Heating Help

high bills

@ February 27, 2010 6:30 PM in GB142 and high gas bills

I think the design temp was 5 or 10 and a heatloss was done. Maybe that room was miscalculated. I turn the TRV's up all the way in the thermostat room as buderus has advised. The system is extremely comfortable-even the 64  doesn't feel cold, but it just seems like the boiler will never shutdown and that's why my bills are high. I have 2X6 construction also and really thought i would have pretty low bills.

cost

@ February 27, 2010 9:00 AM in GB142 and high gas bills

Paying $1.79 gallon. Used 204 gallons last month.

GB142 and high gas bills

@ February 26, 2010 8:06 PM in GB142 and high gas bills

I have a GB-142/24 with Dianorm panels with TRV's and an indirect tank in a 1800 sq. ft house. My last propane bill was $390 for a month which seems excessive. There is really only one problem i see and i'm not sure if it would cause the high bill- it seems like i don't have enough radiation in the room with the buderus analog thermostat. I have a hard time hitting setpoint sometimes when it is cold out. If i have it set on 67 i might only get up to 64. All the the other room TRV's have closed and they are fine, but the boiler keeps running beacuse the thermostat room is still cool. I'm surprised with that little flow, the loop water doesn't overtemp, but it never seems to and the setpont is never hit either. Basically, it runs all the time. The house cathedral ceilings throughout, so there is a lot to heat also. Does this seem like a problem and do you view these propane costs as high for this application? thanks.

@ August 29, 2006 8:40 PM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

I know when the LP tank was installed it was piped, pressure tested and filled- I do not remember any purge process. The unit is cleaned and running again- I cannot get ahold of the individual who checked the burner setup- the next step will be to verify the air/gas mix.

@ August 27, 2006 5:16 PM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

I will have to try to find out- i would have thought so.

@ August 26, 2006 11:06 AM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

Direct vent outside- intake 2.5 feet above grade pointing down, exhaust 3 feet higher than intake, pointing out. No other vent sources anywhere near by.

@ August 26, 2006 8:41 AM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

Never had a problem before, although this unit is only 9 months old!!!!! It does seem to be something with the gas or flame-the lower half of the heat ex looks fine-just the ones closest to the flame look like this.

@ August 25, 2006 6:59 PM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

Thanks for the quick reply. It is LP gas and there is a condensate drain on the exhaust pipe. It is piped in accordance with the manual.

Ut-oh..........

@ August 25, 2006 6:41 PM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

Well, the cover is off and this is what i found. The lower "baffles" i will call them look clean-0 the uppers look like this-what is goin on here?????

@ August 25, 2006 11:02 AM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

Joe- the GB modulates based on Delta T even during a domestic call??

@ August 25, 2006 9:11 AM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

The manual talks about 194 degrees out to the tank. If i'm trying to heat the tank to 120 with 140 degree water- it's going to take awhile. The bigger the delta t, the greater the heat transfer. I am wondering if whatever appears to be on the heat exchanger, is impeding heat transfer.

GB-142

@ August 25, 2006 7:30 AM in GB-142/24 question/problem?

I posted on here before about strange problems with my GB-142 and heating domestic water in an ST-150 tank. I decided to look last night and the water coming out of the boiler was about 140 degrees for most of the cycle. It did get up to 180 right before the call ended. I took the cover off and looked at the flame, which looked fair, but i noticed that the "plates" on the heat exchanger seemed to have a lot of little pieces stuck between them? Don't know what it is or where it came from? I can't see them making it through the gas orifice and i don't know if it is impeding heat transfer. The manual says to clean the HX with water- has anyone done this before or saw this type of thing?

@ August 12, 2006 7:53 AM in GB-142 question?

I use indoor reset with the rc module now and TRV's with panel rads- the only thing i don't really like is that i would like to do temp setback at night. Do you think it would be more efficient to do outdoor reset instead and switch to a programmable thermostat for night time setback? i could cutback the temp for at least 8 hours at night. I worry though that since there is not a "boost" function, it could take quite a while to re heat in the morning. Thoughts?

outdoor reset and night time setback?

@ August 10, 2006 7:06 PM in Outdoor Reset for Buderus GB-142 by end of August

I use indoor reset with the rc module now and TRV's with panel rads- the only thing i don't really like is that i would like to do temp setback at night. Do you think it would be more efficient to do outdoor reset instead and switch to a programmable thermostat? i could cutback the temp for at least 8 hours at night. I also worry that since there is not a "boost" function, it could take quite a while to re heat in the morning. Thoughts?

flow

@ June 15, 2006 7:31 AM in GB 142 and indirect question??

Well- i did a bucket test and was flowing about 3-3.5 GPM a minute of hot water. I guesstimated that the tub holds about 30 gallons of water. Now i'm a little more baffled.

@ June 15, 2006 7:29 AM in GB 142 and indirect question??

Even with this header a seperate pump that pumps directly through the boiler is required.

@ June 14, 2006 1:48 PM in GB 142 and indirect question??

It is LP- i will have to check out the "chimney sweep" test. Boiler aside, i would think if the boiler water going into the indirect is close to the same as the boiler water coming out- sutin ain't right!!!!

@ June 14, 2006 11:12 AM in GB 142 and indirect question??

I understand what is recommended, but wouldn't you think that if there was not enough flow, that the delta T across the indirect would be very large? It seems like the tank is not "sucking" the heat out of the boiler loop.

@ June 13, 2006 4:05 PM in GB 142 and indirect question??

GB-142/24 and i believe a 15-58IFC

@ June 13, 2006 10:57 AM in GB 142 and indirect question??

I don't know if i can adjust the differential- i don't see anything in the manual- i guess i need Joe from Buderus to help on this one. I can raise the cut cut out temp by adjusting the dial on the BC controller, but i will have to mix the water down so it doesn't burn anyone. As far as i know, on a DHW call the GB goes to maximum fire and there is no adjusting it-unless someone knows different???

Hmmm...

@ June 13, 2006 7:30 AM in GB 142 and indirect question??

I do have it on the highest speed- I could try slowing it down and see how it responds. Another wierd thing is the boiler water temp only raises to about 170. If the BTU's aren't getting into the water, and the boiler is firing at high fire, wouldn't that temperature skyrocket?

@ June 12, 2006 5:40 PM in GB 142 and indirect question??

I put in a GB-142 and ST 40 gallon indirect. I put in a 3 speed Grundfos circulator instead of a taco 0011. When filling the big tub it sometimes runs out of hot water. I thought it could be the pump but the delta T on the boiler in and out of the hot water tank is almost the same. It's like it is not giving off any of it's heat to the tank- i found that a little odd. You could take four showers in a row and have plenty of hot, the problem is only with the big tub and only when the water hasn't been reheated in a while. I'm sure I can fix by heating the tank to 140 and mixing down, I just don't understand why such a small delta T when trying to reheat cold water- any thoughts?