Foo - Why does my furnace keep turning on

Hello Foo,, long time no talk. I have relocated from Hawaii to Rhode Island.. I havent been riding much over the last 6 months and my cameras have been in the bag, so not much FOO time. So now that I am in the great freezing North East I must learn things like radiant heat, oil tanks, and window scrapers. I have this monstrous oil tank in my basement, oh yeah basements thats new too, and it is hooked up to what looks like a Nuclear Submarine powerplant. Why is it coming on at random times? I have all the heat off in the house, I havnent used any hot water recently.. yet I hear the roar of this beast kick in burning my housing allowance as it goes. What am I missing?

Because it's getting cold enough to turn on? It was in the thirties last night, here in Indiana.

it's probably reboiling the water periodically.

It's not a vacuum chamber where 100% of the energy inputted doesn't escape, you know. :)

find out what KIND of furnace it is, and google it. If it's not supposed to do that, call the repair man. BUT, sounds like your furnace is just keeping the water hot - for whenever you might use it. Ever see those commercials on TV about the tankless water heater? They're talking to YOU. You're spending lots of $$ heating water you're not using. What kind of heat does your house have? Steam radiators? Forced Air?

Yes it is getting cold here.. but I think I have everything turned off. There are radiators along every base board in the house.. is that forced? I grew up in CA and have been stationed in Yuma AZ, San Diego, Iraq, and Hawaii.. not sure why I dont now anything about heat :) I think it must be the hot water thing.. just pisses me off to hear that thing running when I know I have done nothing to trigger the heating.

it's probably reboiling the water periodically.

It's not a vacuum chamber where 100% of the energy inputted doesn't escape, you know. :)
This.

If you don't have one already, call the company that sells you the oil and ask about a service contract. These are very useful things to have for when the furnace doesn't want to work when the temperatures outside are going down way below freezing. Among all the other issues of no heat, the cold water supply pipes can freeze and burst, usually in an un-heated basement, then the heating pipes can freeze and will then burst when the heat comes back. All of which is ton's more to deal with and fix then the price of the heating service contract.

Then get a service call to get the system tuned for the winter. October is a good time and DO NOT PUT IT OFF, as the service folks get busy when it gets cold and won;t do a tune up when they need to be doing emergency repairs. When the repair person is at the house, ask all kinds of questions, reminding him/her that you just moved from Hawaii and are thus ignorant about things related to heat.

SB

What am I missing?

85º Hawaii October temps.

It's quite likely that the oil boiler also produces your hot water. If this is the case, it's also quite likely that you have a holding tank of some sort that contains a volume of water kept at a monitored temperature so it's available at all times. As was said above, the boiler will fire when necessary to ensure a ready supply of hot water.

Our house has a zone set up to circulate a stainless 70 Gal holding tank for the tap which is always kept at temperature. Some fire right off the boiler and some have completely separate systems for heat vs tap.

This isn't to say something isn't wrong, but if you're not used to an oil boiler this doesn't sound abnormal.

Welcome to the neighborhood BTW. I'm just up the road in Tiverton.

Hello Foo,, long time no talk. I have relocated from Hawaii to Rhode Island.. I havent been riding much over the last 6 months and my cameras have been in the bag, so not much FOO time. So now that I am in the great freezing North East I must learn things like radiant heat, oil tanks, and window scrapers. I have this monstrous oil tank in my basement, oh yeah basements thats new too, and it is hooked up to what looks like a Nuclear Submarine powerplant. Why is it coming on at random times? I have all the heat off in the house, I havnent used any hot water recently.. yet I hear the roar of this beast kick in burning my housing allowance as it goes. What am I missing?

Get your CO drunk on his birthday and sign transfer orders to Camp LeJune or Camp Geiger in North Carolina:thumb:

*Have you turned the gas temp dial down to the "vacation"setting when gone for extended times?
Pretty country up there,not the crowds of tourists or traffic.

Get your CO drunk on his birthday and sign transfer orders to Camp LeJune or Camp Geiger in North Carolina:thumb:

*Have you turned the gas temp dial down to the "vacation"setting when gone for extended times?
Pretty country up there,not the crowds of tourists or traffic.

