Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Core Shot]

Has anyone put in a hot water recirculating system? My house has the hot water heater 60ft or 3/4” pipe away from any faucets and no way to move closer. Thinking a on demand push button system would be really nice to have. The hot water lines run along the basement ceiling which is currently open so it would be pretty easy to add a pex return line in.
Good idea or bad idea? Any recommendations on components?

I’m still trying to figure it out. Master bed is way far from heater. It has an old gravity recirc that used to work before I changed out the boiler. I’m hesitating to have a pump on it. Seems like a waste of energy. Otoh. Wasting water to get hot water also sucks.

I like the idea of a timer switch you can hit before you shit shower or shave. But my wife would never figure that out.

Also thought of a pony keg water heater in the crawl space.

They do make systems that work under the sink. Not sure how well they work.

[powdrhound]

My dad put a little heater under his sink. Worked great.
Didn’t help the shower at all.

[SailCat]

Circulating pumps work if you know what you are doing.
A friend had one and the residential plumber installed it backwards. It was supposed to run until the temp sensor in the return saw hot water back at the hot water tank. Instead it would pump the water 10 feet to the pump and shut off. But it looked right because the label on the pump was right side up.
I just removed one from my girlfriends house. It pumped into the cold water pipe until it sensed hot water, but didn't have a shutoff solenoid to prevent water flowing from the hot to cold or cold to hot pipe when the pump wasn't running.
Flushing the toilet or running the sprinklers made showers hazardous. I still have the pump if someone wants it. It had a wireless start button.

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[jm2e]

I use about 2 gal running the faucet waiting for it to heat up. Every solution I can think of would use as much or more energy.
Wife is still hung up on the wasted water. We talked about it last night while I washed bikes and she watered plants…..


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[Todd Zander]

I figured that but I don't get why they didn't just put the magnetic starter on the outside of the planer and eliminate the on/off switch. The magnetic starter has start and stop buttons of its own. Maybe just a design reason rather than a technical one. So I guess what I did was "encouragement". Thanks for the explanation.

I'm not surprised the planer overloaded. The amount of abuse the machines in this shop are subjected to is astounding. If someone breaks something someone else will pay to fix it or replace it. In the case of the planer the guy was probably running too wide of a board with too deep of a cut with cutters that someone else dulled by running a glue-up with big globs of hardened glue through it.

Does the on/off switch have provisions to have a lock placed on it for safety reasons? That would be my only guess.

[Flounder]

When we did our renovation three years ago the city required a recirc because we added a bathroom upstairs. Plumber put in a recirc pump that learns your patterns and circulates accordingly. Took a while for it to adjust but it seems to work well now. Fire up the shower in the am and it’s warm in seconds.

My dad took the other approach and had a system put in that has a switch in each bathroom that turns on the circulator. He designed it with his plumber to use readily available parts. Used door bells in the bathroom to activate the pump. Kind of a pain, got to remember to push the button a few minutes before showering.

Burlington is pretty adamant that requiring circulators saves energy. Their calculations figure in the cost and energy to run the treatment plants. A couple of gallons of wasted water in your home isn’t much. Tens of thousands of houses doing it every morning adds up to a substantial amount of waste at the main plant.

[jm2e]

Yea, they’re calculating people turning on the shower 5-10 minutes before getting in and wasting many more gallons. But for me to run the sink while I piss or get undressed, periodically checking the temp, ends up using pretty close to the same energy as a formal system.
Regardless, I can see doing it on a new build or remodel, and I can see doing it if running the sink irritates you and you’ve got $ to spend. But in an existing bathroom in a finished home, there’s no way I can imagine a retrofit helps the world from a financial or resource perspective.
I wonder if Burlington is getting on people for hosing down their driveways, watering lawns, not letting it mellow when it’s yellow, etc. all of those things make prewarming your bathroom water once a day look like a drop in the bucket.


