My furnace is down...

[simplyconnected]

This couldn't have been planned any better... My furnace blower motor started humming instead of turning. Turns out I need a new capacitor. Ok, the old one said 5mf but my Fluke measured ~2.5mf.

It's 50 degrees F in Detroit today. Apparently Brian Wheeler sent some of this heat from Fort Worth, TX right after we spoke over the phone last night.

Thank God it isn't the normal 30 degrees (freezing) as I have no furnace until the new cap is installed. Ok. time to search for one.

Fastenal advertises one for under three dollars (sku: 0454222) but they are out of stock in the entire Detroit area (figures). Next, I tried a warehouse for heating & A/C contractors three miles from the house. Yep! C'mon down. It was the cheapest $4.50 I've spent in awhile. They told me, when they are out of stock, this part only costs two bucks. Such a deal.

Time to install it before Robin comes home. - Dave

[Yadkin]

You must be doing something right. It's great when it all falls together like that.

25 years ago I lived in Pompey NY, 15 miles south of Syracuse and 1100' higher in elevation. My driveway was 150' long and perpendicular to the prevailing wind. It snowed a lot up there, and I used a 10HP track drive blower to clear it. After the first few storms my driveway was basically a 10' wide x 18" or deeper trench cut through the snow. Then a one-inch storm would drift into it, typically filling it in under an hour.

My typical day was clearing the driveway in the morning just before my wife and I drove to work, one or both doing errands on the way home, parking in the street, clearing the driveway then parking the cars in my garage.

I had a Ford Bronco with traction lok on both axles. Once my wife attempted to drive through the dense, drifted snow, and it didn't end well. The truck just rode up on its skid plates, then I had to clear the area in front of it and pulled the truck off with my tractor.

One day my blower threw a rod. We would have been trapped in the house had it not been for the fact that I had just finished clearing, and the wind had died down. I made some calls and located a new short block at a hardware store 20 minutes away. I picked it up, swapped the motor, and I was back in business within four hours.

[simplyconnected]

...I made some calls and located a new short block at a hardware store 20 minutes away. I picked it up, swapped the motor, and I was back in business within four hours.

Now, THAT is a charmed life.

I love upstate NY, particularly around the Finger Lakes. You were situated by the Erie Canal. I must have passed your place a dozen times, on my way from Detroit to south of Binghamton, in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. That's where both my parents were born and bred.

That part of the Appalachians know all about snow. The absolute worst place for snow is Buffalo. They get lake affects from two great lakes (Ontario and Erie).

What a world of difference, living in North Carolina, eh?

BTW, the furnace is running smooth as silk and pumping heat. - Dave

[DKheld]

Depends on what part of NC Dave.

Just finished getting rid of 14 1/2 inches of snow a couple of weekends ago in near the Asheville area- nothing like the lake effect stuff but still fun.

Funny - never had a snow blower - always used the manual kind with one handle. Just before Christmas I ran across a barely used one for $275 - 5hp Craftsman - looked like it had been used 2 times. Took about 30 min to clear what took 2-3 hours with the old shovel and that was with 10 min cleaning out the old gook from the carb where it had been sitting.

The house that my Dad built and I still have has always had a oil fired boiler. First one was an Edwards (lasted 40 years) - this second one I bought used and installed is a Burnham (now about 15 years old). Both have/had a domestic hot water along with the boiler water. Nice but when the furnace was out - no hot water either. Last summer I put in an auxiliary electric hot water heater. Electric prices went up and fuel oil prices went down.

Glad to hear you've got heat again - looks like another arctic blast is on the way.

Eric

[YellowRose]

My furnace is down...

