chas

My prayers and thoughts go out to all the families of orlando

Absolutely.  Whatever your sexual preference is, it's nobody else's business.  Sexual persecution was normal hundreds of years ago. Have we learned nothing in all these centuries? Too much hate, too much violence, too much fear. Prayers for all of them. 
 
And one last thing.  We as Americans can't live in fear. We can't stop living. We can't stop vacationing. We can't stop working. We didn't stop after 911. We can't stop now.  Or they win.  And I will never let them win. 

Traded in my 4Runner on this beaut this weekend.  Loved my 4Runner, but with sitting in gridlock for 2+ hours a day I wanted some creature comforts.  I think I have owned 5 cars since joining this forum...its a problem.  This will be my 5-7 year car so long as it holds up.  Have to say I am truly impressed with the new Grand Cherokees.  Fell in love with it on the test drive.
 
It will get a full detailing shakedown in 2-3 weeks.
 

Welcome, Mike!  I am in the Great Falls/Sterling area.  Darryl over at Odds and Ends is a great supplier and one cool dude to chat with.

Welcome, Mike!  I am in the Great Falls/Sterling area.  Darryl over at Odds and Ends is a great supplier and one cool dude to chat with.

Counting on Rupes Fanboys to upgrade to the new models and me to pick up a slightly used model cheap from someone selling it!

bahahaha!  I want like one good snow....and then for summer to return swiftly.  

If I was in the market for a sedan, this would be it.  Well done!  Beautiful car, I mean monster.

Picked up a '16 Scat Pack right off the transport truck.  
 
Here she is...










 

is a great idea!
 
I finished that for you ​
 
Let's see pictures of everyone's winter prep, unless you had a specific question about the product Matt?

Guys, thanks for all the continued help, its much appreciated.  It's been a couple of days so thought I would give an update.  
 
With regards to the shower issue.  No replacing the entire distributor.  Had a plumber come out and was great about letting me watch and teaching me about what he was doing.  Essentially, at some point in the past, the previous homeowner or one of their contractors encased the entire distributor and stem in caulk.  This therefore led the the stem not being able to be removed and the two support screws to sheer off.  The plumber removed as much caulk as he could and backed out one of the screws, the other was a lost cause, but given that we will be redoing the masterbath in the next year and him advising that one screw should do for now, I decided to go it without one screw.  After removing even more caulk he was able to remove the stem.  We replaced it with a new one and walked me through how to put the new faucet head on.  Work accomplished, hot water back in our lives.
 
As it relates to the air handler (which I have been incorrectly referring to as a furnace) an electrician came out (both plumber and electrician sent out under our home warranty) and checked the breaker and furnace.  Again, the tech was nice and let me follow him and learn as he explained everything he was doing.  The breaker for the air handler is 60 amps.  The air handler, however, was drawing 65 amps, thus causing the trip of the breaker (this was on emergency heat setting in which all elements inside the handler were live).  After checking the breaker we moved to the furnace.  The furnace has three elements, which the electrician told me (have yet to verify) is way more than is necessary for our home.  He indicated two elements is enough.  When testing element amperage, each was drawing approximately 22.5 amps (under emergency heat setting).  Therefore, the load under emergency heat, which kicks on usually below 40 degrees was drawing 65 amps on a 60 amp breaker.  He unplugged one of the elements and we have been golden since.  The breaker hasn't tripped in a few days and we are getting consistent heat upstairs.
 
I think I get why the air handler was tripping the breaker the day we moved in.  We had several doors open, allowing cooler air into the house.  It was 60 degrees that day and the house temperature was 60 degrees as well.  When realizing this we set the temperature to 72 degrees, while the doors were still open.  My inkling is that the heat pump couldn't handle going from 60 to 72 without assistance from all three elements in the handler.  This would thus cause all three elements to trigger and draw 65 amps on a 60 amp breaker.  What we should have done was waited until we finished moving, closed all the doors and brought the temperature up in the house in increments.  This would have allowed the heat pump to work as normal without triggering all three elements.  Regardless of this, the blower and coils in the air handler need to be cleaned.  We are going to have someone come out and chemically clean them.  This way, with the maintenance records of the previous owners, which we have, and us taking care of the air handler, if the Carrier air handler goes in the next year we have solid evidence of proper maintenance for the warranty company and we can get it replaced if needed.
 
