My wife, perhaps not in her most positive frame of mind, challenged me as to if I died, she could never run this complex, and very expensive thing I installed in the basement.
She has a point.
She has a point.
If I Died, Could My Wife Run the Boiler?
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That's why I have OB backup that will automatically come on if storage cools down. The Boss won't even know I'm gone.........unless she happens to come down the cellar and looks in Tarm's direction.
You should also include other very important an essential capabilities you offer your mate: mowing the lawn, cooking, painting the house, handy man with his own tools, I am sure there are lots more....
And in the sake of fairness you should ask her if she dies will you be able to balance the check book?
On the left coast we have a saying, to operate a new car, or TV or wood boiler one needs to take the instructional class (take the class). Oh, you haven't taken the class, no wonder you find the new car challenging.
And in the sake of fairness you should ask her if she dies will you be able to balance the check book?
On the left coast we have a saying, to operate a new car, or TV or wood boiler one needs to take the instructional class (take the class). Oh, you haven't taken the class, no wonder you find the new car challenging.
Pool boy my ass. Not to say go f*** yourself, but go f*** yourself. I am not quite my wife's pool boy. However, I wonder if the present generation of wood boilers isn't open to improvement.
I guess you could leave detailed instructions for your replacement.
I have been looking around the manufacturers web sites and the current generation of boiler controls are not that much different from gas/oil.
Very few are available in the US however.
I have been looking around the manufacturers web sites and the current generation of boiler controls are not that much different from gas/oil.
Very few are available in the US however.
sgschwend said:
Boiler no she can not run the thing. Never would even try.
Check book no problem since I last balanced my check book about 20 years ago.
My wife asked the same thing. I told her to use the life insurance to put in what ever she wants. She replied, "Hell with that I am moving to someplace that doesn't need a boiler or furnace or what ever it is called."
So we are both happy.
So we are both happy.
You just need to word the question correctly . . . "When I die, will my wife (actually widow -not wife- at that point) be able to get my body into the wood boiler to hide the evidence?" She may need the help of her boyfriend 
My wife hates this boiler, she's actually scared to death of it (don't know as I blame her). If I'm gone over night, I just pray its warm enough that she doesn't have to mess with it. It certainly is not as user friendly as the old OWB. I don't know that I could talk her into a replacement either.
my wife said the same thing. i have to give her credit she does light and take care of the fire when i am gone . she is not in love with it. she likes the jotul much better. who would cut, split and carry all the wood into the basement? she thinks there should be a support group on this website (for the wives of the men who insist on owning gasification boilers)!
although there probably will be a for sale sign out front if i go befeore she does, she does cut and maintain the lawn all summer, she'll paint the house (and balance the checkbook.) women are indeed capable if they are given the know how and the confidence.
eko-40 plus 500 gallon storage.
although there probably will be a for sale sign out front if i go befeore she does, she does cut and maintain the lawn all summer, she'll paint the house (and balance the checkbook.) women are indeed capable if they are given the know how and the confidence.
eko-40 plus 500 gallon storage.
All joking aside, this exact issue was why I involved my wife and family in the decision making process when we made the jump from oil -> wood. My wife can run the GARN, my 14 year old can run the GARN, and my Grandmother (92) could run the GARN if she could see it (she has M.D.). I suspect that if my wife were to be faced with running the house by herself, running the wood furnace would be the least of her concerns. There would be at least 2 years worth of fuel prepared, and the insurance $$ would allow her to buy wood C/S/D after the supply ran out. Oh, and there's enough oil in the tank for the b.u. furnace to get her through the funeral. How's that for morbidity planning?
The question might also be how the resale value is effected with a non-automatic house heater? This is the one we grapple with, at some point your home might be for sale. How would these properties be viewed? Stuff like, "This house doesn't even have a heater", or "is that thing safe?".
sgschwend said:
Good point Steve. That is why I decided to keep my oil furnace plumbed into the house piping when I revamped everything this fall. Swing two ball valves and a toggle switch, and the house is right back to operating automatically on oil heat for as long as you want (and there is oil in the tank). I was also concerned about potential issues with an insurance claim. If an ignorant adjuster came out relative to something that caused him/her to be aware of the lack of an automatic furnace, I can imagine them denying a claim or cancelling covereage because of the setup.