I'm the CO,, otherwise a solid plan :) But I would rather be here than NC/SC or HI for that matter.. I actually am looking forward to the winter.

But I would rather be here than NC/SC or HI for that matter.. I actually am looking forward to the winter.

You, sir, are completely and totally nuts.

I'm the CO,, otherwise a solid plan :) But I would rather be here than NC/SC or HI for that matter.. I actually am looking forward to the winter.

Plan B is to have the XO sign for the CO. Problem solved.

I'm the CO,, otherwise a solid plan :) But I would rather be here than NC/SC or HI for that matter.. I actually am looking forward to the winter.



you may wish to rethink that....

I get cabin fever pretty badly.

So I really look forward to getting out in the Winter...

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/StupidlyBrave/Backpacking/Micheaux2005/100_2512.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/StupidlyBrave/Backpacking/MicheauxBackpackingDec2009/DSCN0044.jpg
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/StupidlyBrave/BikeRides/Feb08-2009/v009.jpg
Michael loved the snow too
http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s65/StupidlyBrave/Backpacking/AT_Dayhike_March2010/Photo0049.jpg

Yes it is getting cold here.. but I think I have everything turned off. There are radiators along every base board in the house.. is that forced? I grew up in CA and have been stationed in Yuma AZ, San Diego, Iraq, and Hawaii.. not sure why I dont now anything about heat :) I think it must be the hot water thing.. just pisses me off to hear that thing running when I know I have done nothing to trigger the heating.

Your hot water heater will trigger the burner to keep the water tank heated, much like an electric or gas heater. If your oil burner is so loud, it may be time to upgrade it.

Where are you living up there and what are you the CO of? Newport was my last duty station, too, before coming out here to COS.

I am the CO of the MARDET Newport RI. If you were a Marine up here then the MARDET has changed in the last 6 months. We BRAC'd Navy Supply Corps School Athens GA, and it moved up here. The Marine Aviation Logistics Officer course was co-located at Athens so we came up here as well. I had been slated to go to Athens to take over the school, which is not really a "CO" billet, but when we moved it up here to RI we inherited the already existing MARDET, which was a true "CO" billet, though at the 0-3 level not 0-5. Now that we have combined with the MARDET I find myself in my second 05 command billet, which is a nice little unexpected perk. My nearest boss is in Quantico at TRNGCMD and they really have no idea what it is we do, since we are a Navy controlled curriculum, so no one pays any attention to us.. nice :)

I kind of misled everyone, because I was stationed here in RI for a year in 2002 at the Naval War College. I lived in an apartment at that time, so no furnace.

OBTW I would literally KILL to get orders to NORCOM or anywhere in the CO Springs area, it is either 1 or 2 on my retirement locations. Bozeman is #1 but has no military benefits like CO Springs does. I will be facing that decision soon if my name is not on the 06 list currently going through the pipeline. 

This furnace is brand new last year.. I will post a pic later,, I am not kidding, looks like a powerplant for a nuclear submarine. I am sure it is the hot water heater, which is huge and total overkill for a single dude like me.

edit: just saw your team navy cycling link..so prob not a jarhead like me :) I have a few MALS-24 jerseys left over from my last command.. what size are you?

If you don't have one already, call the company that sells you the oil and ask about a service contract. These are very useful things to have for when the furnace doesn't want to work when the temperatures outside are going down way below freezing. Among all the other issues of no heat, the cold water supply pipes can freeze and burst, usually in an un-heated basement, then the heating pipes can freeze and will then burst when the heat comes back. All of which is ton's more to deal with and fix then the price of the heating service contract.

Then get a service call to get the system tuned for the winter. October is a good time and DO NOT PUT IT OFF, as the service folks get busy when it gets cold and won;t do a tune up when they need to be doing emergency repairs. When the repair person is at the house, ask all kinds of questions, reminding him/her that you just moved from Hawaii and are thus ignorant about things related to heat.