I also have knowledge of that part of New York, around the Five Fingers Lakes... I am one of some 300,000 who went through about 11 weeks of Air Force Basic Training at Sampson AFB on Lake Seneca. At the outbreak of the Korean War, the Air Force created 3 basic military training centers. Sampson AFB for the East, Lackland AFB, San Antonio for the Central US, and Parks AFB in California for the West. Since I was from Pennsylvania, I went to Sampson AFB for my basic training. The basic training that I went through was in the dead of winter, around October-December, 1953. As I recall, it was so cold that Lake Seneca froze over, and part of our outdoors military training had to be cancelled or moved inside. I do remember going through the Obstacle Course, down ropes over a creek backwards, hand over hand. Trainees were dropping off the rope due to the extreme cold on their hands and falling into the creek below. If not that, then the TI's were trying to shake you off the rope walk crossing the creek.

After graduating I was sent to radio school at Keesler AFB, Biloxi, Mississippi. I thought I had died and gone to heaven because it was WARM in January! After several months of that, it was off to Japan for 2 years in support of the Korean War, and the rest of my 23 year career around the world. Ahhhh, the good old days of Air Force Basic Training! Little did I know that I would end the last five years of my career as an Air Force TI, teaching basic trainees at Lackland AFB, here in San Antonio. I live a mile or two away from it. Here is a wiki link regarding Sampson AFB, NY!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sampson_Air_Force_Base

Dave, glad to hear the furnace is running again!

[Joe Johnston]

All y'all are reminding me of the reason I retired and moved from northern Ohio to FL!! FYI, it has been 80+ the last several days and many people are planting their spring flowers!

[simplyconnected]

Now Joe, I know what FL is like... Dad lived in Lakeland for twenty years before moving back to Detroit.

In summer, you guys run your air like we run our heaters. Everyone down there has a heat pump. When it goes down, those seniors want cold air NOW! So the heat pump boys come and swap units. Nothing is fixed on location but in the comfort of a shop, on a bench, because it's so freakin' hot outside. No thanks, I rather fancy NC, with a bit of altitude so nights are cool and away from alligators and armadillos. I want to see white tail deer and bob white grouse, maybe a few wild turkey and some pheasant dancing around. Give me the woods, not swamps that are one foot above sea level with cayman lurking.

[fomoco59]

Now, THAT is a charmed life.

I love upstate NY, particularly around the Finger Lakes. You were situated by the Erie Canal. I must have passed your place a dozen times, on my way from Detroit to south of Binghamton, in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. That's where both my parents were born and bred.

- Dave

Dave, I'm 5 minutes from Binghamton (born and raised) and 40 minutes from Cayuga Lake. We've had the mildest winter on record (El Nino, ya know) Missed all of the snow so far this season and haven't burned much wood. We vacation in Myrtle Beach every fall and plan to buy there someday (beach bum). I think NY has the highest taxes in the US!

[Yadkin]

Now, THAT is a charmed life.

I love upstate NY, particularly around the Finger Lakes. You were situated by the Erie Canal. I must have passed your place a dozen times, on my way from Detroit to south of Binghamton, in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. That's where both my parents were born and bred.

That part of the Appalachians know all about snow. The absolute worst place for snow is Buffalo. They get lake affects from two great lakes (Ontario and Erie).

What a world of difference, living in North Carolina, eh?

BTW, the furnace is running smooth as silk and pumping heat. - Dave

Upstate is beautiful. Too bad about NY state politics though.

My favorite part of the canal system is shown on the attached picture from Google Earth. The canal (from Cedar Bay to the east) crosses over a creek. A bridge carrying water over water! An amazing feat of engineering.

Here in NC I have a small cabin in the Blue Ridge, elevation 4900 where I can enjoy a three month winter with an average snowfall of 40". In Syracuse the winter is 6 months and snowfall averages 110. In the 11 years I lived there, 7 were record snowfalls. I saw as much as 193".

Glad to here your furnace is keeping you warm.

[Ian M Greer]

I've got to admit I laughed over Dave's comment to Joe . No worries up here after all where into a climate change (????????) . Just blew out 8 to 10 inches of snow yesterday while it was raining . Now today I could skate down my driveway . It's February come on spring , I can make it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Yadkin]

...I think NY has the highest taxes in the US!

