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Re: Am I crazy? Chimney company says you can reduce the flu.
Don't know your location but in many areas "chimney sweeps" have to be licensed or certified or something.
I wouldn't get involved and it is good that you didn't recommend them.
It's the homeowner's issue and they should contact their building dept. I would go as far as sending the building dept the information, boiler size and input, chimney height etc and let them do their thing.
Maybe your state or location has a "consumer protection agency" that can help.
That chimney guy missed that day in school.
Re: Am I crazy? Chimney company says you can reduce the flu.
Even a 225K boiler needs a 7" diameter x 20' high vent. So, reducing from 8" to 7" might be OK but you have the right idea. That 5" is not going to work.
I would craft a letter with the statistics of the customer’s boiler and indicate that you do not believe that the 5" liner is adequate for the 225k input boiler (enclose the rating of the boiler) and send the letter by certified mail so you know that your customer received the letter. Give your recommendations in the letter and inform them not to operate the boiler until the problem is taken care of.
It should include statements like “I have made an inspection of this Make… Model number… Serial number… Boiler at this location and have determined that the carbon monoxide problem is a direct result of insufficient combustion air and/or inadequate venting. I recommend the customer have a competent chimney professional look at the venting system including the chimney and the combustion air requirements. After the work was completed by XYZ chimney company I was requested to inspect the problem again and discovered the work performed by that company has not solved the venting and combustion air problem . The 5“ chimney liner installed by XYZ Chimney company, may have actually worsened the problem."
You can also add that you said you are not a chimney man, you are a plumber and the venting system is not up to the specification that the plumber recommends, the manufacturer recommends, or the local authority having jurisdiction would approve.
"If you have any other problems with your heating system regarding carbon monoxide, please refer them to the XYZ chimney company, the local fire department, or the local authority having jurisdiction. As you can not create the needed venting and combustion air requirements within the job description of a plumber. You can only tell the other trades what the specifications and recommendations are for the equipment.” …Or something like that.
Re: Utica Combi Boiler (MAC-150)-Error 133- Causing big bang noise after few trial of combustion
And since when is a bent or damaged part a design flaw? What are we coming to…
Re: high humidity in my house
i believe an erv would bring in less moisture, the hrv is making it so you're essentially trying to remove the latent heat from outside.
mattmia2
Re: Delay of boiler firing?
Gas boiler is ready to run in case the oil boiler doesn't come online. Can't risk the place freezing.
nate379
Re: Am I crazy? Chimney company says you can reduce the flu.
And in the meantime, lock out the boiler before someone dies.
Re: Lennox Model HS24-411-1P WITH C16-41-1FF COIL
Looks like 3 tons.
Literally the first Google result.
ratio
Re: high humidity in my house
The Δ on the water is fine for now. Slowing the water down without lowering the EWT will increase the LWT (we're cooling, not heating), & will increase the AWT, & cooling will decrease. Slowing the water down along with lowering the EWT will lower the AWT & increase cooling, but simply lowering the EWT without slowing it down will increase cooling (slightly) more. Plenty of time to chase efficiency (increasing the Δ) later, once things are doing what they should.
We might be looking in the wrong direction. How confident are you (OP) that there isn't an unaccounted-for high-latent load? Lot of pets? Aquarium? Have you tried turning off the HRV to see what happens to the RH? It's my understanding that an HRV keeps the moisture in the building, making the equipment sizing even more critical for dehumidification. Is this a constant thing, or does it roughly follow outside conditions (high indoor RH when it's rainy, less high when it's drier outside)?
But cranking the water temp down low will help, at least until we can figure out what's happening. Water temp down, air speed down too. Since we don't have to worry about freezeups like we would with DX cooling, I'd crank everything down as low as I could to see how much condensation I could get.
ratio
Re: Steam system from the 1830's
The odd looking tee is either an air vent or a safety valve, or maybe some sort of ejector. Is it mounted on the steam main or the dry return? Can we get a close-up of the lettering on the side?
This system doesn't date back to the 1830s. Remember, Stephen Gold didn't patent his system until 1854. This is probably from the late 19th or early 20th century. If the building is older than that, it was retrofitted.
Re: Am I crazy? Chimney company says you can reduce the flu.
Chimney company is nuts. There are instances where you can reduce a liner size if the chimney is high enough to produce more draft. Usually with a tall chimney you can go down 1 size. Going from 8" to 5" is a joke.
The customer should call the local building/plumbing/heating inspector, and they should get a complete refund from the chimney company and then either have them (or preferably another company) to install the correct liner.