SB

It can not be stressed how important this is! Get a service contract, and schedule a cleaning. When the guy shows up, ask questions. 90% of the oil guys I've used are nice, their business is mostly service, so it pays for them to be nice. Ask them to show you where the emergency shut off switch is, where the valves are in the oil line, where the water line shut off valves are. Don't be afraid to label the parts, that helps everybody. Ask how to tell if there is enough water in the system. Ask what you can do to keep heating and hot water cost down. Ask how to lower or raise the temp of the hot water. Unless the guy is a total jerk, he will give you a tour of your system and answer all your questions.

you may wish to rethink that.... in about a month.



It can not be stressed how important this is! Get a service contract, and schedule a cleaning. When the guy shows up, ask questions. 90% of the oil guys I've used are nice, their business is mostly service, so it pays for them to be nice. Ask them to show you where the emergency shut off switch is, where the valves are in the oil line, where the water line shut off valves are. Don't be afraid to label the parts, that helps everybody. Ask how to tell if there is enough water in the system. Ask what you can do to keep heating and hot water cost down. Ask how to lower or raise the temp of the hot water. Unless the guy is a total jerk, he will give you a tour of your system and answer all your questions. You're going to hear more noises once the heat kicks n and the radiators start to warm up. Ask which noises are normal, and get ready to answer the "why did you move here" question again.

I am the CO of the MARDET Newport RI. If you were a Marine up here then the MARDET has changed in the last 6 months. We BRAC'd Navy Supply Corps School Athens GA, and it moved up here. The Marine Aviation Logistics Officer course was co-located at Athens so we came up here as well. I had been slated to go to Athens to take over the school, which is not really a "CO" billet, but when we moved it up here to RI we inherited the already existing MARDET, which was a true "CO" billet, though at the 0-3 level not 0-5. Now that we have combined with the MARDET I find myself in my second 05 command billet, which is a nice little unexpected perk. My nearest boss is in Quantico at TRNGCMD and they really have no idea what it is we do, since we are a Navy controlled curriculum, so no one pays any attention to us.. nice :)

I kind of misled everyone, because I was stationed here in RI for a year in 2002 at the Naval War College. I lived in an apartment at that time, so no furnace.

OBTW I would literally KILL to get orders to NORCOM or anywhere in the CO Springs area, it is either 1 or 2 on my retirement locations. Bozeman is #1 but has no military benefits like CO Springs does. I will be facing that decision soon if my name is not on the 06 list currently going through the pipeline. 

This furnace is brand new last year.. I will post a pic later,, I am not kidding, looks like a powerplant for a nuclear submarine. I am sure it is the hot water heater, which is huge and total overkill for a single dude like me.

edit: just saw your team navy cycling link..so prob not a jarhead like me :) I have a few MALS-24 jerseys left over from my last command.. what size are you?

Yeah, all that BRAC stuff was starting up as I was leaving in '07. I was the CO of NOSC Newport (the Reserve Center) and my ISIC, who was right next door, was absorbed into a different region. The resulting FITREP shakeup didn't help my O6 chances, so I knew coming to COS would be where I retired... which I did effective 1 September! But all in all, it was a pretty good tour... a year at the War College and then 2 years in command there in Newport.

If your monitor will let you go to NORAD or NORTHCOM, I can give you some advice and maybe talk to some folks here who could request you. It's a pretty darn good place to be stationed... and retire from!

I wear Primal's XXLs; not sure about other brands. And we have N-NC jerseys, too, though they're all sold out at the moment. :D

If you own the place, I would suggest that you install a tankless water heatetr & bypass the one connected to your furnace, then retro fit radient heat in the floors. If you rent, forget it & put aside some $$ for the bill!

Yeah, all that BRAC stuff was starting up as I was leaving in '07. I was the CO of NOSC Newport (the Reserve Center) and my ISIC, who was right next door, was absorbed into a different region. The resulting FITREP shakeup didn't help my O6 chances, so I knew coming to COS would be where I retired... which I did effective 1 September! But all in all, it was a pretty good tour... a year at the War College and then 2 years in command there in Newport.

If your monitor will let you go to NORAD or NORTHCOM, I can give you some advice and maybe talk to some folks here who could request you. It's a pretty darn good place to be stationed... and retire from!

In wear Primal's XXLs. And we have N-NC jerseys, too, though they're all sold out at the moment. :D



wow, couple of O-Gangers :innocent: