Heat! Camping! Heat!

Well, this week has certainly been exciting. Last week of school, the heat (weather) has returned, and the heat (in the house) is being installed, slowly but surely. Everyone, our house is turning BIONIC. It has hoses and pipes and black thingies (otherwise known as manifolds) everywhere. It's pretty incredible. These very poor-quality-in-the-dark-iphone photos will give you an idea.

 This is the ceiling in the living/dining room. Awesome, right?

 Looking into the kitchen. When we were watching them do this part of the work we were wondering if we made a mistake hiring someone to do this - seemed pretty easy.

 But then they started installing stuff that looked like this, and I knew we had made the right decision.

 THIS is our new boiler. I should have something there for size reference, but I will tell you it is hanging on the wall, and that red thing on the side is the expansion tank. I'm not even really sure what the expansion tank does, but it is maybe 1/32 the size of our previous expansion tank. Much like this boiler is approximately 3/16ths the size of our previous boiler. 

 The whole set-up! The tank sitting on the floor is the new hot water tank. Get this: it is AMAZING. The shell is plastic, inside which is a layer of foam. Inside that there is one tank. Inside THAT tank there is another tank. So the water for the heat system (totally separate and closed - the same water runs through over and over) goes in the outer tank and is heated there. The heat from it also heats the interior tank which is our potable hot water for bathing and dishes and the like. This combination of units is 97-99% efficient ALL THE TIME. There is even a sensor that adjusts the power of the boiler to reflect the temperature of the water coming into the house, so in winter it works harder and in summer it works way less hard. It is a feat of engineering, for sure.

Those red things there in that mess of pipes are circulating pumps for the main floor and upstairs heat - they push the water through the lines to keep it moving, and thus keep the house warm. Doesn't that mess of pipes look intimidating?

This week we also got our first hiccup in terms of the plan. You always hear about this happening - you only want to patch the roof and then discover the boards under the roof are all rotten and have to be replaced so before you know it you're spending 10x what you originally thought and the job takes 3x as long. We thought we had our bases covered in that we were planning to do everything any way, so what surprises could await us?

Well, we discovered - or more accurately, it was pointed out to us - that the plumbing in the bathroom upstairs, directly above the kitchen, sucks. The sink right now drains through a 3-4 ft stretch of pipe that is completely level, if not back-slanted. Not good for draining. Especially not good considering we eventually want to move the tub to next to the sink. The problem is the stack is in the middle of the house, and the sink is a few feet away. Obviously, the time to deal with this issue is now, while the ceiling and walls are open. So the question becomes, do we tack this on to the heat bill and have them take care of it? Spend more money? Or do we try to tackle it ourselves? It's a tough one. Jake summed it up when he said 'Well, what's another $1200 when we're already spending so much. On the other hand, IT'S ANOTHER $1200 when we're already spending so much!'

All that aside for now, we are taking a much-needed break and going camping this weekend. We weren't sure if it was going to be possible, but heading out of the city for the weekend is the best way to kick start the summer, and I need to be in a lake so badly it is kind of painful. So away we go.

When we get back it will be full steam ahead on all the issues, including that plumbing question.

Happy summer, everyone. I hope you get to spend the weekend bathed in cool water, surrounded by great friends.