Some more progress on heating, leaves turning

Here is the boiler and water heater with much of the piping done. The crooked vertical line coming out of the water heater is thanks to the not-square fitting welded onto the water heater. The domestic water piping is not done yet, but one step at a time. The board to the left of the water heater will house the domestic water mixing valve and the mixing valve and circulating pump for the kitchen radiant zone. Yes the air separator is much bigger than our 3/4" line size, but it was in the original piping system, so the price was right.

Here is the return manifold. The red and blue PEX lines on the left of the picture are the domestic water lines for the plumbing systems. We have seven zones plus a spot for a spare. The orange PEX line is the 3/4" main return line for the manifold. The water in the manifold flows from right to left into that orange line, back to the boiler/water heater. The silver valve on the extreme right hand side of the manifold is the differential pressure bypass valve. The supply manifold will live above the return, look for that picture later this week. The PEX lines make that big U-shape to prevent gravity flow (sometimes called "ghost flow"). If you really want to understand what that is all about, post a comment here and billn will expand on it. But it is boring for lay-people so billn will not post about it today.

Here is a tree across the street from billn's work. Billn took this picture early this morning, September 25, 2007. This picture reminds us why we live in VT.

Oil tank, boiler, water heater moved, some venting done

This weekend the Brooklyn Barrister visited our home and country. We were able to arrange a temporary work visa with little trouble. Here is a picture of one the key components of our boiler relocation project, the power venter and boiler vent duct (larger). The smaller duct in the back is for combustion air, that is not done yet.

Here is the power venter before billn installed the vent ductwork and control box. The drywall on the ceiling of the joist bay is insurance, the venter has a cool exterior, due to the combustion air flowing over the internal duct which contains the hot products of combustion. This is a slick setup.

Here is a shelf unit full of materials and parts we bought. Some of you may notice Grundfos pumps, these are to satisfy Tom D.

We are using the best water heater on earth, Ergomax. They designed this unit to act as both a water heater and a buffer tank. Since our house has seven small zones, a buffer tank is useful to increase efficiency (by increasing on/off times, frequent cycles are bad for efficiency. This is a home-made dip tube fitting, a 1" MPT by 3/4" sweat fitting billn drilled the stop from.

Here the Barrister and the water heater exist in the back of the garage. We moved a number of heavy items this weekend, but we lifted none. Brainpower over brawn (which was the only way we could do this, neither the Barrister or billn are particularly strong).





Here is the an interior wall we removed the drywall from to install OSB instead. We will mount the zone valves and manifold on this wall.

Here billn and the Barrister move the boiler from one part of the garage to the other. It is on a dolly. Billn previously lifted it up on blocks using prybars and patience.







Here the 1/2 full oil tank (total weight about 1,000 pounds) sits on a dolly. The other end is on a a floor jack. The pictures below capture the various stages of rolling/moving the oil tank from one part of the basement to the garage. Billn was very pleased how well this operation worked. Not a drop spilled, no heavy lifting.

Here is the oil tank, the boiler and the boiler vent duct. The boiler combustion air duct is not finished, the water heater is not in place right now, while billn completes the combustion air duct.

Friends from the Albany-Area visit

Friends of Jenm and Billn from college visited with their kids last weekend. On Saturday, JasonT and Billn constructed a new gate for Senior's school. Careful blog readers probably remember Billn built one earlier this year, but that was a temporary solution. This summer the school built a new fence. Billn built a new gate, with JastonT's help.

Here Senior helps Billn move wood for JasonT to cut.

Also this weekend, JasonT and Billn cleaned out the back of the garage where the boiler will go. There was a large, hacked-together shelf in the back. Now it is gone.

Here is our boiler and electric water heater. Of course Billn cannot leave the boiler as it was when they moved in. Watch this blog in coming weeks to see the improvements.

We insulated the ceiling above where the boiler will go, after insulating, we installed drywall. Much easier to hang drywall on a low ceiling with two people. That is a good look for JasonT, he would look at-home in Beijing.

After our friends left, our neighbor H visited and climbed the tree with Senior, Junior and Billn. Billn maxed the tree out a few minutes after this picture was taken, he feet at 25' above grade.

Senior was tired out from our friends visit. Here she rests with Billn in the shade. This nice weather and sunshine is the reason our boiler project is not complete, why install tubing, venting and oil pipe when you can relax on the front lawn?

Here is everybody:

JasonT, daughter TG, wife AleciaT, other daughter AJ, son (face obscured) K, Senior, Billn, Jenm and Junior.

A fun weekend, we hope our friends from the New York capital district visit us again soon.