Hi -

1) Insulate the attic
2) Make sure windows have a good seal and are thermo-pane
3) insulate exterior walls
4) consider gas
5) use a programmable thermostat and turn down at night and when you are not at home
6) More insulation.

Insulation is really the key - comfort is thermodynamics and heat transfer - insulation keeps the toastiness on the inside and there is no substitute.

Posted by: bruce_in_toronto at April 3, 2008 12:26 PM in response to Oil bills this winter too hot for me

Keep it: inspect it: have it serviced: make it as appealing as possible.

In the history of the world there has never been a multiple fatality fire in a building with working sprinklers.

Posted by: bruce_in_toronto at March 14, 2008 12:16 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

"Can you do that with these? Can you run several internal units off the same external part? I'm looking at a place and considering this type of AC after hearing a horrendous cost for central air from my architect. Did you put in additional units for your upper floors?"

Yes, some models will support 2 inside units. And, they can be fairly remote.

Posted by: bruce_in_toronto at February 26, 2008 5:24 PM in response to Mitsubishi wall A/C's

"Im not racist...I just dont want to live in a house with Chinese people who think its ok to live with mice. "

If the shoe fits. You appear a tad racist. Maybe wholeheartedly racist.

Posted by: bruce_in_toronto at February 26, 2008 4:54 PM in response to New Chinese landlord...lots of mice...and they dont care.

You could move. Though it seems you might be racist and that will not help your prejudice.

Posted by: bruce_in_toronto at February 26, 2008 4:44 PM in response to New Chinese landlord...lots of mice...and they dont care.

There are off-brand units available for less than $1,000 - these work well and have ample cooling power. 12-24K BTU (one or two tonnes)

Try http://www.comfortmaker.com/

Installation is fairly easy - though you should have a 'competent person.'

Posted by: bruce_in_toronto at February 26, 2008 4:42 PM in response to Mitsubishi wall A/C's

As far as the city is concerned, if it's on the wall (or ceiling) it's gotta work. Meaning, even though it may not be required it must meet all codes and be tested and inspected accordingly.
Approved companies are readily available on FDNY's website. Remember, those companies certified by the city are the only companies that can test, inspect, or maintain your system. State certification does not apply within cities with a population >1,000,000. If it is as old as you suspect you can be fairly certain all of the heads will have to be replaced at a minimum.

Posted by: Bklyn Fire Alarm Guy at March 14, 2008 3:47 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

keep the sprinkler for sure. you can figure out ways to make it appealing and it does add value to the house IMO. i'd just get it serviced and confirmed that it in working order.

Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 5:23 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

Monthly inspections?That sounds seriously excessive. One more city supported scam.

Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 6:45 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

We just bought a house with the same issue-ours is a Ditmas victorian. Anyway, just today I looked into this and found that our system must indeed be checked once a month--but it's only about $400/year to do this. The weird thing is that I thought we'd save a bundle on home owners insurance with the system...but it actually didn't help as the agent said those systems often leak, creating more damage.

Anyway, we're still definitely keeping our system since we have a small child. But any ideas about how to make it look less hideous???

Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 9:01 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

Somebody I know who owns a coop in a building with sprinklers just had one of the owners in the building get certified to test the sprinklers, to save the coop from paying someone. Not a big deal to do, I don't think. If I were you, I'd look into whether you can do this for your house.

Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 10:27 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

hey it costs big bucks to sprinkler a home.
Think of it as if you lucked out and now, all you have to do is rework the pipes.

Posted by: guest at March 14, 2008 11:31 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

Keep 'em. Recess the pipes if you must, for aesthetic reasons, but they are worth keeping. My friend, retired FDNY, tells me that they are worth their weight in gold in case of fire, as they allow you to escape. He says he would never live in a row house without sprinklers.

Of course, making sure they work, and are maintained is key.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at March 15, 2008 12:00 AM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

The guest at 10:27 is correct. You can study up and take the test down at metrotech to get what the FDNY calls a certificate of fitness. It will allow you to perform the monthly inspection in your building only, which you must keep a log of. However, you would still have to have an outside vendor perform an inspection twice a year. The 3rd party certifies your system, checks backflow, etc.

Posted by: Bklyn Fire Alarm Guy at March 15, 2008 9:50 AM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

We asked the same questions of our architect when we recently renovated our SRO and he gave the same advice as many of the sprinkler supporters and it definitely made a lot of sense for safety reasons to have working sprinklers so we recessed them. We did get a break on our insurance from State Farm for the sprinklers.

One thing that our architect said that you may not be considering is the fact that once you have them, the city may not approve your renovation permit if you plan to remove them because you would be making the building less safe.

Posted by: guest at March 17, 2008 3:03 PM in response to Keep ugly sprinkler system?

The real reason it isn't green (and why it costs you so much) is that old boilers are WAY less efficient than new ones, so you end up using WAY more fuel.

It is thus penny-wise and pound-foolish (not to mention NOT green) to keep using an old boiler, for this reason alone.

You didn't say how old it is - if it is one of those really old ones that are, say, 4 times bigger than the new ones, like my old one was, the difference in fuel use is quite substantial. If it is newer, but sort-of old, you need to do a bit of research on the upgrades in efficiency since yours was manufactured.

You do likely need to replace your old boiler to reap the benefit of less fuel costs. There didn't use to be much of a price difference between oil and gas - they fluctuated - one year one was higher, then the pendulum would shift. With this never-ending war, and the way the oil companies are using it to increase their profits, the decision now might be in favor of gas for the life of your new boiler (if not forever as oil reserves diminish).

Pros to oil: It's in a tank. So it isn't coming in on a line that can leak and blow up. (The buildings always seem to be gas heated.)

Pros to gas: No oily smell emanating from your basement. (If there's a gas smell, there's a leak - and you'd best get out and get the gas co there immediately.) Another pro: you can feel you aren't participating as much in the oil wars.

If I had to clean out a sludgy tank, I'd probably think even more about converting to gas. But you have to realize that, unless you want to leave an unused sludgy tank in your basement (a stupid idea I think), you are still going to have to have the tank cleaned out in order to remove it. Depending on the size of your tank, and the egress from your building, it will likely have to be taken apart for removal. So the sludge needs to be gotten out of it first, I believe. Even if there is sufficient egress, old tanks are used for scrap, I think so it would need to be cleaned up before it could be scrapped.

Also, converting to the high efficieny new boilers can require lining your chimney. I forget if it is the gas or oil ones, but one sort puts out a byproduct that can be a serious problem if your chimney is not lined. Google it up - educate yourself on the differences betwee oil and gas burners - there are some substantial differences.

Posted by: guest at April 3, 2008 1:00 PM in response to Oil bills this winter too hot for me