Whine, Rant, HELP!!!

[gillumhouse]

Vent. This is VENT!!
According to DH the thermostat is malfunctioning. (He has become a worrywart

old man!!) It is freaking cold outside so why wouldn't the furnace run - almost constantly!
He took a la-la pill and he is still wanting me to sit in HIS area holding his hand when I cannot do a diddly-darn thing about anything! The local plumber's Dad died last night so I certainly do not want to call him. Right now I have him on the phone with a former guest who is a furnace guy. I am hoping talking to someone who knows about furnaces will get him calmed down.
He says the furnace is heating the house to 10 degrees above the thermostat setting, stops for 2 minutes and then comes on again. HE is talking about turning the furnace OFF!! Since there is a space heater in the bathroom and another in the kitchen that IF I am lucky would keep pipes from freezing I told him fine - go upstairs to the Gillum Room and crank the heat in there. He does not want to go upstairs (it would be one step at a time on his rump up and then back down) and I do not want to shut the furnace off! Thanks for listening. It has kept me from putting him out of his misery for at least 10 minutes!

 

[greyswan]

Kind of reminds me of how our patience was tested - when our son was nine, there were times we would ask him "how would you like to live to be 10?"

 

[gillumhouse]

Kind of reminds me of how our patience was tested - when our son was nine, there were times we would ask him "how would you like to live to be 10?".

I think I am back explaining something to our Sheryl, which I equated to being in Hell.
Andy told him the thermostat is probably shot. That he should turn the furnace off and then turn it on again in half an hour. Andy knows what he is talking about so I hope it works. I think I had best start getting things away from and off of the "radiator" in the foyer - it is a straight gas to burner heater that the water evaporated out of years ago but still warms beautifully - no safety features so we rarely use it.
He wants pudding!! For once I will GLADLY make it!!

 

[swirt]

So if it is heating to 10 degrees above the setting, what happens if you set it to 10 degrees below where you want it?

 

[YellowSocks]

So if it is heating to 10 degrees above the setting, what happens if you set it to 10 degrees below where you want it?.

So if it is heating to 10 degrees above the setting, what happens if you set it to 10 degrees below where you want it?

That's kinda what I was thinking...
=)
Kk.

 

[Copperhead]

Kind of reminds me of how our patience was tested - when our son was nine, there were times we would ask him "how would you like to live to be 10?".

I think I am back explaining something to our Sheryl, which I equated to being in Hell.
Andy told him the thermostat is probably shot. That he should turn the furnace off and then turn it on again in half an hour. Andy knows what he is talking about so I hope it works. I think I had best start getting things away from and off of the "radiator" in the foyer - it is a straight gas to burner heater that the water evaporated out of years ago but still warms beautifully - no safety features so we rarely use it.
He wants pudding!! For once I will GLADLY make it!!
.

How'd it go last night? Sure hope you were able to keep warm.

 

[Morticia]

Given a professional has determined it is the thermostat, that is an easy fix. You could even get a programmable one that shuts down at a certain time everynight to keep Mr Worrywart from wondering if it is turned off or not.
Just make sure you don't lose the wires into the wall when removing the old thermo. And that's the hardest part of the swap. I've done this myself. (Not lose the wires, but change a dial thermo to a programmable one.)

 

[gillumhouse]

Thanks for asking. After Andy got him calmed down, I made the pudding, and then was provided some comic relief (for me that is) when I heard another verbal diatribe coming from his area - he spilled the pudding all over himself! I was evil enough to take pleasure from it!
As for setting the thermostat down, it was already down as far as it could go without being shut off totally. That is what got him going. I convinced him that it did not make sense for both of us to be up all night (he will not go to bed with the space heaters running - even though both have the safety features) so he finally went to bed about 2am. I actually spent a lot of the night decrapifying my area although you would not know it to look in here. I have another bag half full but now have 2 tubs that are half empty! Found some stuff I had lost track of too.
Called the plumbing shop this morning to get on the list for Monday for a new thermostat but Linda asked about today. The guys are kind of at loose ends because of the death, the funeral is Monday. I am supposed to get a new thermostat today - digital with big numbers that are lighted I think she said. I do not think they do the programable and I have to stick with what they do because they will come fix what they do - and for me with the business I do have to admit, they come NOW. It got down to -4 according to the news this morning. All water lines were flowing this morning.
Yeehaa! As I went out for the mail, the guy with the thermostat arrived!

