Heating Help

confused

@ November 12, 2009 8:16 AM in Anticipator Adjustment / Air Vents / Gas Bill

I've read about setting the anticipator draw to the same setting as the amperage draw of the device being controlled.  But I don't understand why this works. Maybe it is just a good starting point so that the anticipator and other controls use about the same amount of current?

Why does my thermostat "anticipator" care if the gas valve draws 1 amp or .1 amp?

Isn't what really matters the thermal inertia of the heating system? When my thermostat shuts off my boiler the radiators are still nice and warm, and continue to heat the house.
I don't know how you measure this - a nice heavy cast iron radiator will retain alot of heat, a thin light radiator will retain less heat.

Can somebody explain this to me, or point me to an explanation?

I understand that an oil burner can be significantly less efficient if it short cycles, is this true for gas as well? Probably so, but perhaps less so?

Just looking to learn :) Thanks.

heating bill

@ November 8, 2009 5:33 AM in Anticipator Adjustment / Air Vents / Gas Bill

Your heating bill is determined by weather, boiler efficiency, and house efficiency (and of course, the cost of fuel). 
There is probably not much you can do about boiler efficiency, except to keep the burners clean.
House effeciency is determined by air infiltration, and heat conduction. If your's is a typical older steam heated house, it probably leaks alot, and doesn't have much insulation. I actually like a house that leaks a little (otherwise I'd have to install an air to air heat exchanger). But adding insulation is always a good thing.
How much insulation do you have in your attic?

I'm no expert,

@ November 6, 2009 9:49 PM in Anticipator Adjustment / Air Vents / Gas Bill

but I also have one of the old round thermostats. My understanding is that the "anticipator" should be set so that the house gets up to temperature quickly, but does not overshoot the desired temperature. FWIW I run mine at about .5 - seems to be a good compromise - the furnace does not cycle too frequently, but at the same time it does not overshoot the set temperature.

There is probably a better way to set this, I did it by trial and error. I'm curious if there is a better way of doing this.

Low pressure - controls and guages

@ November 6, 2009 9:02 PM in Low pressure - controls and guages

I understand that running a typical home (single pipe steam) system at around 1psi is the ideal. So, why is it the controls and gauges all seem designed to operate at higher pressures? My presuretrol goes from .5 to 9psi cut in, with a 1 to 5 differential. It seems like I should be using the lowest setting for both! The .5 and 2 psi cut in markings are very close together, and it seems like that is where you would want the most resolution! The pressure guage reads to 30psi - I assume this is for safety so that you can see if the pressure is larger than the pop off rating (15 psi in my case) but it makes it difficult to work with in the 1 psi range.

Just wondering . . .