Is draining rusty furnace water weekly reasonable?
tedmonster
10 years ago
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mike_home
10 years agotedmonster
10 years agoRelated Discussions
Rusty Water Heater Vent Pipe in New House
Comments (8)First the water heater is supposed to have an 18" vent rise off the top before the first 90, or as much of the 18" you can get while maintaining a minimum 1/8" rise per foot on the horizontal pitch. Where the vent turns up through the house to the roof, there is supposed to be a tee with a cap in the bottom with the vent connected on the side. Where the vent terminates the roof, it is supposed to be 2' higher vertically than any rooflines or peaks within 10' horizontally. Make sure it has a cap, a proper roof jack and storm collar. The rust may be rain coming down the outside of the pipe from an improper install. And lastly, the pipe size must be appropriate for the BTU's vented into it according to its height....See MoreOpinions on Weekly or Bi Weekly Maid Services
Comments (33)We have not needed scheduled cleanings so far -- DH and I can still keep up with kitchen and baths, vacuuming, dusting. We wet mop the floors a few rooms at a time -- mostly kitchen, breakfast room, back hall and bathrooms. We have a window cleaner annually for the high archtops and small-pane windows on the north side of the house. Alternate years -- or 'as needed', he also does inside and 'between the glass' -- four sides of glass to clean. DH and I can do the low exteriors on east, west and south as needed. I clean one end of the house at a time. It's newer, easy-maintenance. The central vac and the air cleaners on the furnaces are a big help. Two adult non-smokers don't create a lot of dirt. Cleaning services must be more costly on the north shore of Chicago than they (evidently) are in the southwest. (Suzi -- Really? You are paying $16/hour per maid? How much does a maid get out of that? Guess it's better than working at McD's.) We pay a couple $100 per cleanout (includes "Housekeeping" chores) at our Maui condo -- 1000 sq ft including lanai, full kitchen, two baths. I don't expect "Housekeeping" chores from Molly Maids. I expect them to do the same actual "House *Cleaning*" I do, plus: Wipe baseboards, door casings and window sills; wipe all case goods (tops, sides, fronts, backs); wipe chair legs: take upholstered pieces apart and vacuum all surfaces; scrub shower walls and other bathroom tile; wipe kitchen cabinet fronts. I wish they would clean ceiling fixtures, but they aren't permitted to 'climb', so DH or the window cleaner do those. Two hard-working women were here for seven/eight hours when I spent the $600 (including $20 tips to each woman). They didn't break or ruin anything. They used my Bon-Ami and not abrasives, as I asked. They didn't leave dirty corners. They just *cleaned* what I wanted cleaned. I knew they were bonded and insured, and that the agency was responsible for their Soc. Sec. withholding/legal status. One other thing will probably keep me doing my own cleaning as long as I can. Neither DH nor I like having someone underfoot, and I'm not comfortable leaving the house while a worker is in it....See MoreRunning condensate drain line on goodman furnace
Comments (49)I thought we agreed that we were not going to limit the discussion to the climate of Katy Texas? Well the OP who started this thread made it sound like he lived near me... which would mean using my climate numbers as opposed to somewhere else. I don't service areas outside my climate so why on earth would I entertain this idea of yours? (I offer advice on occasion but that is all it is --- professional advice --- as this is what I do for a living, I don't sit all day in forum board --- I do have a life outside of HVAC, what little it is right now it's still a life...) You again trying to fit HVAC in a confined specific box in which it does not fit. What are the odds that someone will find that information useful? Probably close to 0% if I had to guess. That sounds like a waste of time... I know this seems productive to you so knock yourself out if you want to do that. Exact numbers are not necessary to educate everyone the source of the condensate. Then why not use the 'about 0.8 gallons estimate' and run with it? An air conditioner in my climate can produce upwards of 5 gallons of water an hour. A condensing furnace will not produce that much. An 80% non condensing furnace will produce 0 condensate water. Oh so let's use the AC condensate line for the furnace condensate. Problem solved right? Most likely not. Drain systems are complex especially when you throw in the variable that a condensing furnace imposes. See I've led your hand to this point --- where the concern right now up to this point is how much more condensate a condensing furnace will produce in my climate Katy, Texas versus other less humid climates in which those furnaces are installed typically in a basement. You don't have the over head flood threat you do here in my climate. All of this --- except: there are safeties on that condensing furnace that if you don't do it properly, the furnace will shut off on nuisance trips. So the furnace is not likely to be the cave in threat due to condensation production. They tend to leak water in drips around the furnace while having very erratic operation most often. You don't get these kinds of problems with a 80% non condensing furnace. What a home owner knows versus that of a pro... you think condensate is the only problem you have to contend with. What is your definition of making this actually work? How does the condensing furnace then become the ceiling cave in threat? Changes to the condensate drain system by people who don't know what they are doing. It may be a home owner, land lord or even a technician who doesn't understand the implications of what they are doing. How much water one produces whether here in this climate in Katy, Texas or a less humid climate (in winter) like Chicago / Wisconsin --- the different in condensate production doesn't matter... *IF* the system to get rid of condensate is adequate. This thread was about a young guy presumably in his 20's attempting to install a condensing furnace in a probable high humid climate. That condensing furnace was bought used. Who in their right mind sells a condensing furnace (used) in a probable high humid climate? One that tried to install said furnace and couldn't get it to work. I have an innate ability to read between the lines. I've seen quite a bit of 'Tom Foolery' in my nearly 26 years of doing this for a living. We can't get it to work so we'll take it out and sell it to someone else. So what makes the condensate drain system of a condensing furnace adequate? The right way. What is the right way? The opposite of wrong. If you want to learn how to do it: There are trade schools for that. Class dismissed.........See MoreWater flowing to secondary drain and overflow pan
Comments (26)"Now that the air is capped off from exiting the drain tube it is forced further down stream. It can't go down the drain tube because it has a trap. SO now what you've done is created a strong suction pressure that causes the drain to back up and the next place for the water to go is? Thru the secondary into the emergency pan." Whaaaaa what? Ray, have you fried your brain in the Houston summer heat? The removable cap on the vertical riser above the trap is to provide easy access for cleaning. Condensate flows down the drain driven by gravity. If you've got condensate flowing from the emergency drain you've either got a problem with the pan under the coil leaking or not pitched toward the primary drain outlet or a blockage somewhere between the pan and the exit of the condensate drain outside the home (I believe all of the above have been mentioned by previous posters.) I've found the exit of mine blocked by spiders making a home inside it during the "off season" and by landscapers that covered it with mulch. The OP will be well served to make sure that whatever liquid they pour down the drain actually exits where it's supposed to. Ray's explanation reminded me of Dr. Doolittle's pushmi-pullyu. Both are entertaining works of fiction, albeit the pushmi-pullyu is somewhat more believable than Ray's explanation....See Moremike_home
10 years agotedmonster
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10 years agoSpecialtyAirInc
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10 years ago
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