 

[gillumhouse]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time.

 

[Morticia]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time..

Hate to say it but you either have to let the water run all the time or you've got to turn that thermostat up a few degrees so it comes on more frequently! Good luck with defrosting!
It's cold enough here that there is steam rising off the ocean as it gives up the little heat it has.

 

[gillumhouse]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time..

Hate to say it but you either have to let the water run all the time or you've got to turn that thermostat up a few degrees so it comes on more frequently! Good luck with defrosting!
It's cold enough here that there is steam rising off the ocean as it gives up the little heat it has.
.

It shows you how infrequently we have the problem - after 14 years we are still learning the quirks of the house.
Running the furnace would not help this particular problem because it is all under the house. Next time, that little electric heater (with fan) will go under the house in the beginning. I have it pointed in the general direction of the water heater. We are better off this time than last - last time we lost the cold water too. We open the doors under the sink and had the 6-panel gas heater on in the kitchen all night. The new cabinet blocks it a little - we have a piece of metal leaning against it to deflect the heat from the side of the oak cabinet. This house is 97 years old and is in better shape than i will be at that age - like me, it needs a "knee replacement".
Edited to add - the kitchen and our bathroom were originally the back porch. In the early 50s the dining room became a bedroom, the kitchen became the dining room and the back porch was enclosed and converted to kitchen and create a bathroom for the Gillums now downstairs bedroom.

 

[Morticia]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time..

Hate to say it but you either have to let the water run all the time or you've got to turn that thermostat up a few degrees so it comes on more frequently! Good luck with defrosting!
It's cold enough here that there is steam rising off the ocean as it gives up the little heat it has.
.

It shows you how infrequently we have the problem - after 14 years we are still learning the quirks of the house.
Running the furnace would not help this particular problem because it is all under the house. Next time, that little electric heater (with fan) will go under the house in the beginning. I have it pointed in the general direction of the water heater. We are better off this time than last - last time we lost the cold water too. We open the doors under the sink and had the 6-panel gas heater on in the kitchen all night. The new cabinet blocks it a little - we have a piece of metal leaning against it to deflect the heat from the side of the oak cabinet. This house is 97 years old and is in better shape than i will be at that age - like me, it needs a "knee replacement".
Edited to add - the kitchen and our bathroom were originally the back porch. In the early 50s the dining room became a bedroom, the kitchen became the dining room and the back porch was enclosed and converted to kitchen and create a bathroom for the Gillums now downstairs bedroom.
.

We have one of those small heaters in behind the shower in one room. The shower was cobbled together from 3 feet of the side porch. There's no foundation underneath so it's wide open to the elements. The floor of the shower ices over if we don't run the heater.

 

[Samster]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time..

Hate to say it but you either have to let the water run all the time or you've got to turn that thermostat up a few degrees so it comes on more frequently! Good luck with defrosting!
It's cold enough here that there is steam rising off the ocean as it gives up the little heat it has.
.

It shows you how infrequently we have the problem - after 14 years we are still learning the quirks of the house.
Running the furnace would not help this particular problem because it is all under the house. Next time, that little electric heater (with fan) will go under the house in the beginning. I have it pointed in the general direction of the water heater. We are better off this time than last - last time we lost the cold water too. We open the doors under the sink and had the 6-panel gas heater on in the kitchen all night. The new cabinet blocks it a little - we have a piece of metal leaning against it to deflect the heat from the side of the oak cabinet. This house is 97 years old and is in better shape than i will be at that age - like me, it needs a "knee replacement".
Edited to add - the kitchen and our bathroom were originally the back porch. In the early 50s the dining room became a bedroom, the kitchen became the dining room and the back porch was enclosed and converted to kitchen and create a bathroom for the Gillums now downstairs bedroom.
.

Knock wood nothing has burst or will burst in your house! Neighbor had an outside pipe break at the front of the house & water was running down to the backyard like a river.

 

[gillumhouse]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time..

Hate to say it but you either have to let the water run all the time or you've got to turn that thermostat up a few degrees so it comes on more frequently! Good luck with defrosting!
It's cold enough here that there is steam rising off the ocean as it gives up the little heat it has.
.

