The Furnace Quit - The Joy of Not Being Normal

[MongoMongoson]

Well, we were away on vacation and it happened. The furnace was running when we left but not when we got home. We got home today around 8 PM.

We were lucky that it was unseasonably warm while we were gone but temperatures are dropping again.

Tomorrow is a holiday, so no furnace service tomorrow without paying through the nose.

My wife said "If we were normal people, this would be a real problem."

I hate taking a bath... but it will be bath time tomorrow. I have water heating on the stove.



It sure can be nice to be abnormal.

 

[stoveliker]

Well, sad face and thumbs up at the same time...
Good luck with the furnace, and the bath. And happy abnormality.

 

[BillBurns]

Im the farthest thing from " normal" that you can be. I hate when stuff breaks, but every thing is fixable, with money of course.

 

[Murray01]

Is that a handle attached to your stovepipe? What is its purpose?

 

[all night moe]

Is that a handle attached to your stovepipe? What is its purpose?

That's to move the stove to the cold spots in the house.

 

[all night moe]

Uhh, can we define normal?
I've never met it.

 

[stoveliker]

Is that a handle attached to your stovepipe? What is its purpose?

I think to help with handling the telescoping pipe when disassembling.
Abnormal but smart! I might do the same!

 

[Murray01]

I think to help with handling the telescoping pipe when disassembling.
Abnormal but smart! I might do the same!

Thanks, makes sense.

 

[MongoMongoson]

You mean the stainless ring? That is where my stove pipe probe is mounted.



We used to use the old dial style, so I reused the same hole. Some day I will spin the pipe so the probe comes out the back.

For taking a shower with water heated on the wood stove:

,

 

[Eman85]

Southern style unsweetened tea, must only be sold up north. There is no such thing as southern style tea that isn't sweet tea.

 

[stoveliker]

True that!

 

[BillBurns]

That shower system works, so use it! I grew up heating water on the stove or a kersene heater. Not fun, but it gets the deed done, lol....That jug you have looks like it would work pretty well, good thinking

 

[MongoMongoson]

Southern style unsweetened tea, must only be sold up north. There is no such thing as southern style tea that isn't sweet tea.

Yup, Wisconsin, purchased at Aldi.

We were in TN yesterday morning. We did not have any tea.

For the shower I found that a single gallon jug was more than enough for me. My wife used 2 gallon jugs.

I don't know how much we use during normal showers.... but I am guessing 10X the water.

 

[vatmark]

We are in Western NC. We were without power and running water for 6 days due to Helene. That was a very interesting time. We used a watering can for showering. Having no power wasn’t that big of a deal but having no running water for 6 days was.

 

[danham]

Our abnormality got us through two days of no furnace a few weeks ago. Cost of repair was too high for a 27-year-old gas furnace, so explored heat pump options. The math for a heat pump just did not work in our situation, so the two days involved installing a new, high efficiency two-stage furnace. Our insert kept us toasty the whole time.

-dan

 

[MongoMongoson]

We are in Western NC. We were without power and running water for 6 days due to Helene. That was a very interesting time. We used a watering can for showering. Having no power wasn’t that big of a deal but having no running water for 6 days was.

I need to get a 220V generator to run the well pump. I don't have one yet. I was without power (and a well) for 5 days at a previous residence, and you are right. The lack of water is a bigger deal than no power.

Our boiler is running again now. Crisis averted.

 

[kborndale]

I've got a gas water heater and town water so when the electricity goes out I still have hot water and heat from the wood stove. Unfortunately my solar panels don't work during power outages, I thought about getting some batteries but my power does not go out often enough to justify the cost.

 

[Eman85]

Lack of water! That was the main thing everyone I know that was effected by Helene here in the Mtns said.
When you hear about undeveloped countries a water well saves them sometimes 8 hrs a day of walking to get water.

 

[brenndatomu]

When you hear about undeveloped countries a water well saves them sometimes 8 hrs a day of walking to get water

And/or getting various aliments/diseases from drinking the water they bathe/bathroom break in...

 

[mpaul]

We had a power outage in the middle of a cold snap last winter. With a ZC fireplace which relies heavily on the fan to push the heat out coupled with well water, we elected to invest in a whole house generator shortly after. Since then we’ve had several smaller power outages and it’s nice not having to worry about anything. The generator has enough juice to power the whole house to include the mini splits we use for AC in the summer months. Power goes out, generator kicks on automatically.

 

[vatmark]

We had a power outage in the middle of a cold snap last winter. With a ZC fireplace which relies heavily on the fan to push the heat out coupled with well water, we elected to invest in a whole house generator shortly after. Since then we’ve had several smaller power outages and it’s nice not having to worry about anything. The generator has enough juice to power the whole house to include the mini splits we use for AC in the summer months. Power goes out, generator kicks on automatically.

My husband and I have thought about it but we have lived here 7 years and the power rarely has gone out. I think the longest was 3 hours. We have a portable generator but it is strictly used for keeping power to our fridge and freezer. We cycled it on every 4 hours just to keep the fridge and freezer at proper temps. We may get another generator for our well and put in a transfer switch.

 

[all night moe]

I consider a gen set but, I have enough to do here first. One outage in 4yrs....so far.

 

[mpaul]

I consider a gen set but, I have enough to do here first. One outage in 4yrs....so far.

My wife and I contemplated a smaller generator versus a whole house generator for a few days. Living here for 6 years now we didn’t get many power outages either. But we knew the weather patterns are becoming more extreme which will result in more outages. It was an upfront investment that does raise our property value but also gives us peace of mind.

 

[marty319]

I don't have 220 on my generator to run my well. .i keep 3 -20 litre jugs of water in case of power outage which is fairly common around here.i may look to buy a propane/ gas 220 v soon

 

[vatmark]

I don't have 220 on my generator to run my well. .i keep 3 -20 litre jugs of water in case of power outage which is fairly common around here.i may look to buy a propane/ gas 220 v soon

We had 30 1 gallon jugs of water for cooking, drinking, washing dishes and washing hands. I had 4 5 gallon jugs of tap water for toilet flushing. The biggest problem was with water for toilet flushing for 6 days. We didn't flush every time but after a while it needed to be done and of course if it was a number 2 it was always flushed. We were prepared for a few days without power but never thought we would go 6 days due to a hurricane in western NC. We ended up using the water from our hot tub to flush toilets. Other in our neighborhood were dragging water out of the lake we have in the neighborhood. I think people underestimate how much water you actually use.

Oh dear as I typed this the electricity started to go out. Lights flickered and browned out but came back on. Yikes! That was very strange.