SNations

Randy, I think you should put in a radon mitigation system. I was at a ventilation conference in Wisconsin a few years ago and the instructor had some pretty impressive stories about how sub-slab radon mitigation systems helped cure moisture problems in basements. I like this idea better than dehumidification or an HRV because it's attacking the problem at its source rather than letting moisture get into the house and dealing with it there. Source control is always the way to go if it's possible. Good luck.

I'm new to this forum, and I've been perusing old posts. So nobody may see this, but here goes anyway. In some cases, adding insulation to a cylindrical or spherical object can increase, rather than decrease, heat flow. (I don't believe this would ever happen to a water heater, but I suppose it's possible.) There are two basic types of heat flow that we need to consider. Conductive and convective. (Radiation plays no part in this discussion.) Conductive heat transfer will always be reduced by adding insulation. But convective heat transfer can actually increase, because you're increasing the area available for heat transfer. Convective heat transfer from a pipe can be greatly affected by the orientation of the pipe (vertical, horizontal). But as a simple approximation the critical radius of insulation (beyond which you're actually hurting rather than helping) is = k/h, where k is the thermal conductivity of the insulation and h is the convective heat transfer coefficient. Notice that as h goes to zero, the critical radius goes to infinity. Meaning that if conductive heat transfer dominates then you can just keep piling on insulation. This is the condition we encounter in a home inspection -- particularly if the outer shell of the water heater is at the same temperature as the home's environment (always the case, right?). So the myth is true, although not something we'd ever encounter in a home inspection. Here's a good link: http://www.cdeep.iitb.ac.in/nptel/Mecha ... 2.6.4.html Steve

It's a poor picture, but I believe it's a higher quality light. The globe is heavy glass with I assume a bulb inside. I applied reasonable counter-clockwise force on it with 2 hands, couldn't budge the globe. Just out of curiosity, if you couldn't budge the globe and there (presumably) were no obvious connectors/fasteners, how is the homeowner going to replace the bulb when it goes? (I hate getting questions like this from clients, because I always feel that my answer is inadequate and unhelpful.) Steve

Oh Kurt, you're killing me man! From my copy of "Lost Moon", personally autographed by Jim Lovell -- "To Steve -- Best Wishes", Chapter 10, page 251: In order to make the oversized command module cartridges work in the inhospitable LEM, what Smylie envisioned doing was inserting the back half -- the outflow half -- of the bulky lithium hydroxide box into a plastic bag and taping the bag in place with heavy, airtight duct tape. An arched piece of cardboard taped inside the bag would hold it rigid and prevent it from collapsing against the outflow vents. Smylie would then punch a small hole in the bag and insert the loose end of one of the pressure-suit hoses into it, making this connection airtight with tape as well. From page 256: Swigert swam back up into Odyssey and collected a pair of scissors, two of the command module's oversized lithium hydroxide canisters, and a roll of gray duct tape that was supposed to be used for securing bags of refuse to the ship's bulkhead in the final days of the mission.

Did you all see the movie Apollo 13? While in space their CO2 scrubber became overloaded and they had to configure a new one. The solution, as devised by the engineers on the ground, included ordinary gray "duct" tape. Duct tape is great stuff, provided that 1) it only has to last for a couple of weeks, and 2) you need it right NOW or you might die (think astronauts in space or soldiers in war) Steve

This is what the installation manual for my condensing furnace, built and installed in 2004, says: “IMPORTANT: The condensate drain should be installed with provisions to prevent winter freeze-up of the condensate drain line. Frozen condensate will block drains, resulting in furnace shutdown. If the drain line cannot be installed in a conditioned space, then heat tape should be applied as required to prevent freezing (per manufacturer’s instructions).â€