Heating Help

Do you need an automatic changeover?

@ May 23, 2012 1:46 PM in DPDT Aquastat

Hi Jerry, will a Honeywell L6006A (or C) do what you're looking for?

I have an EFM plumbed in parallel with my oil boiler, and I just ran the signal from the zone relay's end switch through a three way toggle. It isn't automatic, but it is just the flip of a switch to fire the oil unit. I have seen others hooked up with relays, and one guy hooked up a thermostat in a cool part of the house to fire the oil boiler if the room temperature dropped too far. Lots of different ways to do it, just depends on what you want to accomplish.

Decreased competition

@ April 27, 2012 11:21 AM in The Propane industry

In my area the two big propane "players" are Suburban and Amerigas...but the best prices are from the small independent propane companies. I would hate to see them get swallowed up by the big guys.

4 gpm

@ March 22, 2012 4:20 PM in indirect

It seems that a shower head upgrade may make a noticeable improvement.

I have an 80 gallon indirect in my home that is fired with about 100k btu's of boiler capacity. Even with multiple bathroom's in use at the same time we have never exhausted the hot water.

fuel consumption for heat loss

@ March 12, 2012 10:25 AM in boiler choice time

Bobby, how many gallons of fuel do you normally burn per winter?

odd...

@ March 8, 2012 3:56 PM in Do I need a new furnace / boiler?

It is odd that the boiler provides sufficient hot water in the summer, but not in the winter. That makes me think of two things:

1. The water from the main or well is considerably colder in the winter and can't pick up enough heat in the tankless coil... possibly from calcium deposits.

2. Any chance you have a zone calling for heat while you are in the shower and the boiler temperature drops quickly?

When you are taking pictures, please note the current settings in the aquastat and take a picture of the wiring.

ODR

@ February 29, 2012 5:56 PM in Actual heat loss vs. calculated heat loss....

Icesailor, your mention of ODR savings vs. reduced firing rate rings true with my observations this winter.  For a few days I doubled the firing rate of my boiler to see how it would behave...it ran almost exactly half as much.  During November and most of December I experimented with running the boiler at 140/160 rather than the usual 160/180...that made more of a difference than scaling back the firing rate, and the reduction in pipe expansion noise was nice as well. 

The only issue I have with ODR is that it can't tell when the wind is blowing.  With a home like mine that sits out in the open, I would have to allow a "wind buffer" in the ODR curve.

"It depends"....on a lot of things!

@ February 29, 2012 4:23 PM in Actual heat loss vs. calculated heat loss....

Steve, I think a total heat-loss calculation tends to be more accurate on new construction...because (if everyone did their job) you should know how much insulation is in the walls, etc. 

For an old house like mine, a "best guess" heat loss calculation is needed to size the radiation per room and such, but historical fuel consumption and/or boiler run time seems to be better at telling 'the real story' on the heatloss of the entire structure.

When I first moved into this house I did a heatloss calculation with the Slant Fin software.  I had to guess at the insulation values and came out to 120,000 btu's per hour at -15F...no wonder the 250k btu oil boiler tended to short cycle!  I installed a Beckett Heat Manager to help with the short cycling (it did) and an hour meter, so I could keep track of the burner run time.  I soon learned that the boiler rarely ran more than 5 or 6 hours per day.

For a while I kept a log book next to the boiler and tracked the burner run time vs the high & low temperatures of that day.  I don't have the numbers right in front of me, but from memory I think the coldest day I had in the log was -22F in the morning with a "high" of -5F in the afternoon...even with those temperatures the btu INPUT to the boiler didn't even average out to more than 100,000 btu's per hour.  I now know that the wall cavities are filled with rock wool and/or cellulose, so the old house is better insulated than I originally thought when I did the heat loss calculation.

One winter of buying $3+ fuel oil was enough, so I installed an anthracite coal stoker boiler, and I have it set at approximately 100,000 btu's per hour.  To-date it has never run more than 15 hours out of 24, and that particular day wasn't the coldest of the season...it was cold and windy.

Undersized

@ February 23, 2012 7:25 PM in New Amtrol Boiler Mate running out of hot water

I agree with Steve, the indirect is undersized for that kind of load.  I have a fast-fill fixture in our tub and it would quickly exhaust a 30 gallon indirect...I have an 80 now and have never gotten ahead of it.

.

@ February 23, 2012 10:57 AM in circulator sizing for wood boiler

The brochure for that boiler shows an expansion tank in the diagram...are you sure it is an open system?

That seems like a lot of circulator just to pump water through a solid fuel boiler and a storage tank, but maybe there is something I'm missing inside the boiler. When in doubt, follow the directions....or call the manufacturer and see what their reasoning is.

Move the plants

@ February 23, 2012 10:39 AM in Moldy Smell in Office w/ steam heat

If you think the plants could be at fault, remove them from the office and see if they still complain. Is there a drop ceiling in the office? Pull a few tiles and look around, it wouldn't be the first time someone hung a bucket under a leak and it got the "green disease".

