Thursday, September 30, 2021

home electric blog index (new)


Ongoing series since 2014 about managing my home energy.
Click any picture to enlarge. Use BACK to get to this new index.
A work in progress. Comments welcome.

intro
home electric progress
home electric progress 2
home electric progress 3
home electric progress 4
mcmaster study
flexplan/blueline/energycloud/plotwatt update
measurement
the base load
my typical electrical day summer
my typical electrical day winter
my typical electrical day winter 2
measurement and control
measurement 2
major appliances
infrared camera
dishwasher
exposing my dishwasher energy hog
more on time of use electricity
more TOU and dishwasher continued
water heater
water heater inhibit to save peak time of use cost
the old water heater
the new water heater
water heater update
heat
heating degree days
heating degree days 2
heat
heat 2
heat 3
heat 4 - the new furnace
chimney cap
refrigerator
refrigerator
superinsulating my refrigerator
insulated refrigerator freezer result negative?
insulated refrigerator freezer 2
EnerGuide refrigerator test specifications
refrigerator 4
refrigerator 5
refrigerator 6
freezer
freezer
freezer 2
freezer 3
dehumidifier
dehumidifier
dehumidifier 2
other
the ontario grid - ieso and sme
conservation
efficient workshop lighting 2
clothes dryer heat recovery

Thank you for your interest.
George Plhak
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada

Monday, September 20, 2021

chimney cap

INDEX to the series

Before

Capping my old chimney will hopefully reduce my home energy use.

This chimney has not been required since the old oil burning furnace was removed.

Covered with a tin roof and screen, the old chimney was essentially an open tube from the roof down into my basement.

Although closed off at the bottom, this steel lined pipe was open at the top allowing convective flow from the top of the tube all the way down through the brick chimney core. In other words, some of my expensive heated air was rising out the chimney. Cold air was replacing it by sinking down to the lowest level of the house, right through the center of the house, without much insulation around it.

About stack effect.

The new propane furnace installed three years ago vents through the wall of the basement so this chimney is no longer required. In a major renovation, a chimney like this might be removed entirely from the building and covered over at the roof line but that is not in the plan.

So the next best thing seemed to be cutting the airflow at the top in a permanent waterproof manner. I finally got around to this job three years late. I hate working on my roof.

Above was the top of the chimney showing the 7 inch diameter stainless steel liner and the old chimney cap. That was a pretty large opening into my house!

I used a cutting disk in a grinder to cut through the steel level with the stone and discarded the cap.

On the level surface I laid a bead of mortar then set the patio stone onto the chimney.

Once the mortar had cured, I added a layer of fibre glass tape and roof sealer to the joint.

After

Thank you for your interest.

George Plhak
Lions Head, Ontario, Canada

INDEX to the series