Think about running the heat tonight

[Swimmer]

Originally Posted by Saltheart

Might be a good idea to run the heat a little warmer than usual tonight. I usually let most of the house coast at 50 but I'm warming the whole place tonight. With the bitter cold expected , just a spot that leaks air in a corner or through an outlet could cause a pipe to freeze if in the unlucky wrong spot. Might be worth spending an extra $10 tonight just as insurance.

Long ago when I lived in the slums in worcester , we used to keep things really cold in the apartment. One morning there was ice in the toilet bowl no lie.

We often let the water run a trickle in the sinks to prevent freezing on the predicted cold nights (it gets seriously cold in Worcester sometimes). The nights when it did freeze were very cold but not the predicted worst. it was when maybe 0 degrees was coupled with high winds. kind of like tonight. The wind drives that cold into a weak link in the house structure and all it takes is one place to burst to cause a real mess and sometimes a lot of expense.

Anyway , worth thinking about tonight!

You and my wife must be related

[5/0]

Saltheart,
I can't answer which is more efficient,forced hot air VS forced hot water,but I can tell you this.For one forced hot water will not cause winter nose bleeds as much like forced hot air,alot of the high efficiency units are condensing which wicks moisture out of the house,but if you add a steam humidifier by April air or Nortec which get costly because you will be needing 208/230 volts to energize a heating element to generate steam,if you go with a cascading pad system and installed properly this will ad sufficient humidity to the dwelling area,you can also run a 24 volt pad & wheel system as well April air,Auto flo ect...
There are two things to conceder one for the humidity to stay in the occupied area the t stat or room temp must be kept at 68* or greater anything less than that the humidifier will be useless.
Secondly these must be maintained or you will get mold or the unit "might" not work right on the next season because the water in the cylinder,pad or tray has now crystallized and will harden on moving parts or heating elements.

As for AFUE results in best efficiency they can debate it,I think there are a ton of scenarios such as house insulation,windows,basement windows,bulkhead,doors/jams,attic insulation,rafters insulated or not,ridge vent etc.there are some many things to conceder.One thing about a furnace is when the burners turn off the fan relay can stay on for 30-60-90 or 120 seconds after the fact this was implemented to optimize efficiency but most say it's blowing cool air after the heat has disipated across the heat exchanger.
As for a boiler when high limit has been reached the burners turn off but the circ pump still delivers hot water,then if the t stat is satisfied it will not call for heat,but the baseboards are still radiating....So again I honestly cant answer your question but just give you my observation.

On a side note if you have allergy's there is a product out the called Guardian air it was created back in the early 90's to combat the Sars virus /bird flu this is a neat UV lite that gets installed in the supply air plenum it works off of 115 Volts and should be tied into the fan relay,this way it will get energized when there is a call for heat or cooling,anyway this product creates good Ozone and it is proactive google it and check it out,I think this it the best product one could have if they suffer from allergies.

[Saltheart]

Originally Posted by Swimmer

You and my wife must be related

I've got lots of things posted here. Curious which one makes me sound like I'm related to your wife?

[Saltheart]

Thanks for the info 5/0. The whole humidification thing seems like a science all to itself. I know my house is too dry usually. When I feel the need , I run a high capacity room humidifier in the bedroom. The only time I seems to really be bothered by the low humidity is when trying to go to sleep and when I first wake up. I tried a big hamper size humidifier once. It really made the floor it was on (all bedrooms except the bathroom on that floor)feel comfortable. It also enables you to run the thermostat at a lower average temp and still feel comfortable.

[Dave Dennison]

My favorite heat is radiant heat mixed with hydo air.. My problem is that in my home I would have had to do extensive work to get it in. I decided to stay with the forced hot air system when I replaced it 2 years ago.
For allergy and dust filtration I have an Aprilaire filter and it works well. I also have an ultra violet light in the system, between the two add-ons both kids and wife are happy. I was going to install a humidifier but decided to go with just a room humidifier in the two bedrooms. It seems to work easier for us. This is only because I have seen to many systems ruined because the humidifier was never serviced and it leaked all over the place. That and the pads get mold in them. You see the units in your bedroom but everyone forgets the one burried on your system in the basement.
I feel if you are building new construction Radiant heat is the way to go. More costly but in my opinion better. Just educate yourself about the controls and how the system works. Don't assume the guy coming to your house for annual service knows anything about it. I love the outdoor reset joe talks about and have installed many techmar systems. They work awesome and really save you money. The out of pocket expense is a bit. I know the company I worked for before I became disabled installed them and would get up to 2K to install them. They were a high end company so you would have to shop around I guess.