Annual maintenance for high efficiency gas furnace

Posted by blueman on October 26, 2009, 4:05 pm

> -snip-

>>I hear ya - although I don't think it needs to be that complex for a home
>>anyway. I'm somewhat lucky in that our basement runs the full length of
>>the house, so it's quite easy to string signal wiring up for things, and
>>I've already got a PC sitting down there that's left on continuously
>>anyway.
>>The one I'm scratching my head over is how to (safely and legally!)
>>monitor the level in the propane tank - it'd be nice to not have to go out
>>and check the tank when it's 20 below out and there's a couple of feet of
>>snow on the ground :-)

> 2 thoughts that might be geeky enough for you.<g>
> 1. Web cam on gauge.
> 2. A series of temp sensors arranged vertically on the tank. The cold
> ring is where the liquid is.

If tank is above ground, you could add a strain gauge and measure weight...

Posted by Jules on October 27, 2009, 9:20 am

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:05:57 -0400, blueman wrote:

> If tank is above ground, you could add a strain gauge and measure weight...

I'm liking that. The tank's quite a way from the house, so with a long
enough lever and a fulcrum close to the tank I could check the weight
right at the back door, and with a minimum of effort. Although I might
need to climb a ladder to reach the top of the lever, I suppose.

Posted by Stormin Mormon on October 27, 2009, 9:46 pm

Rig it, so it's like the red cross, and their blood bag
weights. When it hits a certain weight, it goes tilt. In
your case, when it reaches a certain empty, the weight on
the end goes down, and the tank goes up.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

in message
On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 16:05:57 -0400, blueman wrote:

> If tank is above ground, you could add a strain gauge and
> measure weight...

I'm liking that. The tank's quite a way from the house, so
with a long
enough lever and a fulcrum close to the tank I could check
the weight
right at the back door, and with a minimum of effort.
Although I might
need to climb a ladder to reach the top of the lever, I
suppose.

Posted by DerbyDad03 on October 26, 2009, 8:30 pm

On Oct 22, 10:01=A0am, Jules

> On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:30:10 -0500, BillGill wrote:

> > There was a time when I would have given serious thought to building
> > myself a monitoring system, but I have given up on it pretty much now.
> > Part of the problem is that I worked too long with professional electro=

nics

> > equipment and the kind of stuff that you can home brew turns out to
> > mostly be rather simplistic.

> I hear ya - although I don't think it needs to be that complex for a home
> anyway. I'm somewhat lucky in that our basement runs the full length of
> the house, so it's quite easy to string signal wiring up for things, and
> I've already got a PC sitting down there that's left on continuously
> anyway.
> The one I'm scratching my head over is how to (safely and legally!)
> monitor the level in the propane tank - it'd be nice to not have to go ou=

> and check the tank when it's 20 below out and there's a couple of feet of
> snow on the ground :-)
> cheers
> Jules

re: "how to (safely and legally!) monitor the level in the propane
tank"

1 - Call your delivery guy and have him fill the tank up to the max.
On that day you can write down "Full" in your book.

2 - Keep track of how many hours you use the appliances that use
propane.

3 - Use the propane until the stove and furnace will no longer produce
any heat. At that day you can write down "Empty" in your book.

4 - Call your delivery guy and have him fill the tank up to the max.
On that day you can write down "Full" in your book.

5 - Don't use your appliances for as many hours before calling for a
refill.

QED

Posted by Jules on October 27, 2009, 9:16 am

On Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:30:37 -0700, DerbyDad03 wrote:

> re: "how to (safely and legally!) monitor the level in the propane
> tank"

Ha - thanks for that :-)

I think they delivery company get really upset if you run the tank dry
though and charge extra.

Maybe I could use the old "use it until it breaks, then back off a
little" trick and when it runs empty, direct a hairdrier into the furnace
vent to put some of the propane back into the tank...

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Annual maintenance for high efficiency gas furnace - Page 4