Most of this month’s summary will be devoted to our radiant heat system. After Lucas checked everything on January 2nd, we set the thermostats to the desired temperature for each of the five zones and watched the boiler go into action. Because the system was dormant for 3 days, we lost a considerable amount of the heat stored in the concrete slabs. The boiler had to run continuously for 12 hours (oh shit, the propane being consumed…). Once the slabs are up to temperature, the boiler only kicks on for a few minutes, whenever a zone is down one degree down from the set point. Example: thermostat is set to 68 degrees, boiler will send hot water to that zone when the thermostat sees 66.9 degrees. The cycle is completed and the boiler shuts off when the thermostat is back to 68 degrees. I check the mechanical room multiple times per day, just to get smarter about how this system works. I rarely see the boiler on, from early morning until we go to bed. Typically, during my first check in the morning, will feel the copper manifolds and they are all warm to the touch, indicating the system has gone off and on while we slept. Very energy efficient – when it’s working properly. Read on… lol
Mid-month, we experienced a brutally cold winter storm that settled over most of the US. The only room in both buildings that became colder during this cold spike, was the living/great room. This was not unexpected, with the 15 foot ceiling and the wall of glass looking west. Was pleased to observe when operating the ceiling fan, warm air was pushed down closer to floor level, adding a couple degrees. No surprise when a small fire in the woodstove quickly made the large room very comfortable. Toward the end of the crazy cold weather, the boiler went back to random, infrequent shut downs with a 128 fault code (no flame detected during staging) displayed. This has been an ongoing irritation since November. Thought we were done with that after 2 weeks of trouble free operation. When looking in the mechanical room, if I observe a light flashing on the boiler control panel, would also see the number; 128. When that occurs, the boiler shuts down. It’s a simple procedure, pushing the reset button for 2 seconds, and the boiler is back in operation. Sometimes this occurs one or more times per day, or fault free for days or a couple weeks. It happened during the cold stretch, apparently shutting down shortly after we went to bed. The next morning, it was noticeably chilly and all of the copper manifolding was cool to my touch. As a result, the boiler ran continuously for 7 hours to get caught up. Lucas is calling the boiler manufacturer’s product support engineering group to see if they have experience to share, and the root cause.
In other news, I have a pair of vehicle lifts assembled and operating in the shop. This is literally a dream come true for me. I have spent more than 40 years working under cars with jack stands and a creeper. Finally having a fully heated shop, with the equipment to work under a vehicle – standing up – is making me giddy. lol. Closing out January by developing a detailed plan for the north wall of the great room. It will consist of built-in shelves and base cabinets to store vinyl albums, cds, dvds, books, an audio rack and large flat screen television. I would like to complete that large project by the end of February, but there is a strong invisible force pulling me to the shop to commence getting caught up with vehicle maintenance.
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