Archives: Air Conditioning

No Heat or Hot Water After Power Outage

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Maintanence

Our power went out today for about an hour due to high winds. Tonight I took a shower and discovered we had no hot water!! I should have known better because we have no heat or hot water after a power outage.Weil-McLain boilers occasionally shut themselves down with an error E04 code after power outages.…

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Oil and Propane Pre-Buy 2008

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning

Update October 2008: Well oil is now below $80/barrel and the pre-buy was certainly a bad idea in hind sight. How many of you pre-bought? Was there a clause for reduced market prices? Original Post July 2008:I received an interesting piece of mail yesterday. It was an advertisement from our local oil and propane supplier.…

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Oil Vs. Propane Fuel Calculator

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Energy Conservation

This is a post from last winter that’s been extremely popular. With Fall here and Winter heading our way I thought it was worth sharing again. Choosing between Oil and Propane Fuel is a hard decision. This Oil Vs Propane Fuel Calculator can help you make a decision. Fuel Calculator Recently I wrote about Heating…

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SpacePak Winter Supply Shut-Off

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Maintanence

We use the SpacePak air conditioning in our new home to cool the house in the summer. The SpacePak system is only used for air conditioning so there are two steps to take each fall in preparation for winter. Because the SpacePak system is not used for heating the house it sits unused all winter.…

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Fireplace Chimney Draft Stop Plug Balloon

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Energy Conservation

Chimney Draft Stop Balloon If you own a home with a large fireplace then you certainly know how drafty the fireplace can be in the winter. What’s concerning is the amount of heat that can be lost up through a chimney during the winter when you’re not using the chimney. Over the years I’ve seen…

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Radiant Heat Floor Insulation

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Insulation

Radiant Heat Insulation Thea in Maine recently emailed us a question about radiant heat insulation. He has radiant heat tubing stapled to the bottom of the plywood sub-floor in his house and the insulation that was installed by the builder is falling down and doesn’t appear to be installed properly. Thea asked me what method…

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Radiant Tubing Into Concrete Slab Detail

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Foundations

Radiant Slab Heat This post is an answer to a question a reader asked the other day. “How should I treat the radiant tubing into concrete slab detail?” It just so happens that I installed the radiant tubing in our new home so I’ve got a bit of experience with this detail. Installing radiant tubing…

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Plan Your Duct Work To Maximize Attic Space

By Todd Fratzel on Air Conditioning, Closets & Storage

Most houses built today use common trusses that don’t provide for attic space like older homes framed with traditional rafters. In a recent post, Creating Storage Room With Attic Trusses, I pointed out the benefit of using attic trusses to create inexpensive storage space. In order to take advantage of that newly gained space it’s…

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