Best Of
Re: Well color me impressed! (LONG post)
The zone valve connection information has been out there probably for decades but folks refuse to read the instructions and/or if they do they still decide to do things wrong. Steam boiler near boiler piping is a classic example of not following instructions.
With the White Rodgers 1361 zone valve, a relay is not needed if the zone valve is wired correctly to the system and the Taco document explains why. A transformer failing after 9 years of service is most likely just a transformer failure especially if no NEW actual underlying system issue is found.
Generally transformers are very reliable, but they do fail.
Nothing wrong with isolation relays, even if you don't need them, except you have added another device to the system that can also fail.
This below is more like Lawyer CYA speak than Electrical Engineering.
109A_5
Re: Indirect water heater as steam(water) to hydro zone HX (poor heat transfer)
you are sure both circulators are spinning?
The coil could thermosiphon from the boiler imitating a plugged coil?
hot_rod
Re: Indirect water heater as steam(water) to hydro zone HX (poor heat transfer)
what are the temps at the 4 ports of the tank?
mattmia2
Re: Oil guy couldn't fill my tank today
Modern oil is just as efficient as modern propane. A condensing propane heater can only be more efficient when condensing, which isn’t often.
Propane equipment needs service too.
Propane supply can be sketchy during peak demand and right now there’s an actual supply shortage in SE Pa.
Diesel generators run on ulsd heating oil just fine. However the price for a small whole house diesel generator is almost double.
At the end of the day, you'll do what’s best for you, I just want anyone who stumbles onto this thread to get the proper information.
Re: Oil guy couldn't fill my tank today
"…Price of Oil is about $3.15 and price of propane is $2.59 today…"
138,000/91,000=1.5165
$2.59*1.5165=$3.93 Equivalent price to get the same btu's out of propane.
Re: 1994 F.A.I.S. Aqua Heat AR-820 Boiler still in service in 2025 [Problem Fixed]
Thanks Alan! "Solar Ponics" were the installers of my system, and at the time, it was probably one of their first/earliest installs. We offered our home to be a model to other customers, should SP want to show people an installed system and see how it worked.
I learned the hard way that the system was very poorly installed, and many of the initial issues in the first couple of years, were due to that. It would function "ok" for a while after they'd come out and repair it, and then return to having issues, which I/we just lived with because by then it was out of warranty, service call fees and the work/parts were expensive….etc. It was very frustrating and disappointing. When I'd go visit my brother in Illinois and see the system he'd built himself, all laid out on a large section of plywood, mounted to the wall, all organized, and easily diagnosed and repair, I'd be even more disappointed in what had been done with my system, and how difficult it made it to work on, and poorly it operated.
Not until the big failure in 2017, and my doing the work to it, has it ever run so good, and been totally silent (until the current boiler howling). The floors never worked well, and since 2017, the work fantastic, as do all the baseboard units. Again this morning, I left the system set to 69*F overnight, and then bumped it to 72*F just to let it run for an extended period. I heard the bowler howl, but not very loudly, a couple times, and after that, the system was silent other the clicking from baseboards. So even as-is, it's still functioning very normally, and so much better than in those early years.
Re: Dealing with a colder room
Not really. The boiler may call for heat longer and the circulator pump may operate for that extra time, BUT, the heat will go the the radiator that is being cut down and return the the boiler without putting that heat into the room. That unused heat can then go the the radiator(s) that is too small during that time.
Now here is the kicker. Since the heat didn't go the overheat any rooms while you were getting the kitchen up to temperature, that heat returned to the boiler, the boiler water temperature increased as a result. That heat made the water get so hot that the high limit shut off the burner. But the circulator pump is still putting the hot water into the kitchen and the other rooms at a lower rate even though the burner is not burning any gas (or oil). Think of this as free heat for that time that the hot water is circulating and the burner is off.
There is the reason it will not waste fuel.
Your home will only use the fuel necessary to satisfy the thermostat. if it takes longer then the high limit will turn off the fuel while the home catches up.
The concept of turning down the flow in a radiator to make another radiator do more is hard to grasp. I find it easier to put the thermostat in the room that is the coldest. That will make the other rooms overheat. (and that is wasteful) so you turn down the rooms that get too hot until they are comfortable. That seems to make more sense to folks. But you don't need to move the thermostat to adjust the valves…. you can do it the counterintuitive way until the kitchen gets where you want it
Re: Something Just Doesn't sound right about this
If you add a circulator to an old gravity system, and the circ is too big, the water can short-circuit through the rads and they won't heat well. Check this out:
and here's an example of one that was over-pumped:
Re: Repair or Replace Gas Boiler
Laars makes a great product & fantastic tech support & warranties. Mad Dog
Re: Repair or Replace Gas Boiler
You should probably stick with the same type boiler if it worked. Larrs or RayPac also make them