On another note, got the garage cleaned up and moved the cars in!  In the spring I will be starting a thread, or continuing this one, about the garage makeover into my own personal detailing studio
 

Hey Chas,
 
Carrier does make a top notch product.  If the whole system is 20 years old put in the back of your mind to update the system in a couple of years.  When my neighbor replaced his system which was around 28 years (the amps the compressor was using went half).  I tell people to go with Performance Series and get the highest rated single stage compressor model.  Why that is single stage compressor is half the price of two stage compressor (when I put my system in five years ago).
 
The only thing I could think of the 90 Amp is that he is adding up the whole usage for the indoor unit.  Just looking at your pic it appears that your indoor unit (is electrical not gas or oil).  Look at your electrical panel if it is well labeled (see if any is labeled).   How many breakers do you have for the system?
 
The system that I have has two double pole just for the indoor unit (one for the unit and the other for the electrical heat - used during defrost or you turn your thermostat to Aux or Emergency depending on the type of thermostat that you have).  If you have one double pole breaker for the indoor unit and that is a smaller amp that is your problem when the electrical heat comes on when called for). The electrical heat inside the inside unit is what will take the most amps because it does not take many amps to just run the fan. 
 
My Carrier System
60 Amp (Indoor Unit)
30 Amp (Indoor Unit)
40 Amp (Outdoor Unit)
 
I hope I made sense with this long post I could go into more details if needed.

Thanks guys!  We moved in on Friday and while there were a lot of positives this weekend, a lot of negative things occurred too.  Our furnace kept tripping the breaker Friday, had to have an HVAC guy reduce the furnace power to 3/4 to prevent anymore tripping.  Means warm air isn't getting to the top level.  Having an electrician come out Wednesday to hopefully update the breaker to 90 amp.
 
Furthermore, last night I went to go take a shower and the faucet head sheared off.  No we have to get a plummer to come in and fix that.  I think a whole new distributor is needed, which I just don't have the skills to handle myself.  
 
Otherwise, on a positive note, our backsplash was installed, grouting is today.  I also finished our downstairs bathroom.
 



 

Only 20 amp for an electric furnace? my small 220v electric forced air heater in my garage has a 50 amp breaker. electric heat takes some juice! I am currently building a new shop for my machine shop and the main shop will have a heat pump with electric backup and the disconnect for that unit is 100 amp, and that is a 480v 3ph unit. the same unit in 240v would have at least a 200 amp disconnect (it is a large industrial unit that will heat and cool our 7000 sq ft shop space not a household sized piece though) so 90 amp for a household furnace doesn't seem out of line to me.
 
On the other hand the breaker that is in the panel for Chas's furnace could be weak and just need replaced? I'm not an electrician so this is NOT an actual recommendation, just conjecture.

that is probably it. the remodels are looking very nice BTW!

Chas great job on all your hard work it looks amazing. What type of heat is it hot air, forced hot water (baseboard) if I were to guess like Nick said the breaker went bad or the motor, blower, pump could be bad. Electric stoves and dryers only use 30 amp 220 volt you could run most of your house on a 90 amp breaker. With all your remodels did you do any electric work maybe someone tied into the wire that feeds your furnace. As for the shower with a little luck it can just be rebuilt in the wall depending on what and were it broke. 

Great work on the house, things are coming along nicely for you! 
 
I also have to agree on the breaker, I can ask my neighbor who is an electrician as to specifics but if you are actually using 90 amps for ANYTHING I would be exceedingly shocked. 
 
Entire houses used to have 100amp services and have heat hot water and all that stuff so if they tell you the system requires it ask where they are getting the info. 
 
Speaking of electrical info, there should be a tag SOMEWHERE on the unit that describes its electrical usage and supply needs. If you could post some pics of the furnace we might be able to help some more. Also is it an all electric furnace or do you also have gas or oil supply to it? 
 
and for some Math fun for all you math geeks out there. 90amps at 240V (assuming it is a double pole breaker) with a power factor of 1 (its old so not efficient) gives us a ratting of 21.6kW, now we assume that the furnace is going to run for around 5 hours per day, which would give you 108 kWh PER DAY. For reference and we are big electrical users due to my other hobbies with a Well pump and my wifes regular cooking we are typically around a total of 800-850 kWh's per MONTH. Just by these numbers something seems VERY off here. The solution of merely installing a larger breaker because the previous one wsa tripping should not be done, the breaker trips for one of two reasons, the breaker is failing or the unit is failing, one way or the other something is wrong that upsizing the breaker will not solve, only potentially make worse. Your electrician should inform you of alot of things when he is there, take good notes and do your homework before fully trusting him. 

