Nick W
Joined on September 26, 2003
Last Post on February 22, 2013
Recent Posts
Uneven insulation may well be the culprit.
@ February 22, 2013 9:34 PM in Living Room Cold (Hot Water System)
Uneven, inadequate, or missing insulation is a frequent, if not the most common, cause of cold rooms.Neighbors of mine lived with a very cold bedroom for 35 years. At my suggestion they had a handyman help them blow additional cellulose insulation into the attic. About half way through the project the handyman reported there was no insulation over the bedroom that had been so cold for so long. This bedroom was the farthest room from the attic access in the garage, and the lack of insulation there could not be seen from the access hatch. The problem has been solved.
These are the experts
@ April 17, 2012 9:06 AM in Ventilating a Cape attic
You might find answers here: www.buildingscience.com.These are the experts
@ April 17, 2012 9:06 AM in Ventilating a Cape attic
You might find answers here: www.buildingscience.com.Honeywell zone valve?
@ March 5, 2012 7:40 PM in New Amtrol Boiler Mate running out of hot water
Just about every indirect I have seen in my neighborhood has a highly restrictive Honeywell zone valve on it. My 41 gallon indirect is hooked to an 87,000 Btu boiler; we never run out of hot water. The calculated flow rate is 14 gpm; delta T is 10F.Honeywell zone valve?
@ March 5, 2012 7:40 PM in New Amtrol Boiler Mate running out of hot water
Just about every indirect I have seen in my neighborhood has a highly restrictive Honeywell zone valve on it. My 41 gallon indirect is hooked to an 87,000 Btu boiler; we never run out of hot water. The calculated flow rate is 14 gpm; delta T is 10F.Honeywell zone valve?
@ March 5, 2012 7:39 PM in New Amtrol Boiler Mate running out of hot water
Just about every indirect I have seen in my neighborhood has a highly restrictive Honeywell zone valve on it. My 41 gallon indirect is hooked to an 87,000 Btu boiler; we never run out of hot water. The calculated flow rate is 14 gpm; delta T is 10F.Honeywell zone valve?
@ March 5, 2012 7:39 PM in New Amtrol Boiler Mate running out of hot water
Just about every indirect I have seen in my neighborhood has a highly restrictive Honeywell zone valve on it. My 41 gallon indirect is hooked to an 87,000 Btu boiler; we never run out of hot water. The calculated flow rate is 14 gpm; delta T is 10F.Honeywell zone valve?
@ March 5, 2012 7:39 PM in New Amtrol Boiler Mate running out of hot water
Just about every indirect I have seen in my neighborhood has a highly restrictive Honeywell zone valve on it. My 41 gallon indirect is hooked to an 87,000 Btu boiler; we never run out of hot water. The calculated flow rate is 14 gpm; delta T is 10F.Won't work on White-Rodgers 3-wire zone valves.
@ March 4, 2012 6:07 PM in Nest t-stat needs 24v
A neighbor called yesterday. She had just shelled out about eight Benjamins for three Nests. She was confused about a "black wire" and asked me what it was for. I told her the Nests won't work on her White-Rodgers zone valves and to take them back. I suggested she buy White-Rodgers1F80-0471s. She has older 1F97W-71s, but has trouble resetting them when she replaces the batteries.John Siegenthaler says
@ May 4, 2011 12:46 PM in Water velocity
in Modern Hydronic Heating, "All down-flowing piping should be sized to maintain a flow velocity of at least 2 ft/sec to effectively entrain air bubbles." That's 3.25 gpm in 3/4" type M copper.Size is important, too.
@ February 25, 2011 12:40 PM in Expansion tank replacement - 3 questions
Remember, if the tank is too small, the pressure may rise high enough to open the safety relief valve even if you have the correct pre-charge pressure in the tank. I'm sure someone here can tell you how to calculate the size you need.Poor insulation or air leaks?
@ January 28, 2011 12:34 PM in whats the max run for fin tube base board?
In my very limited experience, most cold room problems are cause by inadequate insulation or air leaks rather than by heating system faults.Heat lamps in the ceiling work well.
@ January 28, 2011 12:22 PM in heat for master bath
We have a weirdly shaped bathroom that is hard to heat. It has 4-1/2 feet of baseboard radiator, but the radiator is poorly located to heat the entire bathroom. The builder wisely installed two 250-watt heat lamps in the ceiling. These add about 20 Btus/sf and make the bathroom very comfortable for bathing. The heat lamps are operated manually with wall switches. They warm up the floor very quickly.It probably is CO.
@ November 13, 2010 2:05 PM in Killer Coffee.....
I know CO is put in bagged salads to keep the lettuce from turning brown. It may be put in coffee containers to keep the coffee from going stale.When I used the term "2/5"
@ May 2, 2010 1:21 PM in How do you connect a WR1361 to Taco ZVC406 for DHW
I meant terminal 2 or 5, as they both are the same terminal.Terminals 2 & 5 are the same
@ April 30, 2010 10:59 AM in How do you connect a WR1361 to Taco ZVC406 for DHW
There are only 5 terminals on a 1361 valve head; there are 6 on a 1311. Both 2 & 5 are the common terminals; they are the same terminals. This setup allows you to connect more wires to the common. So if you count 2 & 5 as one, there are only 4 terminals on a 1361 valve head.Terminal 6 is missing on the 1361, as the valve is self closing as long as it has power. The 1311 valve has a terminal 6, as it is used to close the valve.
Terminal 1 is the 25-volt power terminal. Power must be connected to terminals 1 & 2/5 or the valve will not open or close.
Terminal 4 is used to open the valve. A 2-wire aquastat or thermostat would connect to terminals 4 and 2/5.
Terminal 3 is the end switch.
A new weather station in Alta
@ April 29, 2010 1:57 PM in design temp in Alta, Utah?
reports 7 days below zero this past winter, with the low being -10° F.TACO needs to improve their documentation.
@ April 29, 2010 1:33 PM in How do you connect a WR1361 to Taco ZVC406 for DHW
You are welcome, Ed.Just try and figure out how to wire WR 1361 zone valves to a TACO ZVC when all the zone valves are 1361s and all the power for the valves comes from the ZVC terminals.
WR 1361 Zone Valve wtih TACO Zone Valve Control
@ April 29, 2010 10:15 AM in How do you connect a WR1361 to Taco ZVC406 for DHW
TACO has an instruction sheet just for this zone valve at page 51 of http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/100-9.0.pdfZone Valve 1 to Control 1
Zone Valve 2 to Control Right TT
Zone Valve 3 to Control 3
Zone Valve 4 to Control 2
This is the way mine is wired, and it works just fine. Remember, the WR 1361 has about a 35 second delay before it starts to close.
The flow rate with a WR 1361 will be almost twice the flow rate than with a Honeywell V8043F.
Not much.
@ April 21, 2010 9:43 PM in insulation value
According to Manual J 7th Edition, a 24" stone wall would have an R value of about 1.9.WR 1361 vs. Honeywell ball type
@ April 20, 2010 6:19 PM in indirect DHW with a zone valve vs pump
The calculated and measured flow rate of my DHW loop with a 1" WR 1361 valve is 10.8 gpm. With a 1" Honeywell it would be only 6.2 gpm. Calculations were done with Hydronics Design Toolkit.All three proposals I received for a new boiler called for Honeywells.
Not my question!
@ March 22, 2010 4:14 PM in overfiring
Something is amiss, as I did not submit this question or the thank you.