BTW - good to see you over here. I post up on the Loadstar section of OldIHC.org :coolsmirk:
My wife loves the warm house all winter but is intimidated by the complexity of my system. She has no issue firing it, my system is so well automated that all you have to do is light a fire, close the door, and turn it on. My regular furnace will takeover with no problem if the house temp drops below 72 Deg F. (we stay 74 Deg with a .2 deadband all winter long) Troubleshooting and regular maintenance would be a problem. I also question ANY value it would have for resale, because most "men" these days are not of the blue collar type like us here.
Steve does make a good point and I found out what that impact would be. Back in Oct. I got the new accesment for our house, it went up $12,000. I made an appointment with the accessor to view the tax card to make sure all of the info was correct. I did make a correction that we no longer had a Oil furnace but had an indoor wood boiler. He made some notes and one week later I got an updated assesment, it was reduced by $6,000.00! My tax bill went down by $500, we save another $1,200 overall on fuel (still use 200 gal. propane) our wood is free. We are on track to pay this off in less then 10 yrs if heating oils stay's at $2.50/ gal.
My wife asked about this before we made the jump. First off we have no plans in the near future to move. If Oil prices are reasonable then some like minded person would love the new system and wouldn't care. If prices go through the roof it becomes real attractive, if someone thinks it is too much work then they won't be interested. If somone really wants the house and not the boiler and storage, for the right price I will hall them out and leave the propane boiler to do the work. In the mean time we are saving money now. Unfortunatly all you can do is make assumptions and you know what that usually amounts too.
My wife asked about this before we made the jump. First off we have no plans in the near future to move. If Oil prices are reasonable then some like minded person would love the new system and wouldn't care. If prices go through the roof it becomes real attractive, if someone thinks it is too much work then they won't be interested. If somone really wants the house and not the boiler and storage, for the right price I will hall them out and leave the propane boiler to do the work. In the mean time we are saving money now. Unfortunatly all you can do is make assumptions and you know what that usually amounts too.
My wife and her new boy toy will have fun figuring it out. That's the price you pay for the privilege of spending the money inherited from my untimely demise!
In all seriousness, I'm lucky, my wife totally gets how it works and the two Maverick ET-73 wireless smoker thermometers are all she needs to make good decisions on when to fire it and how much wood to load. My storage has only been running a week but her working part time gives her more time to mess with it than I've had. She's teaching me things about it, and yes, that is scary.
I'd like to think she'd keep it. In reality she could buy wood but she hates handling it more than I do. The system would be for sale within a matter of weeks I suspect.
In all seriousness, I'm lucky, my wife totally gets how it works and the two Maverick ET-73 wireless smoker thermometers are all she needs to make good decisions on when to fire it and how much wood to load. My storage has only been running a week but her working part time gives her more time to mess with it than I've had. She's teaching me things about it, and yes, that is scary.
I'd like to think she'd keep it. In reality she could buy wood but she hates handling it more than I do. The system would be for sale within a matter of weeks I suspect.
my wife runs our boiler every day while I am at work so I am guesing I am expendable until something goes wrong then she will dig me up do an incantation or something and put my dead butt to work......
ISeeDeadBTUs said:You just need to word the question correctly . . . "When I die, will my wife (actually widow -not wife- at that point) be able to get my body into the wood boiler to hide the evidence?" She may need the help of her boyfriend
That's where my mind wanderd. "Is this where you put the b- I mean wood dear?"
willworkforwood said:
+1. Cremate me in my EKO, don't clean out the lower chamber, and bury that SOB. No need for a casket, urn, vault, NOTHING. Ha....what a cheery Christmas thread this has turned out to be.
Funny thread...
One of my selling points of the new e-Classic 2300 was "sure honey...you will be able to do it when I'm not home..."...lol...
After hearing me pizz and moan while I've been getting the thing figgered out these last few weeks, she has been pretty leary of being able to handle it on her own. I always get the "Can't I just throw wood in it and shut the door??..." routine...(which she was pretty decent at with our PE Summit insert...)
Tonight in fact we were having the discussion on the proper loading techinque, as she will have it to herself for 4 days in the middle of Feb.
It's never too early to start the training is it??
One of my selling points of the new e-Classic 2300 was "sure honey...you will be able to do it when I'm not home..."...lol...
After hearing me pizz and moan while I've been getting the thing figgered out these last few weeks, she has been pretty leary of being able to handle it on her own. I always get the "Can't I just throw wood in it and shut the door??..." routine...(which she was pretty decent at with our PE Summit insert...)
Tonight in fact we were having the discussion on the proper loading techinque, as she will have it to herself for 4 days in the middle of Feb.
It's never too early to start the training is it??
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