Shower arm should be an easy fix, EZ out, teflon tape,, new shower arm.  Probably $20-25.00 DIY.  Biggest cost will be the EZ out.
 
Tap EZ out into broken pc and unscrew.  Teflon tape the new arm and screw it in. Might invest in lo flo shower head while you are there.

I would be pretty surprised if it was a 120v furnace heating a whole house. if it is a heat pump (not actually using electricity to heat the air) it could be possible. Even a lot of the in the wall electric room heaters are 240v. Like I said before...electric heat takes some serious juice!
 
---Side note---
I checked my last power bill and I used 1610 kWh's last month...and I don't have electric heat in the house other than a small heater in my sons room and my garage that is kept at 45-50. I'm not saying that a 90amp breaker is what should be in there because only the tag on the unit can tell us that but I would expect my usage to at least double if I was heating 100% with electric.
 
(Jim if your a big user I'm really doing something wrong!  )

After I posted I thought it could be an all electric furnace. But whoever wired it 20 yrs ago would have done it right. Changing circuits usually involves changing the wire too. Which could get messy and expensive.
 
My furnace is gas btw.

Thanks guys!  We moved in on Friday and while there were a lot of positives this weekend, a lot of negative things occurred too.  Our furnace kept tripping the breaker Friday, had to have an HVAC guy reduce the furnace power to 3/4 to prevent anymore tripping.  Means warm air isn't getting to the top level.  Having an electrician come out Wednesday to hopefully update the breaker to 90 amp.
 
Furthermore, last night I went to go take a shower and the faucet head sheared off.  No we have to get a plummer to come in and fix that.  I think a whole new distributor is needed, which I just don't have the skills to handle myself.  
 
Otherwise, on a positive note, our backsplash was installed, grouting is today.  I also finished our downstairs bathroom.
 



 

90 amp???? For a furnace? Mine is only on a dedicated 20 amp. In regards to your faucet it may entail cutting a hole in your wall and replacing the surround. Sorry to hear that. If I lived closer I would give you a hand.

Mower? I have a lawn guy. Best money I spend. Every time I see them coming to mow, I'm doing or going somewhere with my kids or family.

Figured might be cool to post an update here.  We closed on the house on October 30th and almost immediately started doing some updates.  We move in tomorrow, with the backsplash, carpet and final sink hook-up being finished (hopefully) today.  In all, new hardwood was put in, popcorn ceilings removed and some updates to the downstairs half bathroom.  I will try and put some before and afters in.  To say I'm excited is an understatement.  Hoping in the spring to make a large adam's order to outfit the garage appropriately.  Other than granite, hardwood and popcorn ceilings my wife and I have done the work ourselves, its a rewarding experience.
 
Kitchen Before:



 
Me ripping out the tin backsplash:

 
Kitchen After
 
No hardwood or backsplash yet in this picture




 


 
Living Room Before:

 
Living Room After (unfortunately taken at night):

 
Family Room Before:

 
Family Room After:
 
White washing the fireplace


 
Mud Room Before:

 
Mudroom After my wife and I painted and installed new shelving:

 
Downstairs Halfbath Before:

 
Halfbath During my vanity removal, wall repair and repaint:




 
Half bathroom after my wife and I repainted and I repaired the wall, no hardwood yet:


 
With hardwood:

 
So the garage is next.  Going to re-coat the floor with a gray epoxy and repaint the walls an even lighter gray/white, with white floor and door trim throughout.  
Best,
 
I'll add updates as they come!
 
Chas
 

My garage we used Sherwin Williams SuperPaint (you will spend more than others for this but you would not believe how great it has been).   It has been 8 years and you would think we just painted it yesterday.
 
Chas just a word to the wise you do not want your garage walls too white (will show very single spot you can believe).  When we repainted (father and myself) the color has a slight touch of brown in it and it complements the exterior brick color of the house.