RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question???

RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (Full Version)

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mistoferin -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 6:58:28 AM)
We purchased the home from a family member so an inspection wasn't required. The wire that burned was rather a fluke and most likely would not have been found on an inspection. A bracket holding it to the exterior of the home had worn through it in a small spot and that is what caused the issue. If anyone is responsible for the ensuing damage to the plumbing and heating I would think it would be the power company or the 911 system. I just can't understand why they would not contact the homeowner...and yes, all the contact info had been updated so they were able to call...they just didn't. Actually, the power company didn't even cut the power to the wire and when I got there 3 days later the wire was still live until the gentleman went up the pole and disconnected it. [&:]

camille65 -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:05:19 AM)
Ugh I'm so sorry that happened to you erin. It's a hard lesson but I've learned that even if an inspection doesn't seem to be needed, it is still needed unless you crawl over every inch of the house yourself (having knowledge of what to look for) with a final inspection the morning of the signing. As well as having a smooth transfer of home owners insurance in place. One of lifes learning experiences learned in an unpleasant way, I am sorry. (oh dear. oh dear oh dear. I hear my father speaking, I'm channeling him on that mini lecture, its not me... its him!!!) On the heating issue, if you are going to be pulling up the flooring and aren't occupying the home then I would go with radiant heating. It is much more complex to install so it is a good time to do it (while you live elsewhere). And yeah, people steal all sorts of things from copper wiring to drywall. Its actually pretty common and some people make a living doing it, screwing over a lot of people while they do it.

rexrgisformidoni -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:08:30 AM)
Restoration hardware (a company that makes excellent reproduction home "stuff" of all kinds) has cast radiators I believe. Also, the pellet stove is AWESOME. Granpa has one at his old place and it heats a drafty 3000 sq ft farmhouse to the point its hot inside. I hope the clean up goes swiftly, and sorry to hear about the bad luck.

LaTigresse -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:12:54 AM)
Yeah, we got a small one and during the day when the sun is shining, regardless of outside temp, I have to turn it off. Otherwise it would be like a sauna in our house, by late afternoon. AND, the best part.......heating the house all winter for under $400.00!

camille65 -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:13:22 AM)
Hmmmm I think I remember there being a Restoration Hardware in Birmingham Mich.

rexrgisformidoni -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:16:24 AM)
crap, that may have not been the one, I get a catalog with all sorts of goodies like cast iron tubs and hand carved ballisters and such. racks his brain It has restoration in the name! edit! ah ha! http://www.vandykes.com/ thats the place!

housesub4you -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:18:17 AM)
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...... I wanted to install one of those, it was not the building code I had a problem with it was the insurance company. I had to meet their code and the dam thing would have to be inthe middle of the room at least 5' from every wall.

suhlut -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:18:59 AM)
When we first bought our home, it was heated with the same cast iron monsters..and the first few winters we lived here, we froze our asses off in the winter. They do an awful job of heating a room.. and the only really warm spot was right up next to the heater.. i'd place my frozen fingers and toes onto the damned things just to try warming up.. soooo.. its prob obvious.. that i really don't recomend them...lol.. So, i'd prob go with the hot water baseboard heating. For us, well we pulled each of those huge metal hunks of crap out and took them to the dump.. (who knew that we could have sold em..? ooh well) and since we live in a small city with its own electric Power plant.. electric here is FAR cheaper then gas... i'd ask around first to find out which is cheaper in your city. We spent wayyy to much money each month.. before, in trying to heat with those cast iron heaters.. all for chilly rooms.. brrr.. i hated it.. plus.. i also hated that each of those monsters..always seemed to be exactly right where i wanted to put a piece of furniture.. getting rid of them.. freed up space bigtime!