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[Vt-Freeheel]

No more gas leaf blowers in Burlington among other new regulations

[Core Shot]

No more gas leaf blowers in Burlington among other new regulations

Although I have fallen in love with my dewalt cordless. I cannot fathom anything that can defeat my gas powered backpack blower for serious cleanups.

[old goat]

I fill sodastream bottles, a Britta pitcher (to fill the espresso machine) and pitcher for watering plants while waiting for hot water by the kitchen sink. I usually have hot water before I'm done filling everything. I do save hand washing all day to do after dinner so I'm only waiting for hot water at the sink once per day.

I was never a fan of leaf blowers but between the fragile drip lines and my wife's dense plantings raking is tough so I'm finding myself using the blower more and more. I have a 40V Ryobi that does pretty well--one level down from the backpack cordless.

[XXX-er]

Yea, they’re calculating people turning on the shower 5-10 minutes before getting in and wasting many more gallons. But for me to run the sink while I piss or get undressed, periodically checking the temp, ends up using pretty close to the same energy as a formal system.
Regardless, I can see doing it on a new build or remodel, and I can see doing it if running the sink irritates you and you’ve got $ to spend. But in an existing bathroom in a finished home, there’s no way I can imagine a retrofit helps the world from a financial or resource perspective.

I agree, I would buy a house designed for a tankless hot water system but would not instal for a retro

[Touring_Sedan]

Although I have fallen in love with my dewalt cordless. I cannot fathom anything that can defeat my gas powered backpack blower for serious cleanups.

I agree. The backpack is the best of both worlds. Good power, good control.



This one is handy for early and late season cleanups.



I've had mixed results with mixed blowers. The new Ryobi 40V 190MPH 730CFM model is pretty absurd.

[Skistack]

Nice leaf blower quiver.


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[climberevan]

I thought everyone thought leaf blowers were the singers of the song of Satan? Or whatever. The gas ones do pollute mightily and they are very loud, so it's good that more people are choosing electric ones.

[XXX-er]

last fall couple of us got dropped at the top of the bike area with 2 of the biggest Sthil back pack units and a jug of pre-mix for a 10km hike while blowing leaves off the trails , it certainly felt like I did something at the end

[Falcon3]

last fall couple of us got dropped at the top of the bike area with 2 of the biggest Sthil back pack units and a jug of pre-mix for a 10km hike while blowing leaves off the trails , it certainly felt like I did something at the end

Get on the bike and point that thing backwards. No need for an ebike!

On Home Renovation news, my 1948 house has a new smart meter and original 200a GE panel. But it’s out of spaces. The lights and outlets are all on a little 30a subset within the panel that really messes up slot availability. I’d like to future proof the panel and then start fixing the zones in my house as I go.

I’ve decided I need room to add a garage sub panel (currently garage is fed off one 110v leg of a 220v breaker 🤦♂️) and I’ll need some spaces to add microwave and dishwasher outlets when I redo my kitchen, so I’m bumping up the panel upgrade to Priority 1.

Thinking about going SquareD Homeline with the easy QuikLock wire fasteners instead of having to fish wires through knockouts. Looks like there’s plenty of availability for AFCI and combo breakers currently too. I’ve worked with a resi electrician that had no problems installing equipment I bought myself and I’ll have him do the actual switchover since the utilities will need to cut the feed. Anybody have any qualms with this plan?

[Core Shot]

I don’t think that’s a1948 original ge panel unless it’s button fuses. I could be wrong. But my 1965 house was buttons.

Talk to your sparky about the best solution. If the panel is recent enough you can get dual breakers to add circuits. No gfi on splits. But combine some circuits on split breakers to make room for the gfci breakers.

Pull the garage panel off the main or else pull a double breaker to get 220 to the garage.

And all you need to do is pull the meter to change the main panel. No need for utility unless you are dealing with changing the service drop.

[Falcon3]

I don’t think that’s a1948 original ge panel unless it’s button fuses. I could be wrong. But my 1965 house was buttons.