That was my main reason for leaving. I pay 1/3 to 1/4 of what I used to pay on the same valuation. And we have better services.

I've tried to convince my mother-in-law to move from here place in Rockland County NY. Her husband is a "townie" though, and would never contemplate moving. They pay more in property taxes then most do on a mortgage.

[del]

absolute worst...um, no...

Now, THAT is a charmed life.

I love upstate NY, particularly around the Finger Lakes. You were situated by the Erie Canal. I must have passed your place a dozen times, on my way from Detroit to south of Binghamton, in the Wilkes-Barre area of Pennsylvania. That's where both my parents were born and bred.

That part of the Appalachians know all about snow. The absolute worst place for snow is Buffalo. They get lake affects from two great lakes (Ontario and Erie).

What a world of difference, living in North Carolina, eh?

BTW, the furnace is running smooth as silk and pumping heat. - Dave

Although we DO have a reputation for wintry weather during the winter months, we cannot claim to be the snow fall champs in NYS! See these SNOW STATS.
We get beat out by Rochester, Syracuse, Jamestown, Watertown, Old Forge and Lake Placid based on annual averages. Due to prevailing winds we are not subject to lake effect snow from Lake Ontario - Rochester Syracuse and Watertown are the primary beneficiaries of that action. Lake Erie is a whole other story.

[Joe Johnston]

I've got to admit I laughed over Dave's comment to Joe .

Me Too!!! However, absolutely true! The summers can be a bit humid. Many attached garages have AC and all detached garages/workshops have AC. In the North we need a heat source in winter, here its AC if you want to get anything done in summer. One of our neighbors moved here from VT and said they didn't mind being snowed in for weeks at a time. "It was so quiet and peaceful!" but they finally had enough snow and cold. Guess that is why we are fortunate to live/retire in the USA and are able to make choices.

[simplyconnected]

...Guess that is why we are fortunate to live/retire in the USA and are able to make choices.

A big AMEN to that, Joe.

Many 'snow birds' enjoy the advantages of both climates as the seasons change. I used to spend a week at Dad's trailer park, usually in February, like around Valentine's day. One year I drove the family Taurus. It was snowing in Michigan and didn't let up until I got to Kentucky. The car was caked in a familiar gray color from road salt spray.

As soon as I got to Dad's in Lakeland, I hit a car wash. The gray hide was so heavy it took two passes through the car wash to uncover hunter green paint. Temperatures down there were beautiful but hey, anything above freezing was a huge bonus to me.

After a long deserved sleep from 21 hours of driving I got up to find 60-degree morning dew dripping off my newly washed clean car. I grabbed a towel and started drying her and that's when it all started. I was in my tee shirt, sweating as I wrestled the heavy towel, wringing it often. It seems every resident in Coachmen Estates (trailer park) phoned Dad warning him, that man in his car port would meet certain demise from pneumonia as a result from the bitter sixty degree 'cold'.

Let's put things in perspective... Yesterday it was fifty degrees in Detroit when my two Pointers decided to bust out of jail and terrorize the neighborhood squirrels. I was in my tee shirt because I just finished the furnace when my neighbor called with the news. The dogs were both happy as clams, panting from all their running around. I cannot say I was chilled as I chased them for blocks. But in Florida, everyone bundles up, looking for a warm hearth in 60 degrees. They want 85-95 degrees which is my melting point.

[Joe Johnston]

But in Florida, everyone bundles up, looking for a warm hearth in 60 degrees.

Would you believe the evening weather report often cautions those who must be outdoors when we have wind chill advisories of 60° or less??? Ever see people wearing winter coats and shorts? Only in FL!

We did the "Snowbird" thing for a few years and found out we were going north in April when the weather was really getting nice, and return in July for vacation! Not for everyone, that's for sure, but different strokes for different folks as they say!