Virgin Mobile, please give Haiti my expired minutes

By Jeff Ivany on January 19, 2010

With the recent catastrophe in Haiti, there’s been a whole lot of requests for donations to help out. I was really impressed to see that the American Red Cross setup a way to donate simply by text messaging (text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10). Unfortunately, for those of us in Canada, it doesn’t work.

Virgin Mobile Canada sent me a text yesterday to indicate that I could donate $5 to the Salvation Army for Haiti by texting HAITI to 45678. This is fantastic.

There’s one more way I think Virgin Mobile could help. We recently (on January 12th ironically) let one of our pre-paid Virgin Mobile phones expire. This was because we no longer need it.  The kicker is that the phone still had pre-paid minutes on it which end up just staying in Virgin Mobile’s pocket.

I think it would be really fantastic if Virgin Mobile would let us donate our recently expired pre-paid balance to help Haiti.

I sent a comment to them through their website but have yet to receive a response.

I’m not trying to make Virgin out to be some bad, uncaring company, I just think it would be really nice for them to allow this to happen.  Had there been a way to send a donation to some Canadian aid organization via text message on January 12, I might have sent enough to use up the majority of the pre-paid balance.

Update: I was hoping to be able to post an update that Virgin was going to donate our expired minutes but, I can’t. Unfortunately, over a week later, I haven’t even received a response from Virgin even though they claim to respond to everything within 48 hours.

Posted in General | Tagged , , | Leave a response

Hydronic Heating System Information

By Jeff Ivany on January 2, 2010

In my previous Hydronic Heating Coil Replacement post, Jim asked about more information on my heating system. I’ve finally had the opportunity to collect some of that information and try to crunch the numbers. I can’t guarantee that any of what follows is correct – even after almost 5 years, I’m still learning about my heating system as it was installed by the previous owner of my house.

My house is a 1½ story,  approximately 1900 sq-ft of finished space and another 600 sq-ft of un-finished basement space.

My source of hot water is a Polaris Natural Gas hot water tank, model PR-100-34-2NV.  This is a 34 gallon tank that is capable of 100k input BTU per hour and 129 GPH recovery rise to 90°F.

To pull the water from the tank through my hydronic heating coil, I have a Taco 006 Cartridge Circulator.

It’s a rather cold day today so the system has been on a fair bit.  This is good for getting ballpark temperature readings. For all of my temperatures, I’m using a Mastercraft Digital Temperature Reader which happened to be on super sale last week. It’s supposedly accurate within ±2°F at room temperature. You do have to keep the reader as close as possible to the subject though or you will get poor results.  I tried to keep within 1 inch at all times.

The Numbers

The output air temperature is 100°F (37.8°C) at one of my main floor forced air registers.  This is probably the most direct run in the house and was also the hottest of the few I checked.

In the basement I took a few readings at different points in the system. Now, all of the copper pipe used in the system is ¾ inch and it appears that the heat does not transfer quite as much.

The new copper for the water to air heat exchanger coil

The Polaris hot water tank is set to 60°C (140°F). At the hot water tank outlet, the copper surface temperature is 120°F (48.9°C). Just before the Taco 006 circulator pump, the copper is 100°F (37.8°C). The circulator pump itself has a surface temperature of 160°F (71.1°C) (!).

Just before the hydronic heating coil in the plenum, the surface temperature of the ¾ inch copper pipe is 85°F (29.4°C) and after going through the coil the output is 81°F (27.2°C).

The hot water tank inlet is 90°F (32.2°C).

This is all in my unfinished basement area where the ambient temperature is 64°F (17.8°C).

Taco Model 006 Cartridge Circulator Flow Graph (click for the full PDF specifications)

Taco Model 006 Cartridge Circulator Flow Graph (excerpt)

Based on the data sheet (and the graph shown above) the Taco 006 Circulator is moving between 7 and 8 GPM in my installation (4 foot lift from the tank outlet to the ceiling where the forced air unit is mounted). The 006 is represented by the blue curve with the number 3.

Analysis(?)

This would suggest that there is a 30°F (16.7°C) drop in the water temperature. Unfortunately, that’s really just a SWAG because measuring the copper surface temperature is not going to be a linear delta to the water temperature.

Oh, and I’m really not sure why the Taco 006 circulator had a surface temperature of 160°F.  It does feel quite hot to the touch but it shouldn’t be more than the 140°F water going through it. Maybe the surface is too shiny for the temperature reader to get a correct value.

Posted in General, Review, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Responses

Direct Energy Water Heater Rental Rate Increase

By Jeff Ivany on December 15, 2009

Direct Energy LogoIf you currently rent your water heater from Direct Energy, and you haven’t yet received your December 2009 bill, brace yourself. Direct Energy’s water heater rental rates are going up.  In some cases (like mine) – way up.  Currently I am renting a Polaris 34 U.S. Gallons natural gas hot water tank.  According to the pamphlet I received, my rental will be going from about $40/month to $62.34/month.  An increase of approximately $22/month!