Talk to your sparky about the best solution. If the panel is recent enough you can get dual breakers to add circuits. No gfi on splits. But combine some circuits on split breakers to make room for the gfci breakers.

Pull the garage panel off the main or else pull a double breaker to get 220 to the garage.

And all you need to do is pull the meter to change the main panel. No need for utility unless you are dealing with changing the service drop.

Thanks, I’ve already got splits in the places I can and I’m still out of room. And now that I remember, there’s the original 4-fuse panel next to my GE box, but the GE is definitely at least 50 years old.

I’d like to be up to code for the new circuits I’m adding (AFCI/GFCI) and there’s still some cloth wiring in the walls (luckily no K&T) that I don’t feel like tearing open at the moment, so adding AFCI breakers to those circuits seems the easiest way to make it a little safer for now.

[adrenalated]

Yeah, no way the 200A panel is that old. I'd question if it's even 50 years old. My 1948 house had a 100A panel that was installed in the 80s.

How many circuits do you have space for and how many do you actually need? AFCI/GFCI breakers are a little annoying to install but not too difficult even in an old panel. You can also just add a subpanel next to the old panel to get some more room. You definitely want to bring 220 to the garage if at all feasible to support charging EVs. I'd bring at least 50A per parking space (so 100A for a two car) just to future proof it.

As for brand, just ask your sparky what he recommends.

[dan_pdx]

I just moved into a new (to me) house. (Yes, I'm the genius who bought at the tippy tip top of the market. Make sure you actually give me change for a nickel if you see me panhandling six months from now.)

I've come to realize that the previous owners of the house were lazy idiots. Everything that could be neglected was neglected: not just paint but sheetrock mud on the outlet covers, the dryer disconnected from the dryer duct so it was venting into the basement, enough food in the cold air returns to make a meal, etc.

But what I found yesterday took the cake. They had cats, and I'm mildly allergic. I've been kind of wheezy/weepy, so I figured it was time to replace the air filter in the furnace. I went to check out the furnace and there's a 15 x 20 x 1 air filter, but it's clearly sized for 16 x 20 x 4. So yeah...air filter wasn't doing anything at all, air was just blowing through the 1" gap between the filter and the side of the duct.

What's the thought process? "Here's a furnace that will cost thousands to replace, oh...the $15 filter doesn't fit. Close enough, I guess."

On the bright side, they paid professionals for updated electrical, plumbing and a new roof, they were just incredibly shitty at DIY and cleaning.

[::: :::]

congrats, i guess?

[dan_pdx]

congrats, i guess?

hahaha, right? It's a pretty cool house - old Craftsman on a big lot with a newish ADU, and it really just needs cosmetic stuff to shine. But when we made the offer in early April or whenever, I was a lot more optimistic about the economy than I am now. At least I get to ride Schweitzer, couldn't have done that if we stayed in Portland.

[jm2e]

Do you guys replace smoke detectors at a certain age, or do wait until they shit the bed?
I realized mine are about 15 years old now. Probably 8 of them for the whole house.
Obviously I think about this once every 363 days when the beeping starts and I get to replace all the batteries.

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[Dantheman]

Do you guys replace smoke detectors at a certain age, or do wait until they shit the bed?
I realized mine are about 15 years old now. Probably 8 of them for the whole house.
Obviously I think about this once every 363 days when the beeping starts and I get to replace all the batteries.

I'd replace them. The permanent 10-year batteries in the new ones make it worth the cost. You can't put a price on no more 3:00 am beeping. Maybe wait a bit to see if they go on sale.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

Do you guys replace smoke detectors at a certain age, or do wait until they shit the bed?
I realized mine are about 15 years old now. Probably 8 of them for the whole house.
Obviously I think about this once every 363 days when the beeping starts and I get to replace all the batteries.

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Replace at 10 years. Probably overkill but it's cheap insurance.