Heating Help

@ November 16, 2006 8:58 AM in how does underfloor heating in a 1970's flat work i am having tr

OhYeah, radiant. Marks probably right. set the thermostat where you want it and leave it there. I takes a long time to warm the concrete floor. If you turn up the thermostat in the morning, it takes all day to get the floor warm.

@ November 16, 2006 8:45 AM in heatinghelp.com been hijacked and abused ?

I had the samething last week. Unfortunately when I got back on here my name came out all caps. I can't figure out how to change it. And everytime I go to The Wall I am asked "Are you PAUL FREDRICKS?"

@ November 16, 2006 8:41 AM in how does underfloor heating in a 1970's flat work i am having tr

If all your heat is electric, there is probably a timer somewhere that only allows your heat to work at certain times of the day. You have to find the timer or talk to someone locally who knows where it might be.

@ November 16, 2006 8:38 AM in heatinghelp.com been hijacked and abused ?

How do I see your email address? Should I see it on your post, or is there some other place?

Looks great...

@ November 16, 2006 7:42 AM in Thee Olde Spencer has retired (Gordo & Steamhead)

But I can just hear the comment, "How can that small thing heat this house?"

@ November 15, 2006 12:55 PM in joints & teflon

No teflon and no dope. That leaves us with dry sand. What page in TLAOSH was that on?

@ November 15, 2006 8:38 AM in zone valve water hammer

Make sure the valves aren't installed backwards. Then look here: http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=137

@ November 15, 2006 8:06 AM in Albino deer!

@ November 14, 2006 6:55 AM in Big time BAD guy

I remember he played Dracula. When I think of that vampire, his is the face I see.

@ November 14, 2006 6:49 AM in relief valve

Nothing that a wire brush and a little paint couldn't fix;)

@ November 13, 2006 7:05 PM in Steam advice

Thanks, Noel. I really appreciate all the info.

Back to the questions.

@ November 13, 2006 3:49 PM in Steam advice

Are the main vent sizes OK? What do you think of the Heat timer varivents?

Back to the questions.

@ November 13, 2006 3:49 PM in Steam advice

> I've got a customer with a counter flow steam
> system. It was installed last spring by another
> company and I'm trying to get things working
> properly.
>
> The first thing I found was a lot of
> short cycling. The unit is a Smith #8 - 4. It was
> way over sized. Per Smith, I down fired it to .65
> GPH. I've also found 4 bad radiator vents, which
> I'll change out when I get the new ones.
>
> The
> piping of the mains is not ideal and may need a
> little tweaking. I noticed one main gets hot
> faster than the other.
>
> 2 Questions: I've
> looked in TLAOSH and can't find out how to size
> the mani vents. One main is 18' of 2" and the
> other is 2.5' of 2" and 11' of 1 1/2". Right now
> they both have Hoffman 4A's. Are these
> correct?
>
> The radiators are using Heat Timer
> vari-vents. What are your opinion of these
> vents?
>
> Thanks for the help. I've included some
> pics if you're interested.

@ November 13, 2006 3:48 PM in Steam advice

And I emailed back. Your method makes a lot of sense. The counterflow is certainly a horse of a different color. Thanks for the info.

@ November 13, 2006 3:18 PM in Steam advice

Smith doesn't have a diagram for counterflow. I emailed them one.

@ November 13, 2006 2:59 PM in Steam advice

The I&O doesn't show a counterflow system, just parallel. I have a call into Smith to see if they have a diagram. Here's a pic of the diagram from the hoffman website:

@ November 13, 2006 2:49 PM in Steam advice

OK, so what's correct? Page 83 is for counter flow specifically. All the others show parallel flow systems.

I know what you mean..

@ November 13, 2006 2:28 PM in Steam advice

But looking at page 83 in my edition on The Lost Art, that's how the counterflow is piped. When I first saw it I thought the equalizer needed to be at the other end, but that's not what I see in the piping diagram. Only one riser is needed.

I know what you mean..

@ November 13, 2006 2:26 PM in Steam advice

> That makes the steam and water from the two
> risers aim right at each other, and away from the
> equalizer.
>
> It's not-so-good-a-lot to pipe it
> that way, too much water goes up into the mains
> and not the other way, into the
> equalizer.
>
> Noel
>
> On second glance, the front
> riser seems to be missing completely, making ALL
> of the steam going the wrong way....

Steam help Please

@ November 13, 2006 2:09 PM in Steam advice

I've got a customer with a counter flow steam system. It was installed last spring by another company and I'm trying to get things working properly. The first thing I found was a lot of short cycling. The unit is a Smith #8 - 4. It was way over sized. Per Smith, I down fired it to .65 GPH. I've also found 4 bad radiator vents, which I'll change out when I get the new ones. The piping of the mains is not ideal and may need a little tweaking. I noticed one main gets hot faster than the other. 2 Questions: I've looked in TLAOSH and can't find out how to size the mani vents. One main is 18' of 2" and the other is 2.5' of 2" and 11' of 1 1/2". Right now they both have Hoffman 4A's. Are these correct? The radiators are using Heat Timer vari-vents. What are your opinion of these vents? Thanks for the help. I've included some pics if you're interested.

@ November 13, 2006 8:13 AM in skimming for an eternity

You should also try flushing out the returns. Hopefully you have drains at the end of the wet returns.

Looking for info

@ November 10, 2006 7:49 PM in Counterflow

Is there a place on heatinghelp.com that lists EDR's. I left my books at work and I'm trying to make sure a unit is not oversized. I've got a customer with a counterflow system. They have a new 4 section Smith 8 that short cylcles like crazy. Judging by the size of the house and the number and size of the radiators, I think it's oversized. Someone replaced the presuretrol with a vaportrol to get the pressure down, because the water was dropping in the glass, presumably working it's way back up the equalizer. Thought I'd start with the size issue first.