Jim that is an excellent suggestion that I hadn't thought of. Tie it into a wood-fired boiler outside maybe? I am insulating but, frankly, really haven't spent much fore thought on exactly HOW to heat. Do I see a potential problem with the PEX - to be most effective, I probably should have thrown some rigid insulation under the gravel base to insulate the slab?
So I got a good deal on some trusses...
- Thread starter dholly
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JimMorrissey
Veteran Member
dh....Definite problem. That's a shame because you have a wood fired boiler! Radiant heat is pretty easy to install, but you suck the system dry without insulation. Too bad....unless you can think of a way to do it.
Farwell
Veteran Member
You have the grounding and bonding well taken care of. I wish I had the fourth wire running to my pole barn but it is to late now. I did not see any NEC reference to alternate power sources (generators) in your post. From my reading on the Internet there may be some different grounding and safety rules that apply. I do not have a generator so I haven't focused on the systems but plan on getting a combination generator- welder in the future. Can't see spending all of that money on a generator that I may use once a year. I also plan on total isolation from the power utility when I do use a generator.
Another thing I thought of when putting other wiring in the same trench as the AC line is the potential of electrical noise in the near by wiring. Don't know enough about twisted pairs in the CAT5 wiring or if shielding is needed.
Another thing I thought of when putting other wiring in the same trench as the AC line is the potential of electrical noise in the near by wiring. Don't know enough about twisted pairs in the CAT5 wiring or if shielding is needed.
You're right, it would be a real shame if I had a boiler, but I don't so that eases the pain somewhat I guess. Radiant heat certainly would have been nice. So what do folks think about using a small airtight woodburning stove in a workshop/garage for weekend (not daily) heating? No fuel storage inside but of course fueled vehicles at least some of the time. Is that Can-do or You're crazy idea?
Farwell
Veteran Member
On wood heating, my insurance company told me that I can not have any wood fired heating inside of any of my buildings or they would cancel my policy or deny a claim if I had a fire. They said that I could have an outside wood fired boiler, but they would have to inspect it before they would approve it. I have been looking at the corn fired systems out of curiosity. They seem economical to operate but some can be labor intensive and initial cost is sort of high.
It wouldn't surprise me if insurance co.'s would drop you like a hot potato if done haphazardly, but let's face it, plenty of folks safely use wood as a sole heat source. That's a pretty tough stance - zero tolerance.
One thing I have done in the new house... we have a large, finished walkout with a woodstove, so I cut and installed a couple of dampered return air grates into the existing central air return run directly over the woodstove. The thought being, since it would be next to impossible to run the electric heat pump economically with a small kw generator, opening the dampers and powering the low draw central fan by generator would move hot air from the basement and distribute it throughout the entire house. Might not be enough for t-shirt temps but would keep pipes safe from freezing during an extended outage.
Again, thanks everyone for the input so far, two heads are [usually!] better than one!
One thing I have done in the new house... we have a large, finished walkout with a woodstove, so I cut and installed a couple of dampered return air grates into the existing central air return run directly over the woodstove. The thought being, since it would be next to impossible to run the electric heat pump economically with a small kw generator, opening the dampers and powering the low draw central fan by generator would move hot air from the basement and distribute it throughout the entire house. Might not be enough for t-shirt temps but would keep pipes safe from freezing during an extended outage.
Again, thanks everyone for the input so far, two heads are [usually!] better than one!
The water line is in - I ended up with a 1" water supply, mostly because the 1/2" was $14/100ft while 1" was $19/100ft and the 1-1/2" was almost double that @ $35/100ft. The electric service conduit is in and 4-wire pulled. Also got the data, etc., conduit in and pulled and the middle of the trench backfilled. Left both ends open for inspection.
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I got nervous after seeing Farwell's comment re: running unshielded wires so I scrounged thru the junk pile and found some shielded twisted 3-pair direct burial and decided to pull that in my 1" conduit in case the non-shielded didn't work. Funky wire, has a vaseline like goo inside the first sheath.
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I was able to get (1) RG for cable TV, (5) Cat 5 twisted 4-pair and (2) of the shielded twisted 3-pair thru the 1" conduit with a little wiggling. I figure I can use the shielded for telephone and computer and the Cat 5 for alarms, misc. I like khd's contactor idea, maybe turn on the block heater, trigger the overhead door to open and fire a remote start for the tractor...
