Sunday, January 27, 2013

Our New Temporary Yard Art

Last September (2012) we had to replace our 40-year-old hot water boiler furnace.  Of the many choices available, we chose a Triangle Tube Prestige, mainly because of it being 96% efficient. So far it seems like it was a good choice, as it has kept our house warm through several weeks with the temperatures staying under 15'F.


This new furnace, like many modern furnaces, has PVC pipes for incoming and exhausting air. We never really noticed the occasional drips from the exhaust port, until the near-zero temperatures for several days.


An icicle stalagmite began to form where the condensation drips landed in the mulch area beside our garage. It got to be nearly 3-feet tall and less than 3-inches across before it melted in just a couple of sunny days.  Another one formed after that, got to be about 8-inches tall, but the temperature is expected to be in the 40's for the next several days, so it will disappear soon. These make interesting yard art!

Another one of these formed subsequent to this post, then melted in an interesting way, shown below. Click on it to enlarge and see the individual frozen drips as they melt.  These pictures were taken January 18, 2013