It shows you how infrequently we have the problem - after 14 years we are still learning the quirks of the house.
Running the furnace would not help this particular problem because it is all under the house. Next time, that little electric heater (with fan) will go under the house in the beginning. I have it pointed in the general direction of the water heater. We are better off this time than last - last time we lost the cold water too. We open the doors under the sink and had the 6-panel gas heater on in the kitchen all night. The new cabinet blocks it a little - we have a piece of metal leaning against it to deflect the heat from the side of the oak cabinet. This house is 97 years old and is in better shape than i will be at that age - like me, it needs a "knee replacement".
Edited to add - the kitchen and our bathroom were originally the back porch. In the early 50s the dining room became a bedroom, the kitchen became the dining room and the back porch was enclosed and converted to kitchen and create a bathroom for the Gillums now downstairs bedroom.
.

Knock wood nothing has burst or will burst in your house! Neighbor had an outside pipe break at the front of the house & water was running down to the backyard like a river.
.

Thanks. So far - so good. I think because we use that little heater blowing into that huge space, it is a gentle enough warming that I do not think anything burst. A ceiling line from kitchen over the wall into the now dining room to go to the upstairs bathroom froze and burst in 1993-1994 when the temps were -30 on the thermometer here and that is one reason we got the house for our price - the boys did not want to have to go through another winter with the empty house and bursting pipes. That is when they made the little trap in the ceiling (how they gotto the pipe to fix it) and the same thing in the floor almost directly under that spot. We opened the trap in the ceiling yesterday for warm ait flow to the upstairs lines and put the heater down the hole and put the lid almost back in place this morning. Left a small gap. From now on - heater goes in the hole if single digits are predicted, no more waiting for the freeze!

 

[Samster]

It is -7 right now. Have no clue how cold it got during the night. I kept getting up and turning on the water in the kitchen but now realize I did not let it run long enough and should have done the same in our bathroom. ALL water lines are on outside walls in this 97-year old house. There is no way to reroute and unless I win the lottery, there is no way to get under the kitchen to wrap the lines with insulation.
Got the cold water in the kitchen this morning in a nick of time - it had started to freeze but I left the tap open and it cleared itself. Hot water line in the kitchen is frozen and there is NO water in our bathroom. Both the upstairs bathrooms have cold water but the hot is stopped, probably where it feeds into the hot water tank. So in a little bit I will be putting a small electric heater down the access hole in the kitchen and aiming it at the water lines hoping the fan will blow it thawed as it did last time this happened. Took all day last time..

Hate to say it but you either have to let the water run all the time or you've got to turn that thermostat up a few degrees so it comes on more frequently! Good luck with defrosting!
It's cold enough here that there is steam rising off the ocean as it gives up the little heat it has.
.

It shows you how infrequently we have the problem - after 14 years we are still learning the quirks of the house.
Running the furnace would not help this particular problem because it is all under the house. Next time, that little electric heater (with fan) will go under the house in the beginning. I have it pointed in the general direction of the water heater. We are better off this time than last - last time we lost the cold water too. We open the doors under the sink and had the 6-panel gas heater on in the kitchen all night. The new cabinet blocks it a little - we have a piece of metal leaning against it to deflect the heat from the side of the oak cabinet. This house is 97 years old and is in better shape than i will be at that age - like me, it needs a "knee replacement".
Edited to add - the kitchen and our bathroom were originally the back porch. In the early 50s the dining room became a bedroom, the kitchen became the dining room and the back porch was enclosed and converted to kitchen and create a bathroom for the Gillums now downstairs bedroom.
.

Knock wood nothing has burst or will burst in your house! Neighbor had an outside pipe break at the front of the house & water was running down to the backyard like a river.
.

Thanks. So far - so good. I think because we use that little heater blowing into that huge space, it is a gentle enough warming that I do not think anything burst. A ceiling line from kitchen over the wall into the now dining room to go to the upstairs bathroom froze and burst in 1993-1994 when the temps were -30 on the thermometer here and that is one reason we got the house for our price - the boys did not want to have to go through another winter with the empty house and bursting pipes. That is when they made the little trap in the ceiling (how they gotto the pipe to fix it) and the same thing in the floor almost directly under that spot. We opened the trap in the ceiling yesterday for warm ait flow to the upstairs lines and put the heater down the hole and put the lid almost back in place this morning. Left a small gap. From now on - heater goes in the hole if single digits are predicted, no more waiting for the freeze!
.

Sounds like a plan for the future. We are up into the 50s today but the lows at night will be in the 20s.