dtontarski

How about loss of conductivity due to the corrosion resulting in over heating and the scorching of the insulation?

Rob - It is in a condo's mechanical room with a ng water heater and furnace, and the laundry room is right next door. We're thinking along the same lines. I think I've seen a post here about chemicals corrosion too. Dave

I've never seen grounded conductors in this condition before. What may have caused this? Download Attachment: Copy of Dan 014.jpg 507.91 KB Download Attachment: Copy of Dan 018.jpg 453.37 KB

Rob - Thanks for your reply and your advice. April is traditionally the busiest month for me locally. I've driven 3 + hour round trips several times for inspections, but these were desireable properties. (historically, geographically, or otherwise compelling) This is a foreclosure that was not properly winterized and I don't have any guarantees that I will have electricity, propane or water. I too love a challenge, but this one has too many unknowns. Dave

Ah...the pitfalls of getting up early and asking stupid questions here instead of waiting for the installers to get to work so that I can make my inquiries locally. I was told by the company that installs these furnaces that they routinely install a drain line on the intake side to protect the furnace from any rain or melted snow that finds its way into this intake pipe. This seems like a good practice...I wonder why they don't glue their PVC connections, properly strap their vent pipes, and put some type of exterior elbow, t, or manufacturer termination kit on the vent pipes to keep the water out?

Since my last post I have learned that propane currently averages about $2.50/gal in New York State. The propane supplier I spoke to stated that hydronic radiant flooring systems generally use more propane than force air systems, but still estimated that the home in question should be expected to use around 1,500 gallons a year. They had no explanation of what would result in twice the average consumption. I think I'm going to steer clear of this one.

Is there any reason that a condensate drain line would be needed on the intake vent pipe for a high efficiency furnace? (Rheem RGRA-06EMAES) If you look real close (upper right) you will see that that this intake line has separated from one of the elbows (never glued). Click to Enlarge 46.01 KB

Thanks for the suggestions and explanations, and the prompt to play some old Clapton - and some new....Riding With The King is playing now. The individual that inquired regarding this inspection was told by the utility company that 3,000 gallons of year was excessive. I thought that the amount was errantly reported to me intially and requested they double check this. I was surprised that no one monitoring the forum remarked on this amount. Could there be any explanation for consuming this much propane to heat a < 3,000 square foot home reported to R-48 of attic insualation and R-19 walls? I just can't imagine spending 9 grand a year on propane. (I was told that it is about $3.00/gallon but haven't confirmed this)

Thanks for the recommendations!

I wasn't sure which forum to post this in - I just received an inquiry to inspect an efficiently built 1996 foreclosed on home. The buyers concerns are that the home wasn't properly winterized and this is complicated by the fact that it has an in-floor hydronic radiant system. The interesting bit of information they provided was that the home used 3,000 gallons of propane the year before it was abandoned. I don't know much about propane consumption, but this seem excessive for a less than 3,000 square foot home that is built efficiently even in upstate New York. (isn't that about 10K worth of propane?) Anyone have any ideas, other than a fairly considerable gas leak on how this home would consume this much propane - maybe someother hydronic/hyponic activity going on? This one has me a bit nervous...any words of wisdom on inspecting this home? Anyone have any bad experiences with hydronic radiant systems that were not properly winterized or just otherwise failed....how best to inspect, etc...? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. It's about a 150 mile round trip and the only reason I'm considering this is that it takes me fairly close to a couple of fairly good trout streams.

Matthew, Thanks! Dave

I observed a sewage pump installed for a newly added basement bath. I have not seen many sewage pump installations, and those I have observed had either an appropriately sized AAV or an atmospheric vent. This one's vent pipe Click to Enlarge 73.79 KBis connected above the point where the pump discharge line pumps into the main waste line to the septic. This is a closed loop. Other than a slight gurgling from the utility sink, which may be able to be resolved with an AAV installed near the utility sink, this seems to be functioning just fine. Is this an acceptable installation?

Thanks Terrance - good tips on what to look out for.

Googling away...This appears to be a WeatherKing product. Yes I realize the direct versus nondirect classification and how this determines inside versus exterior intake air, but when it is optional with an indirect - is one method better that the other? I'm still trying to find the manual for the ICECO unit I saw.

