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Found 108 results for the keyword(s) ‘oil heating’

• Article

  A heat pump horror story.

  Leo from Kirkland, Quebec has been living a nightmare with his new house and his air source heat pump. He has put over $5,000 into heat pump repairs in the first 7 years and that doesn't count what was replaced for free because of warranties. Compressors kept burning out and valves gave out...
• Article

  Protecting the wall behind a wood stove.

  Melissa sent in an e-mail worrying about the fact that the paint on the wall behind her wood burning fireplace is so hot that it is bubbling.That is too hot. Check the manufacturer's instructions if you have them -- each appliance has specified distances from combustible surfaces. Yours is ...
• Article

  Two baseboard heaters connected to one thermostat.

  Frank is confused about series and parallel wiring. He wants to connect a small and a large baseboard heater to one thermostat and isn't sure how to go about it.Although physically the wires will run from the thermostat to one of the baseboards and then on to the other baseboard, the way they...
• Article

  How does an electric fireplace make the flame?

  We had to go to the Dimplex factory in Toronto to find out how they make a smoke-and-mirrors fireplace look really really like a real wood fire. It is quite amazing. The flames are a rotisserie of aluminum foil reflecting lights up and off a mirror.The bricks on the back of the fireplace are ac...
• Article

  DOES MY FURNACE GET ENOUGH AIR?

  A combustion furnace or boiler (gas, oil, coal or wood) requires air to burn and air to maintain a proper draft in the chimney. In a leaky old house with the furnace in an open basement this is never al problem. As the house becomes better sealed, several problems can arise:-- An automatic v...
• Article

  ARE NIGHT SETBACK THERMOSTATS WORTHWHILE?

  YES!
• Article

  WHAT ARE TANDEM ADD-ONS?

  Heating systems that operate on cheap fuel are not always reliable and cannot be counted on as the only heating system in the house. Common examples are:-- Solar energy and heat pumps: extended periods of cloudy weather mean you simply won't have enough heat.-- Wood or Coal burning furnaces, ...
• Article

  CAN WOOD-BURNING SYSTEMS BE MODERNIZED?

  Open fireplaces are not heating systems. They have traditionally been built on an outer wall, creating sealing problems for air barriers and wasting lots of heat through the back of the chimney. Fireplaces should always be built on the inside walls -- if you build one at all. The problem w...
• Article

  HOW CAN I INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRICAL BASEBOARD HEATERS?

  Baseboard resistance heaters convert almost 100 percent of their supplied electricity into heat. We can't get much better efficiency than that (without a heat pump). However, we can improve how the heat is used.-- Thermostats mounted directly on the heaters are slow to respond to temperature ch...
• Article

  CAN I DOWNSIZE A GAS FURNACE?

  It is harder to down-size an old gas furnace than an oil furnace, but it can be made to operate more efficiently.-- Increase the fan speed to draw more heat out of the furnace.-- Increase the "fan-on" time before and after operation to draw more heat out of the furnace.-- Install an electronic pi...