Now, I know I have posted a fair bit about the problems I’ve had with my Polaris unit that I rent from Direct Energy. My only guess for Direct Energy’s 55% increase (is it really that much!?!) on my Polaris rental is due to the number of issues that they have had.

Here’s the 2009 Direct Energy Water Heater Rental Rates from their website:

2009 Rental Chart
Water Heater Type & SizeMonthly Rental2Hard Water Monthly Rental2
CV40 40 U.S. Gallons1$11.64$12.70
CV50 50 U.S. Gallons1$13.00$14.80
CV60 60 U.S. Gallons1$15.48$17.65
PV50 50 U.S. Gallons1$20.81$24.41
DV50 50 U.S. Gallons1$20.51$23.49
PV50 HI PV60 50 & 60 U.S. Gallons1$22.97$26.40
PV75 75 U.S. Gallons1$27.63$29.68
Electric 60 60 U.S. Gallons1$10.25 – 
Polaris 34 U.S. Gallons1$62.34 – 
CombiCor 50 50 U.S. Gallons1$38.22$41.55
CombiCor 75 75 U.S. Gallons1$40.92$44.45
Rinnai Tankless R75LSIN$33.50 – 

1 Capacity in U.S. Gallons may vary, depending on specific manufacturer. U.S. Gallon = 0.8327 Imperial Gallons = 3.7854 Litres.
2 Rates are subject to change upon one month’s notice. Plus GST.

Ugh! From the same link above, I also found the 2009 Direct Energy rental water heater buyout schedule [PDF]. According to that, my ~5 year old Polaris 34 Gallon tank would cost me around $3700 + tax to buy.  Double Ugh!

I managed to dig up the following 2008 rental rate information but it doesn’t seem to jive with what I am currently paying.

Direct Energy 2008 Water Heater Rental Rates

Direct Energy 2008 Water Heater Rental Rates

I guess that means I’m stuck paying $62/mon until my whole system craps out and I really have to replace something.  I had a furnace quote a while back and it came in around $8000 to replace my system (including a new hot water tank of some sorts).

Oh look, another shiny penny on the floor!  I should just bend over and pick that up…

Posted in General, Review | Tagged , , , , | 5 Responses

10 Rules of Winter Driving

By Jeff Ivany on December 9, 2009

Wonderful Winter Driving

Wonderful Winter Driving

There are 10 rules of winter driving.  Don’t get intimidated, they are really easy to understand and remember.  I’ll even help by providing a reason why each of the ten rules should be followed.

  1. Follow at a safe distance
  2. Follow at a safe distance
  3. Follow at a safe distance
  4. Follow at a safe distance
  5. Follow at a safe distance
  6. Follow at a safe distance
  7. Follow at a safe distance
  8. Follow at a safe distance
  9. Follow at a safe distance
  10. Turn your lights on (specifically your tail lights)

See, I told you that it would be easy to remember the 10 rules. ;)

So why do I think these are the 10 rules of winter driving?

Well, in my observations, most of the time people end up in a ditch or in an “accident” because they had to do some panic braking because they were following too close to the car in front of them.  A couple days ago I observed as groups of cars would drive down the highway, only a few feet from each other.  As one driver touched his brakes, the trailing vehicles would all slam their brakes on harder because they suddenly realized it was slippery conditions.  Eventually, one of the trailing vehicles spins out and ends up in the ditch because they have discovered one of the laws of physics really does apply to them.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not a “conservative” driver.  I’m probably the guy passing you in the left lane on a snowy day, even without snow tires!  **gasp** What I won’t be doing is following too closely to the car in front of me.

Which brings us to rule number 10.  Turn your lights on so that your tail lights are also on.  I could care less about the front end of your car when we’re driving in the snow.  I’m more interested in the front end of my car.  When you turn your tail lights on, it provides trailing drivers a visual cue as to where you are.  They can see you through the snow before they will be able to see your vehicle.  In a sudden white out condition, this can make a huge difference.  I can judge my following distance based on your tail lights so I’m not suddenly on top of you as you slam your brakes on due to the white out.

Image credit – hint of plum

Posted in Automotive, General | Tagged , , | Leave a response

Forever on Street View

By Jeff Ivany on December 3, 2009

The Winnipeg Free Press has an article on a group of co-workers who managed to get themselves captured by Google Street View in front of their office. Apparently one of the other employees was on his way to work when he saw the standard grey Google Street View car and he called ahead to the office to get the gang all out in the street to ham it up for the camera.

Co-workers from ManLab in Winnipeg, MB ham it up for the Google Street View car.

Co-workers from ManLab in Winnipeg, MB ham it up for the Google Street View car.

Fantastic!

Image Credit – Winnipeg Free Press

Posted in General, Technology | Tagged , , , | Leave a response

Page 1 of 5912345»...Last »