Best Of
Re: New steam boiler - newbie help
What was your total EDR (sq. ft. of steam)? Avoid working in BTU, it's a recipe for confusion
Re: New steam boiler - newbie help
Look for a steam boiler with a "Sq Ft of Steam" rating of 300-330. Always round down to the smaller boiler if you land between two of them. Others will disagree with me on this, no doubt.
Re: Adjacent bedrooms. ERV / Mini split setup
I have no idea what the ERV is for. It won't accomplish anything. However, you can get some air movement with two vents, as noted above — and with a fairly powerful fan in one of them. A bathroom fan is nowhere near big enough. I'd try it without any ducting first.
Fans are noisy.…
Re: What's a good humidity meter?
Bacharach Sling Psychrometer is the standard for measuring relative humidity
https://www.grainger.com/product/BACHARACH-Sling-Psychrometer-6T173
As far as a "humidistat" to operate a humidifier or dehumidifier is concerned, there are many different models that can be employed. I have never found any of them to be that accurate. Calibration is the key to proper humidity control. A standard combination Thermometer/hygrometer for measuring temperature and humidity with an analogue dial readout can be purchased for less than $10.00 on amazon. Likewise the digital version is also available for under $10.00. For accuracy, you can calibrate any device when you place it in the room you want to measure for 24 hours, then use the Sling Psychrometer to measure the accurate RH then set the inexpensive dial meter to the proper RH based on the accurate reading measured by the professional instrument.
Re: Water Heater cycle
Most power vent water heaters do not have standing pilot ignition with a thermocouple, like the standard chimney vent models. Your water heater most likely has electronic ignition with some sort of flame detector to prove the flame is established before allowing the main valve to stay open for heating. The most common flame detector is known as Flame Rectification where the flame must complete a circuit between the burner ground and the flame sensor rod that is hard wired to the ignition control. You most likely have a dirty flame detecting rod.
Re: Near boiler piping/replacement boiler
If you don't have the tankless there is no reason to have it warm start, can set the low limit as low as it can go. 135 is a little low to keep it from condensing though oil can go lower than gas.
mattmia2
Re: Old copper pipe smaller than todays 1/2"
Silver braze the split closed. Simplest fix. Mad Dog
Re: A/C Heat Pump Design Question
Especially when the refrigerant is going to escape from all of them at some random point in the next 10 years.
mattmia2
Re: Our FIRST residential radiant window project (ME)
I know my walls have a higher delta t from inside face to outside face. Especially the lower the outside temp gets.
Heating the window area to negate its losses has always been in the history of hot water heat. Why do you always see Rads in front of the windows in the old victorian homes with hot water heating.
Yes you are right in reference to the cost to operate electric verses gas. But it depends on where ya live to the cost of those kilowatts, and whether or not this is an alternative heat sorce.
I believe Marks thinking goes way deeper then just off setting the heat losses of a window. He is more excited about the fact that there is a solution out there to a problem in heating these super insulated homes.
The straight forward RFH tends to be a little over powering in these homes. Couple that with the fact that to keep conventional RFH tamned enough for such homes they lose their cozy warm feet luster.
The only solution is to cut down on the area of radiant,and raise the temps to get that cozy feeling back which means the RFH has to be strategically placed to benifit the warm feeling floor to the occupant. That can create another issue... who knows where furniture will be for the next century in the home.
Since windows are the greatest heat loss in any structure why not heat them its still radiant, a heated window on a 10* day would probably give the same cozy effect to an occupant as RFH, maybe even better. This glass goes farther than off setting losses they will heat to a higher temperature than needed to off set the windows losses.
Who would think that one day it may be said, we need to add another window to meet the load of this room.
I for one think the applications are endless. The one hurdle is operating, and product costs. But as the dino juice supply dwindles there are not many alternatives to electric yet on the horizon besides hot water solar, and when you get alot of sun you ususlly don't need much heat.
PV panels are cost prohibitive for something of this high of wattage.
Think outside the box on this one I think it will be big.
JMHO Gordy
Gordy
Re: Radiators make my apartment unbearable during winter
Maybe ask the landlord about moving the thermostat to one of the apartments. Or at least installing sensors in apartments. Are there radiators in the hallway? If not, makes sense that apartments are overheating. Unheated hallway will always be colder than heated apartments (and possibly over radiated apartments).