Aileen1968 -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 7:22:01 AM)
Restoration Hardware is super expensive and tends to be more fluffy than ballsy in terms of the products. I know which catalog you're thinking. I'm blanking too on the name. Wood furnace update since my thread was linked.... Furnace is great. It requires maybe five minutes of time to load it in the morning and if it's really cold (under 35) then another five minutes in the evening to throw a few more logs on. We've been heating with it since mid to late October and have maybe used a little over a cord. It's extremely efficient. Absolutely love it. We went with a Central Boiler, not the one originally linked in the thread. We also used it over the summer to heat the pool. Kept 13,000 gallons of water at a comfy 88 degrees with just a few logs every day or so.

Termyn8or -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 8:14:35 AM)
Hot water heat is good, hopefully you can retain it. Keep looking for building surplus dealers. I took a trip through one of them years ago and found it interesting. IIRC you need four radiators, I assume the house has more than four rooms. Perhaps by swapping out radiators that are good to the rooms in which you want to preserve the character, and picking up some baseboard hot water radiators for like the bedrooms or something might be the cheapest way to go. When it comes to this, pipes are relatively cheap. The problem is putting them in. You will need a competent plumber with his own pipe threader. No matter what, if the house was to remain vacant for ny length of time it should've been winterized. No matter what, someone should have notified you promptly of this condition. Culpability lies somewhere in there. I would also look into insurance, as someone mentioned most lenders require insurannce on the place before they cut the check. You would have to look into the seller's insurance status at the time. You might actually have to sue relatives, but on the side make it clear that it is nothing personal. I don't see, given this information how their insurance is not subrogated. The lawsuit might just be needed to prove it, given the circumstances. Also, if not adept at plumbing, get a plumber to pressure test the whole system, or at least assist in doing so. Whatever leaks, disconnect and plug it off. then retest. Repeat until you are sure you have a continent system. You need to know the full etent of the damage, and just observing cracks and watermarks is not enough. If you can get someone to pay for this, it is likely that you get one chance and one chance only. I would highly recommend an old plumber, one with experience in these things. They were frequently balanced by selection of the size of the pipes, so you need plugs and caps of who knows now many sizes. An older plumber will probably go down in his basement and get an old dusty box full of these items, if you do it yourself you will probably have to make several trips to a plumbing supply, and I am not so sure these modern DIY type places will have everythig you need. Doesn't hurt to ask though. Best of luck. Be sure to let us know how it is going (it's not politics :-) T

BlackPhx -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 9:45:00 AM)
Misto... Check the Recycling Centers for your area. Many of the scrap yards take in perfectly good radiators each year as people upgrade or remodel. They also pull them out of older apartment buildings and you may be able to get a bargain on them. Check for rust spots and leaks but you may be able to replace everything for a song. Also check FreeCycle.org for your area and throw your request out there. You may be surprised at what is available Free. Now as for floor or baseboard, if you are going to change the system I would recommend you go with baseboard. Servicing it will be easier in the long run and you can get covers to match your decor style easily enough. Here are two companies that offer them http://www.radiantwraps.com/ and http://www.beautifulradiators.com/baseboard-heat-covers.htm poenkitten PS you may have a suit against the Power Company, while they would like you to believe they are not responsible for problems caused by outages, they may be liable here for the repairs due to their negligence in failing to notify. It all depends on the state regulations on them.

mistoferin -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/11/2008 9:52:34 AM)
Now why didn't I think of freecycle???? I'm going to post that now...thanks!

