In a message dated 8/25/04 11:51:02 PM Central Daylight Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
>
>
> Many if not most of Minneapolis homes predate central heating, having
> been originally heated by numerous wood stoves that were sometimes
> later converted to coal. In a typical "foursquare" house there was a
> central brick chimney and a larger house would often have a second or
> even third brick chimneys in the ends of the house. These chimneys
> worked well, adding strength to the structure and acting as a giant
> brick heat sink that kept the home warm during long winter nights.
Jon Sez, I agree with Dyna that chimneys should be inspected every few
years, especially on older homes. The vast majority of Mpls. homes however
were built with central coal fired boilers after the turn of the century. There
can hardly be a handful of homes left that used individual wood burning fire
places or stoves for heat.I can't endorse pulling out chimney lining and using
only structural brick for a fire lining. That's inviting disaster.
A fifteen year old water heater has pretty much done it's duty, it's
gonna call it quits sooner than later. Replacing it with a 40 gallon gas fired
heater with a seven year warrenty should cost about $350 for the heater and
maybe a hundred or so for labor depending on who you use. You certainly don't
have to have Excel install one of theirs.
As to the effeciency of wood or pellet fired boilers or heaters for
the cities: where's all that fuel going to come form? There's a goodly supply
of Oak along the river bank but after a couple of years I think it might be
pretty depleted. I don't golf so I suppose we could log the local courses. Fuel
pellets are usually made from Aspen which starts growing in abundance about 150
miles North of here. Might be some shipping costs. Also anyone who can even
vaguely recall the fifties remembers what the old buildings downtown looked
like, absolutely black with the grime of coal fired heating plants. Anyone think
a Metro area of 3 million using wood for fuel could create a cleaner
atmosphere?
Jon Gorder
Cathedral Hill
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