How to install, and prank, a high efficiency heating system
'Energy Star, bee-yotch! That’s a tax deduction!' 
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(83 votes)
Published: Dec 08, 2007 7:16 p.m.
Viewed 366 times |
Many of you here at Rotteneggs are mechanically inclined. If you can remove and install an engine from a motor vehicle, you can install a high efficiency heating system. You can also exploit the weakness of someone else’s high efficiency heating system, creating a harmelss yet annoying prank.
The cold winters in western Pennsylvania keep the douche bags away. Women here don’t put on full length fur coats, from their shoulders to their ankles, anytime the temperature drops below 65 degrees (F) and tell everyone they’ll "just freeze to day-eth!" But heating fuel isn’t getting any cheaper. In 2012, when the United States has to start buying gas from the Russians and the Arabs, look for today’s already sky-high price to double or triple.
So my old system, apparently installed in 1977 but looking much older, had to go.
The inside looks even worse. The iron heat exchanger is rusted, and rains rust onto the burner tubes, clogging them. The result is a sickly yellow flame that doesn’t heat the water within. I swapped the burner control for a modern pilotless spark ignition module and control a few years back, as explained on that yellow sticker, but now it’s time to get serious.
So the new one goes to the right of the old. The new boiler won’t be attached to the old masonry chimney. More on that later.
This thing cost me $1100 used, and cost the previous owner $5000 new. Here’s what $1100 buys these days:
(1) Limit switch--sets the water temperature; I set it at 140 degrees (F).
(2) Filler pipe--I used the old filler system and capped this thing off.
(3) Temperature and pressure relief valve--opens in case of emergency.
(4) Aluminum heat exchanger--similar to engine block from 1975 Chevrolet Vega. Gas flame burns on the inside, and circulation water carries heat away.
(5) Exhaust duct and blower--unlike conventional heating systems, this one pulls so much heat from the gas flame that the gases no longer rise and blow away, so the fan is needed
(6) Water temperature gauge--holy shit, it actually works, unlike the one on the old boiler.
(7) Water pressure gauge--about 8 psi during operation.
(8) Tee--this is where the hot water comes out.
(9) Gas valve--turns the gas on and off
(10) Indicator lights
(11) Intake sump--sucks in air and preheats it using condensate (more about condensate later)
So I drained the old beast and disconnected the circulation plumbing, which moves hot water to and from the radiators. I put a three foot length of pipe on the handle of my pipe wrench for leverage. Then I disconnected the gas, electrical wiring, and flue.
Then I scooted the old son of a bitch out of the way. I got a concrete pad, like they use for outdoor air conditioners, and some concrete bricks, and used them to build a pedestal. This will hold the new boiler off the floor in the event of a flood.
I had to get lots of pipes custom cut to length and threaded. Not to mention a circulator pump, since the guy who sold me the boiler kept the pump for himself. The hole in the wall is where the old boiler connected into the chimney. This was the most time consuming part of the job. Then came the gas pipe, which is also installed with custom cut plumbing.
Then I put in the combustion air pipes, one to suck in air from outside, and the other to blow out the exhaust.
And out through the sillplate they went.
The electrical stuff was complicated due to the previous owner’s butchering of the wiring, but the schematic diagram helped a lot.
We’re almost done. I’ve refilled the circulation water for the radiators, "burped" out as much air as I could, connected the gas, and the electricity is ready to go at the flip of a switch. The last step is to disconnect the air hose...
...and fill up the sump with water. This will be pumped through the exhaust, then back to the intake, where it will preheat the incoming air. This is the most efficient heating system design on the market today.
About two months later, it’s done! Let’s fire it up.
This is the glow bar, which ignites the gas. You can see the orange glow through the sight glass.
And the gas is lit. Let’s follow the path of the combustion air, starting at the bottom right corner of the picture. It’s sucked into the sump, prewarmed, and goes up. Then it goes through the blue hose, and up, where it mixes with gas from the gas control. Then it’s ignited. The red arrows show a zig-zag pattern throuth the heat exchanger, where it heats the circulation water and loses heat. Then, it’s blown through the metal exhaust flue, where it heats the condensate water, then blown out of the building. The system works beautifully for an hour or so, until the boiler starts making a THUH-THUH-THUH-THUH sound and stops igniting the gas. I removed the access plate on the heat exchanger, and saw the thing was flooded. Like a pneumonia patient with fluid in his lungs, the boiler was drowning in its own wastes. On the bottom right of the heat exchanger, that’s where it connects to the flue. That area was full of water, choking off the flow of air to the outdoors. The boiler was not drained properly wen it was disconnected by the previous owner, so the condensate drain lines were clogged with minerals. I was able to blast them clean with compressed air. You can see the orange silicone gasket sealant I used to replace the cover on the left side of the heat exchanger.
And when you see these things, here’s where the pranks come in. What looks like smoke is actually a cloud of water vapor blowing into the atmosphere. The other pipe is sucking in air.
Stuff a rag or something into one or both pipes, and the system will shut down. Fill the exhaust pipe with water from a hose or other source, and the heat exchanger will flood, also shutting down the system. Your mark will awaken to a cold house.
I’ll install a wood- or coal-burning boiler where the old one stood, utilizing the old chimney and cutting my gas fuel consumption even further. But that’s another story. |
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 | Dec 08, 2007 7:36 pm -
Three cheers for REDNECKS! 5* |
 | Dec 08, 2007 7:44 pm -
HOLY SHIT
5*s |
 | Dec 08, 2007 7:53 pm -
FUCKING FIVED BITCH |
| Dec 08, 2007 8:36 pm -
hahah 13 rates, all 5* man...
Gotta give it up for redneck minds. |
 | Dec 08, 2007 9:36 pm -
this is a great eg...and while im not a mechanical type of person(however i would ike to be one) this egg clearly deserves a 5
...also...h-dogg...i print scrned it when it said perfect 5 in green under it...if you want the pic pm me |
 | Dec 08, 2007 10:33 pm -
5* but way more work then ill go throgh |
 | Dec 08, 2007 10:35 pm -
The second i saw that shitty rusty ass basement i knew it was pennsylvania. So i read it then it said you live in pennsylvania. That made me feel speshul so 5*. Although i dont know wut your attempting because i didn’t read it :) just the first part. |
 | Dec 08, 2007 11:14 pm -
Quote: 5* but way more work then ill go throgh
Wait ’til I tell you I left out a lot of details.
Quote: The second i saw that shitty rusty ass basement i knew it was pennsylvania.
Fair enough. This house has stood for about 100 years, was completely submerged during the St. Patrick’s Day flood of 1936, and could easily stand 100 more. Those half-million-dollar particle board McMansions, replete with granite countertops, stainless steel kitchen appliances, and 12 inch thick concrete slab foundations? Not so much. |
 | Dec 09, 2007 12:08 am -
Well done, easy 5*. |
 | Dec 09, 2007 6:06 am -
its involved and i’m sold lol but seriously 5* |
 | Dec 09, 2007 10:49 am - good detail
5* |
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