pahunkboy -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/12/2008 10:13:05 AM)
I am partial to radiators. The gas forced air is ok, but very dusty. It is a dirty heat as compared to radiators. Ild keep the current system, if some of it is shot- what a better time to go to zoned heating? Maybe supplement it with those in wall gas box heaters. Ive seen them as cheap as 100$ + $25 to do the kit for it. Also- an 8 year old could install the black foam to insulate pipes. I did most of mine. You can also look into heat tape- for the pipes as well. If you redo the entire system to be electric, the cost to heat it will be so high that the place will lose value. Look around for radiator pipes. I know I seen them... I thought about those gas boxes for rooms. I keep my place cold. Well I cranked it up just now to 61. That is balmy for here. I only heat 3 or 4 rooms. It is terrible tho on the plaster. I probaly WILL have another broken pipe this year. I refuse to heat the back porch. It is not living space. Yet there is a spiquot that I cant turn off. So last year it burst. The old houses are expensive, they are not tight. They are drafty. But it works for me...I like the space and I sure the heck dont want a room mate. So- Erin, reduce the system. Get yourself a zone type of heat. That means you can heat or not different sections of the house. I dont heat my kitchen. Or my bathroom. Im not in either room. Actually I can only be in one room at a time. So in theory only 1 room needs heat. I turn it down then, to 58 over night. This is where blankets are the friend. Even with these measures my bill is still high. If the furnace cranks it is an expense. So- I would pick 3 rooms I spend alot of time in. Make that your radiator part. You can do something else with the rest of the house. The old places are full of history and personality. At times it seems if I sneaze the entire house will fall. At other times, it seems seems like a tank. The olden day stuff will outlast some of the new stuff. If has charm too. I cant think of any house that doesnt cost. They all have some flaw. You have to use this in a way to your advantage. This requires gathering information. You could bypass the wreck part- leave the radiatos there then at you convenince do somehting with them. :-) ablow torch can put a U into the pipe. You bypass that unit. the system then will still work.

Emperor1956 -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/12/2008 10:27:52 AM)
FR: Mist, the power company may well be liable and they have a fund for exactly this sort of claim. I just settled a very similar claim on a small commercial building where Con Ed (the Illinois version of your Consumers, or whatever they are calling themselves these days?) shut off the power and forgot to tell the owner. The next day was the single coldest day in Illinois is 57 years, the pipes exploded and the building was trashed. We got about 85% of the value of the building in settlement. Don't assume there isn't a way out of this. As for house heat, I love a good boiler and cast-iron radiators. That sssssssssssssssssssssteam heat hiss/thump/clank/BANG! is what I grew up with. But they get old and useless. We have forced air in our old Victorian -- PAHunk is right, its dirty, but it is warm. Wood/pellet/corn stoves are dirtier, and every once in a while you'll fry a cat with one (that may not be a bad thing), but they are efficient as heck. My problem with both Forced Air and any sort of stove is they dry the air out unbelievably...you spend in humidification systems what you'd save in heat. My neighbor just spent $200,000 on a sub-floor, hot water radiant heat system that is ecofriendly, efficient and will pay off in about 3007. On the other hand, she has toasty warm floors all over the house. You gets what you pays for. E.

Jeptha -> RE: If it wasn't for bad luck.....home heating question??? (12/12/2008 11:14:40 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Termyn8or ... Perhaps by swapping out radiators that are good to the rooms in which you want to preserve the character, and picking up some baseboard hot water radiators for like the bedrooms or something might be the cheapest way to go. When it comes to this, pipes are relatively cheap. The problem is putting them in. You will need a competent plumber with his own pipe threader. That's a neat idea if you want to retain some of the old fixtures. I also wonder; can the old radiators be repaired possibly? If they are breeched along a seam, can they be welded or something? Perhaps not, but might be worth a thought if you really like the old radiators. quote: I would highly recommend an old plumber, one with experience in these things. They were frequently balanced by selection of the size of the pipes, so you need plugs and caps of who knows now many sizes. An older plumber will probably go down in his basement and get an old dusty box full of these items, if you do it yourself you will probably have to make several trips to a plumbing supply, and I am not so sure these modern DIY type places will have everythig you need. Doesn't hurt to ask though. That's true; I once had to replace a little piece of drain pipe or something innocuous like that for an old bathtub, and I had to comb 3 counties before I found one of the old, discontinued, diameter that I needed. I had to heat my house the quickest and cheapest way possible when I moved in, which turned out to be installing a used freestanding gas fireplace. I ran the stovepipe up through a chimney. It only heats the room that it's in (and maybe a neighboring room if I use a fan), but it heats up quickly. If I'm in a room at the other end of the house, I use a small electric space heater. Electric is more expensive than gas where I live, so I've tried to insulate this back room well. This system seems to work well; but my house is fairly small and my climate fairly temperate.

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