I inspected a home over the weekend with an ICECO natural gas fueled furnace. This is a new manufacturer for me - any opinions on these? To my question - This was a 90+ AFUE furnace and appeared to have the option to be installed with pvc pipes for both intake and exhaust, yet only the exhaust was installed. Opinions on this? Is this optional for all high efficiency furnaces, or particular to specific models? If optional is there a best practice and why? No manual was available for me to review, so I plan to google this a bit this morning, and I was hoping that I could get some opinions here as well. The notched floor joists, the poor pitch on the exhaust, the lack of an exterior 90 all screamed for me to delve into this a bit. Thanks!

Wow...that was fast. Thanks Kurt!

What is the recommendation on how to report on thermally actuated vent dampers? I observed these installed on the furnace and water heater vents in a 1984 built home yesterday. I understand that these were installed in the 80's energy crunch as they are designed to save heat by preventing heat loss up the vent. I've read that the thermally actuated ones are not as efficient or as safe as the electric versions which are wired into the gas valves and open and close in sync with the gas valve and burner ignition. (As they are in sync they open and close faster and therefore save more heat, and they have the safety feature that if they fail (say due to power loss) they fail in the open position and don't interfere with safe venting.) I have read that the thermally actuated ones could fail in the closed position. On the basis of what I have read, it seems like I should call these out as a potential safety issue and recommend removal. What are the opinions of this forum's experts? How are others reporting on these? Thanks - and Happy Holidays To All! Download Attachment: Copy of Sara 043.jpg 74.61 KB

Thanks again for the recommended resources to delve into this further. Simply googling this topic I found lots of (theory-based) opinions against closed-cell for this application, but no facts to back these opinions up. Per my original inquiry...I was looking for "experience-based opinions" - I thought that maybe someone participating in this forum may have actually seen problems with one or the other during a home inspection. I wasn't looking to skirt doing my own investigation, just looking to take advantage of the collective experience of the inspectors participating on this forum. I've spent considerable time at both the buildingscience.com site and the finehomebuilding.com site since my initial inquiry. I highly recommend both of these sites for anyone looking to broaden their knowledge.

Kurt, Thanks for directing me to Fine Homebuilding. I subscribed to finehomebuilding.com and searched through their insulation related articles. The article that I found that came closest to the one you referenced is one by Betsy Pettit that was published in April/May of this year. The article illustrated 3-different roof insulation systems that were utilized while updating 3-older homes. These systems included both open cell and closed cell sprayed foams in combination with XPS foam board, but they never addressed my initial inquiry about closed cell versus open cell and the opinion of many that closed cell foams can trap moisture, thereby making roof leaks and related damage hard to detect. I'd still be interested and appreciative of any opinions out there for or against one system over the other. Is the concern over "potential" moisture trapment a legitimate reason not to apply closed cell against the sheathing? As Betsy is partner (and wife) of Joe Lstiburek, does anyone know if they have discussed this topic at their Building Science Corporation website? Dave

Kurt - Could you advise me on how to navigate this site? I've spent a considerable amount of time there, and haven't been able to find the document you referenced. Is this under case studies? Thanks, Dave

I have a friend that is considering having a closed cell foam insulation product installed directly against his roof decking in his finished attic. The plan is to then install drywall with a sealer, and 2-coats of low-perm paint as a vapor retarder over this. (He lives in Northern New York) Some time has passed since this topic was discussed on this forum, and perhaps new experience-based opinions are now available? What's the current recommendation on this - an open cell product like icynene or a closed cell product? He's being swayed by the higher R-value of the closed cell foam, but I seem to remember cautions against closed cell for this application due to its potential to trap moisture. I told him to hold off until I was able to post a query on this to this site. I seem to recall that the opinion was that an open-cell foam was recommended due to its diffusion characteristics, but my recall isn't what it used to be. Any current thoughts and advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dave Tontarski

So..Steven's opinion of it being a transformer is accurate. Opinions on what this might have been installed to support?

ouch!

Mike - And the purpose of a flux capacitor is?

I observed this electrical component in a 1920's home. (as is - no cover installed) This was installed on the wall of an attached garage at near ceiling height. (adjacent to the home's kitchen) Download Attachment: Camille 060.jpg 92.75 KBPlease enlighten me as to what I'm looking at. Thanks.