What are the odds?

Bubblehead

All-American
Feb 2, 2013
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About 2 hours ago, I caught a whiff of plastic melting. Thirty seconds later the heating system shuts down. I open the garage and smoke is coming from the unit. Needless to say, it’s tits up on the Sunday after Christmas. AND ITS GOING TO BE THE COLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR HERE! Probably the coldest in about 3 years, 14 degrees. On top of that we had about 4 inches of snow today. Now 4 inches isn’t a lot of snow in most places, but here it’s rare. No one can get to me tonight obviously. I am hoping for a miracle tomorrow.

Now that being said. Do I consider myself unlucky, because of the above events? Or do I consider myself fortunate that it didn’t happen either of the last 2 days, as I hosted 27 friends and family between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
 

Bubblehead

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Feb 2, 2013
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27 is a specific number - is that you Joe?
Bloody Joe would have blamed COVID. Claimed it was part of his going green deal. Asked Congress for $657,000,000 to upgrade the furnace. Of which $1,000 would have went to furnace repair. Required the repair person to br neutered and have a no nuts proof card. AND give the wrong phone number to the emergency repair call back service. So, nope it’s just me “Cold in Washington”
 
Oct 6, 2012
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Run your cold water on a trickle so as to not freeze pipes. In all sinks and tubs. Run the hot regularly as well. Bad enough to lose heat, no need to freeze pipes too.

Even better is to turn hot water off and circulate a trickle of both through all sinks, etc.

Good luck!
 

barney44

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Oct 2, 2005
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It happens to us all unfortunately and it's never at a good time. I'd rather it happened after Christmas than during myself.
 

Bubblehead

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Feb 2, 2013
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Run your cold water on a trickle so as to not freeze pipes. In all sinks and tubs. Run the hot regularly as well. Bad enough to lose heat, no need to freeze pipes too.

Even better is to turn hot water off and circulate a trickle of both through all sinks, etc.

Good luck!
Thanks, I remember some of those things from my days in Nebraska winters. Appreciate the tips
 

Scat_Back

Redshirt
Sep 5, 2018
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We once heated our home for an entire Omaha winter with only 3 space heaters, just to experiment with the effect on utility bills. We didn’t turn the furnace on even one time. We only heated the parts of the house we really used and only heated our bedroom and kitchen at night. Cut the overall utility bill in half, it obviously wasn’t worth it to the wife 😆 but you can definitely use them in a pinch.
 

Bubblehead

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Feb 2, 2013
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We once heated our home for an entire Omaha winter with only 3 space heaters, just to experiment with the effect on utility bills. We didn’t turn the furnace on even one time. We only heated the parts of the house we really used and only heated our bedroom and kitchen at night. Cut the overall utility bill in half, it obviously wasn’t worth it to the wife 😆 but you can definitely use them in a pinch.
I have 2 very small ones going now. One in the bedroom with an electric blanket for my wife. And one in the living room down stairs. I put the electric oven on at 250 in the kitchen and left it on all night. New ovens don’t allow you to keep the door open, so I’m not sure how much it helped. But pipes haven’t froze so far, so that’s a plus. Just hope it can be repaired today. If not off to the big box store for a couple big space heaters.
 

Shoxsker

Sophomore
Feb 10, 2014
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I have 2 very small ones going now. One in the bedroom with an electric blanket for my wife. And one in the living room down stairs. I put the electric oven on at 250 in the kitchen and left it on all night. New ovens don’t allow you to keep the door open, so I’m not sure how much it helped. But pipes haven’t froze so far, so that’s a plus. Just hope it can be repaired today. If not off to the big box store for a couple big space heaters.
Where in Washington? We got about 14" and have lost power several times over the weekend north of Skagit Valley. Thankful for gas heat. Hope their able to get you fixed up and warm today.
 

Bubblehead

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Feb 2, 2013
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c space heatersWhere in Washington? We got about 14" and have lost power several times over the weekend north of Skagit Valley. Thankful for gas heat. Hope their able to get you fixed up and warm today.
Grapeview., not really a town, more of an area. Between Shelton and Bremerton on highway 3. We are on Pickering Pass. Furnace guy left. He can’t do anything until i find an electrician to replace the breaker. So now waiting for electrician to call back. Looks like Im screwed for at least a couple days. So I will attempt to get into town an pick up a couple large electric space heaters.
 

Bubblehead

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Feb 2, 2013
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And he said “Let there be heat”. Fixed! Junction box issue. Spliced wires failed arced and smoked the tape. Box did its job and did not allow combustion beyond box. A little less than $500 but I am happy it wasn’t the heat pump. Box was under the house, if It didn’t do its job could have been ugly.
 
Oct 6, 2012
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And he said “Let there be heat”. Fixed! Junction box issue. Spliced wires failed arced and smoked the tape. Box did its job and did not allow combustion beyond box. A little less than $500 but I am happy it wasn’t the heat pump. Box was under the house, if It didn’t do its job could have been ugly.

There is a valid reason for all them pesky building codes, especially the structrural, and electrical ones.

Glad everything went as well as could be hoped for.
 
Dec 4, 2007
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There is a valid reason for all them pesky building codes, especially the structrural, and electrical ones.

Glad everything went as well as could be hoped for.
I was a contractor for years and hated pulling all the permits for work. The only thing that kept me sane about this was when I had to repair work that was not permitted or inspected. I hated the paperwork, but they are there to protect the homeowner.
 

Rhule Szn

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Nov 22, 2020
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About 2 hours ago, I caught a whiff of plastic melting. Thirty seconds later the heating system shuts down. I open the garage and smoke is coming from the unit. Needless to say, it’s tits up on the Sunday after Christmas. AND ITS GOING TO BE DECOLDEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR HERE! Probably the coldest in about 3 years, 14 degrees. On top of that we had about 4 inches of snow today. Now 4 inches isn’t a lot of snow in most places, but here it’s rare. No one can get to me tonight obviously. I am hoping for a miracle tomorrow.

Now that being said. Do I consider myself unlucky, because of the above events? Or do I consider myself fortunate that it didn’t happen either of the last 2 days, as I hosted 27 friends and family between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day?
Fixed it for you. Hope all goes well for you and sorry to hear about your luck.