So far this year, I've decreased my Oil consumption by 30% primarily by insulating the radiator pipes in the basement. (The original insulation allegedly disintigrated) I'm also keeping the upstairs colder by hanging a blanket in the stairwell and I bought some new heaters that more efficiently convert electrical energy to heat energy. I have some spare at the moment if you want to borrow them, Glenn. They need to be wall mounted and at 425 watts, they should cost no more than $20/month if you leave them on 24 hours each day. I also have some fireplace hardware you can borrow.
Does anyone know if it is unsafe or inadvisable to insulate the exhaust pipe for an oil burner (the pipes get so hot they nearly burn your fingers)? And if it is safe, would it increase fuel efficiency? I figure that the exhaust will leave via the pipe and insulating the pipe may keep the temp inside the oil burner higher...or maybe not. I'm just so pleased with the insulation, I want to insulate more and more.
Thanks for mentioning the blanket -- I've been meaning to hang a blanket in the bathroom doorway to hold the heat in there but still allow Perrine access to the litter box. (I've been keeping the bathroom door ajar with a cat-sized opening, and it still keeps enough of the heat in for the bathroom to e warnmer enough to help.)
Are those electric heaters baseboard style, or something else I'm not familiar with? Getting juice to them might be interesting in this house, but I think I can dig up at least one heavy-duty extension cord not already running computers.
I'm not sure of the effects of insulating the exhaust of the furnace ... I think all that would happen is that heat formerly split between going out the pipe radiating from the pipe walls into the basement would all go out the pipe. I'm not sure the temperature inside the furnace would change much. But I'm not the thermodynamics person.
The heaters are at http://www.econo-heat.com I made a bulk order and got a double-discount because they had run out of them (nice folks - 20% discount). I got them to heat the upstairs - there's no radiator in my bedroom and I don't want to use my precious oil to heat the upstairs. I'm fixing up the other bedrooms in the house so I can get some housemates. Then maybe I can afford my oil bill (and the mortgage payment on my house in Peoria that won't sell). So I'll want them back when (if?) I get the housemates.
So far the heaters seem to work well. The colder the room, the more it seems to heat - which sounds dumb, but - you see - there's no thermostat. They are just 2' square panels that heat up and I mounted mine at torso height so if I get cold I just snuggle up to them. You can touch them (no coils or anything, just a flat surface) - so they are kid- and pet-safe. You can mount them whereever you please, yet it is not reccommended to mount them near water (even though they are nominally waterproof) and it is reccommended to mount them away from furniture and a couple inches away from wood molding. Not reccommended for mounting over paneling. Wallpaper may warp or come off if you mount it over wallpaper, but so far I've had no problem. You'll need a drill and maybe someone to help hold it for installation - I used a table, but it was darn tricky. Booey the dog is _still_ working on that opposable thumb, yet has given up on bipedality, so he's only helpful for moral support. I suppose you could just prop it up against them wall and it would work just as well. It seems to convect air between the wall and the unit (no fan) since the colder the room, the more of a little breeze there seems to be behind it.
I'll see John & Trixie this weekend and can leave them with them if you want to go for it. Or, better yet, you can come to fiddle club on Sunday! It's in VA, I'll be carpooling with John - leaving Booey at their house.
You CAN insulate it with fiberglass, but just to prevent touching it.. It will NOT increase the fuel efficiency or heat your place better. You can get some fins of some type (radiation fin kit) to radiate some heat off of the exhaust pipes and get more heat out of it that way.
one caveat about the heat fin thing. If you put on too many heat fins, they will rob your smoke of the heat it needs to climb up your chimney. This is bad. OTOH heat fins *will* make your heating system more efficient, albeit only in the places that the chimney runs through. I don't know how many heat fins you can put on safely but hopefully this information exists somewhere out on the net and you will almost certainly have to be able to take the temperature of the smoke at the top of your stack to make use of this info.
Heat Conservation
Does anyone know if it is unsafe or inadvisable to insulate the exhaust pipe for an oil burner (the pipes get so hot they nearly burn your fingers)? And if it is safe, would it increase fuel efficiency? I figure that the exhaust will leave via the pipe and insulating the pipe may keep the temp inside the oil burner higher...or maybe not. I'm just so pleased with the insulation, I want to insulate more and more.
Re: Heat Conservation
Are those electric heaters baseboard style, or something else I'm not familiar with? Getting juice to them might be interesting in this house, but I think I can dig up at least one heavy-duty extension cord not already running computers.
I'm not sure of the effects of insulating the exhaust of the furnace ... I think all that would happen is that heat formerly split between going out the pipe radiating from the pipe walls into the basement would all go out the pipe. I'm not sure the temperature inside the furnace would change much. But I'm not the thermodynamics person.
Re: Heat Conservation
I made a bulk order and got a double-discount because they had run out of them (nice folks - 20% discount). I got them to heat the upstairs - there's no radiator in my bedroom and I don't want to use my precious oil to heat the upstairs. I'm fixing up the other bedrooms in the house so I can get some housemates. Then maybe I can afford my oil bill (and the mortgage payment on my house in Peoria that won't sell). So I'll want them back when (if?) I get the housemates.
So far the heaters seem to work well. The colder the room, the more it seems to heat - which sounds dumb, but - you see - there's no thermostat. They are just 2' square panels that heat up and I mounted mine at torso height so if I get cold I just snuggle up to them. You can touch them (no coils or anything, just a flat surface) - so they are kid- and pet-safe. You can mount them whereever you please, yet it is not reccommended to mount them near water (even though they are nominally waterproof) and it is reccommended to mount them away from furniture and a couple inches away from wood molding. Not reccommended for mounting over paneling. Wallpaper may warp or come off if you mount it over wallpaper, but so far I've had no problem. You'll need a drill and maybe someone to help hold it for installation - I used a table, but it was darn tricky. Booey the dog is _still_ working on that opposable thumb, yet has given up on bipedality, so he's only helpful for moral support. I suppose you could just prop it up against them wall and it would work just as well. It seems to convect air between the wall and the unit (no fan) since the colder the room, the more of a little breeze there seems to be behind it.
I'll see John & Trixie this weekend and can leave them with them if you want to go for it. Or, better yet, you can come to fiddle club on Sunday! It's in VA, I'll be carpooling with John - leaving Booey at their house.
Re: Heat Conservation
http://www.eheat.us
Re: Heat Conservation
Re: Heat Conservation