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  1. Lightwave

    Aerobic septic tank smells inside house

    The septic tank is about 10' west of the room and the air vent for the tank is about 20' away from the room. The nearest vent serves the first floor bathroom and comes out of the roof one level directly above the smelly room. There's no smell outside. The laundry drain doesn't smell of...
  2. Lightwave

    Aerobic septic tank smells inside house

    We have an NPS aerating septic tank and one basement bedroom smells of chlorine every time the septic tank is in an aeration cycle. The septic tank doesn't have a chlorine post-treatment system. There's drain piping in the bedroom (going up one outside wall to the first floor bathroom) but no...
  3. Lightwave

    Four 3-way switches, two lights, two ganged device boxes.

    What's the best practice method to wire a lighting circuit where 3-way switching is required for both feeds on a two circuit track light installation? The track has a shared neutral and two hot wires that are intended to be switched independently. The track will be switched from two locations...
  4. Lightwave

    Need Help with circuit issue.

    Sounds like the neutral ('common') is open somewhere in or before the 3-gang box. Check all neutral connections for loose hookups. Use a continuity checker or ohmmeter to check for neutral continuity back to the breaker panel. Leave both breakers off until you've found the problem. Loose...
  5. Lightwave

    4-inch heat duct worth the effort?

    Without taking duct losses into account, the best case for a properly balanced 4" duct is about 900 BTU/hr, or 250 watts equivalent. Actual heat delivered will be lower because of heat loss through the duct into the crawl space and friction due to all the elbows in your route. It's probably not...
  6. Lightwave

    Electrical? on a water heater

    You'll get zero volts across the hots but 120 from hot to ground if both hot wires are attached to the same leg (phase) at the panel. Each hot must be on a different leg to get 240. If you're getting 240 between hots at the breaker tank but 0 between hots at the tank, then somebody has done...
  7. Lightwave

    Measuring/confirming new AC/minisplit is up to duty

    The prohibition against oversizing ACs does not apply to minisplits, however, as they are variable capacity. Oversizing a minisplit--within reason--only means higher initial costs and much faster temperature pulldown. Unreasonable oversizing will cause a problem even with minisplits as the...
  8. Lightwave

    Another Bryant Evolution Question

    The fan speed button on the Evolution thermostat sets fan speed for when the system is idle. Fan speed is set by the thermostat (without any user adjustment options) when the system is heating or cooling. Evolution control wiring is largely 'all or nothing.' Miswiring won't cause...
  9. Lightwave

    basement heating/cooling question

    You'd need to be nuts to use a ventless fireplace as a heat source. At the absolute best, they're nothing more than slightly safe conversation pieces. Do a heat loss calc and either get some baseboard heaters or tie into your existing heating system.
  10. Lightwave

    basement heating/cooling question

    As in said in my post in your other thread, you need to do a load calculation. Heat loads can't be guessed. Your existing HVAC might have the capacity to support another 500 sq ft of living space, but then again it might not. You must do a load calculation and compare the heat requirements to...
  11. Lightwave

    2 electrical questions

    There's no such thing as a rule of thumb for heater sizing. You must do a load calculation to estimate how much power you'll need to heat a given room. Heating requirements vary hugely depending on room construction characteristics in addition to square footage. For example, in the same...
  12. Lightwave

    condensate on air ducts - normal?

    Any air-permiable insulation you add will get soaked unless you install an air/moisture barrier over the insulation. The concepts involved aren't that much different from insulation and vapor barrier concepts relevant to house walls.
  13. Lightwave

    Ductless AC help

    Unlike window ACs, ductless minisplits are a fairly big investment. It's worth taking the trouble to size them properly. Get a copy of HVAC Calc or RHVAC (the demo is good enough) and do a heat gain calculation. Modern minisplits have inverter driven compressors and can throttle back to deal...
  14. Lightwave

    Silly Question Regarding Switch Boxes

    Each return vent should be sized for the room (or collection of rooms) it serves. A simple rule of thumb is to match the effective cross sectional area of all supply vents in the immediate vacinity of a return vent. For example, if you have a room with one 6" round supply duct and one return...
  15. Lightwave

    Tell me about York furnace!

    Single stage equipment that can cope with -70 will have a big problem with short cycling in actual (i.e. down to -40) weather. That won't be good for efficiency, good for the remaining life of the furnaces, or good for comfort when the shop is occupied. You'll need something with a low stage...
  16. Lightwave

    Ground wire confusion

    From your description it doesn't sound like your grounding is code compliant or particularly safe. House ground wires must be connected to a good quality ground connection--a hose bib doesn't count. At minimum, you'll need a ground rod. Ask your local electrical inspector what the code...
  17. Lightwave

    Takagi Jr. Error code 12

    Unexpected flames in gas appliances are never a good thing. Turn off the gas to the heater and call a plumber.
  18. Lightwave

    Condensate Line to Sewer Pipe, NSPC

    The difference is that residential AC equipment and furnaces don't produce enough condensate to keep their respective traps full all year. AC condensate will keep the AC trap full in summer, but the trap will dry out in winter and allow sewer gas into the house. Been there, have the sewer gas...
  19. Lightwave

    Remote hose bib uphill from house

    I want to add a ground-mounted hose bib at the front of our lot, about 20' away from the house and 30' above both the incoming water line and the lowest tap in the house. Unfortunately, trenching to frost depth isn't feasible because the soil is mostly rock. The best idea I can come up...
  20. Lightwave

    Condensate Line to Sewer Pipe, NSPC

    Both condensing furnaces and AC coils produce condensate. Both produce condensate only when they are operating: AC in summer, furnace in winter. The condensate line on a condensing furnace is connected to the combustion air/flu piping. Because condensing furnaces have a sealed combustion air...
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