Let's talk about Country Living

I guess there's no harm in following it along a bit further. Heating and the particulars of building practices are an important part of country life. To me: Living in the country is about being self sufficient and living independently. You have your own water district, your own sewage treatment plant and in many cases you are able to provide for some / all of your own energy needs if you're clever.

Here in the states the biggest threat to our national security is our dependence on imported oil. If anything comes along to disrupt the supply chain, like the Arab Oil Embargo of the 1970's, we're screwed. If you look at a list of the OPEC member nations you'll see that most don't like Americans very much. We're pretty vulnerable ............

I was looking at Canadian building codes last year and you guys have done something we haven't. You've instituted building energy efficiency standards to reduce consumption. It's more voluntary here. There are government recommendations, and standards within the building industry that we embrace, but it has not been forced upon us by law. You're free to make your own choice ... even if it's the wrong one.

We have a building inspector but he's an old guy in his 80's. About the only time i get a permit is when something i'm doing could adversely affect the environment or one of the abutting landowners. In a situation like that it's always better to get a second view of things to make sure that what you are doing is causing no harm to another. Otherwise .... what you do is your own business. You're free to choose and along with that comes the consequence for your choice. You live or die by your reputation as a builder. (Bad choices have a way of coming back to bite you.)

I was trying to think of how to explain the poly vapor barrier thing to an engineer. We know that if the vapor pressure is greater inside the house the water vapor will migrate outwards. What about the reverse ? There are plenty of times when the outside vapor pressure is higher (like when it's raining). What happens when the water vapor migrates in and hits an impermeable barrier like a sheet of polyethylene ? You should be able to calculate the dew point using accepted formulas to tell you under what conditions the water vapor would condense on the back side of the poly and rot the wall.

My stuff is based more on practical first hand experience of seeing what worked and what caused problems. I stay away from poly and any foil backed kinds of insulation. Kraft faced fiberglass insulation seems to work well. Many consider the kraft facing to be an acceptable vapor barrier. Might be an alternative to poly that a building inspector would accept ?

===============

I know .... you have to wonder about people's motivations in regards to heat pumps. We're pretty stingy about how we use electricity here in Maine. We've got one of the lowest per capita usage rates in the nation. Part of the whole heat pump thing may be that the electric company is looking to sell more electricity.

Electricity isn't cheap here like it is in other places. The standing rule that i've always used is to stay away from things that make heat with electricity because they're expensive to run.

I've got to wonder about the " Granola Effect " though. For some folks the environmentalism thing is like a religion. They believe what they believe and they are on a mission to make the world a better place. They have no reservations about forcing their way of doing things onto someone else regardless of the cost or consequence to others. In this area they seem to favor electricity and propane because they're perceived as being clean. They are also two of the most expensive energy sources for your home.

==========

I get the thing about outdoor wood boilers being smokey. They were outlawed here in Maine awhile back. Some of us just smile and nod if you know what i mean.

There really isn't a need for that law. It's not a widespread problem.

The Federal Government's Environmental Protection Administration started dealing with this issue many years ago. They gradually phased in a tier system of standards that wood stove & wood boiler manufacturers had to meet. Tier 3 standards are in full effect now. It's actually a very good thing. See .... higher efficiencies and lower emissions go hand in hand.

I don't know if you ever gone through 8 cord of firewood in a winter with one of the older appliances but that's A LOT OF WORK !

If you can reduce consumption AND lower emissions that's an elegant solution.

=================

For whatever it's worth : I did a couple of prototypes and some research on the hot water coil for the wood stove. It's designed for moderate gain and spaced about 12" away from the outside of the stove. If i'm just running the stove intermittently it acts as a pre-heater for the boiler. If i'm running it full time in the dead of winter it will provide an 80 gallon tank full of 130 deg water over the course of a day. I've got it valved so that we can run straight off the tank -or- run it into the boiler. There's no chance of it ever getting so hot that it makes boiling hot water. (I did install a T&P relief valve at the high point simply because it's required by the plumbing code.)

It's all just fun stuff. Sometimes helpful to know if you're into the independent living thing.