No pricing please

@ February 14, 2012 1:27 PM in System 2000 or Buderus?

The rules of the site are: Please be nice; don't discuss pricing, and don't post advertisements.

Both systems have a good reputation. Did each of the contractors do a heat loss calculation of your home? Did then mention a chimney inspection or relining?

Where do you live?

@ February 10, 2012 9:26 AM in Help please

Jason, do you live in coal country? I assume you were considering anthracite and not bituminous coal. Nothing against Icesailor, but if someone with a modern stoker boiler is getting ashes all over the house they are doing something terribly wrong. The best thing for you to do is visit the home of someone that is running the unit you are considering and make up your own mind about the pros/cons.

I heat my home with an EFM stoker boiler, and everyone that visits is shocked that the house is heated with coal. My house is 72-73 degrees, there is no dust in the living area, and it saves me about 60% compared to heating oil. I have installed two others in my neighborhood, the last one was in a house that was previously heated with electric baseboard.

"Coal" is a dirty word and most people have zero experience with an anthracite stoker. Here is a video of an EFM like mine...if you think one of them would look good in your basement feel free to send me an email.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hW65fisK1I

Are you sure it is the LWCO cycling?

@ February 2, 2012 1:04 PM in cold radiator

"The Burnham cycles every 12 minutes to check the low water limit and the old boiler just ran until the thermostat shut it off."

I'm no steam expert, but that sure doesn't sound right. How did you determine the LWCO is causing the burner to stop? Are you sure it isn't due to something else, such as the Pressuretrol?

Bypass...

@ January 18, 2012 4:32 PM in Hot water loop question

In addition to a properly sized circulator, you should have a bypass installed on the condensate loop to keep the temperature manageable. Here is some good reading.

http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/articles/1360/346.pdf

http://www.heatinghelp.com/article/330/Condensate-Hot-Water-Heating/76/Condensate-Hot-Water-Heating-FAQ

http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/posts/9875/CounterPointJun04-B.pdf

Heating the ground

@ January 17, 2012 10:02 AM in radiant heat loss because of pex placement?

If I understood your post correctly, are you are saying that the pex is entirely beneath the slab in sand? Is there is insulation and vapor barrier under the pex? Having the tubing not in the slab itself is a big problem, and if it is heating damp soil...all you are doing is wasting fuel.

What is the whole-house pressure?

@ January 11, 2012 1:43 PM in Pressure Booster on Hot Water

How much water pressure do you have in the basement?

Any chance the screen in the shower head is clogged with debris?

Measure twice, cut once...

@ January 9, 2012 9:28 AM in It's cold. Poor Unico install. Want to re-use 3rd fl. radiators

Have the radiators you want to install been pressure tested? If not, I suggest you take the time to do it. It isn't much fun to move those big chunks of cast iron around only to find out they leak rusty water all over the floor when pressurized.

Next question, have you done the math to see if the radiators you have are sufficient to heat the first floor?

-1 up here

@ January 4, 2012 10:43 AM in 12°F / -11°C in NYC this morning!

It is -1 up here at the other end of NYS. A little sharp, but thankfully there is no wind.

It should work fine

@ January 3, 2012 1:23 PM in Need some advice - Baseboard Basement Heat

If the boiler is piped for proper air elimination and the new zone has purge valves, you shouldn't have any problems getting the air out of that zone. I have been in houses that had basement heat installed in this manner, and it worked fine.

If you were worried about air you could use a baseboard elbow at the top of the pilons/doorways and install a coin vent...but I don't think it will be necessary.

Is the basement open or separated into rooms?

You are in luck

@ December 21, 2011 7:02 PM in Vintage 1979 Van Wert Furnace

Call Arnie Huntley at 315-653-7883.  He can cast Van Wert parts and has plenty on hand.  He can also walk you through the adjustments on your unit.  If he asks how you got the number, tell him Rob Roy gave it to you.

I assume you are running the Simplex on coal and not fuel oil?  What
issues are you having?  I run an EFM stoker, but many of the principles
are the same.

Great Article

@ December 21, 2011 1:42 PM in Cast-iron boilers do not come from catalogs

I enjoyed the article very much. It is nice to know that some things are still made by hard-working Americans.

I also wanted to mention that the floor in the Industrial Arts building in my highschool was made the same way. Rectangular cross-cut pieces of wooden beams, polished from years of foot traffic. I was told that it was done that way so if wood-working tools (or pieces of wood) were dropped, there was little/no damage.

Dual rated

@ December 19, 2011 12:10 PM in Heating Costs

"You can rest assured that the cost of natural gas will go up 40% the year I switch."

Put in a boiler that is rated for gas & oil, like a Smith Series 8. Then you are only a burner swap away from telling the gas company to take a hike.