Best Of
Re: Turn Down and Condensing
My prior post was written before everyone responded. I thought the presentation was good so that is why I asked the question. So it looks like a residential application is behaving differently than a larger commercial installation. The company in Nebraska was also a very large commercial boiler servicing company. Thanks I will keep an eye out maybe on the condensation output with various turn down percentages. Thanks I think I will follow everyone's advice and keep it as low as it goes.
newinnj
Re: Converting from oil to gas Eastern PA
@Ghynes440 Watch the fine print on that calculator - those are July prices conveniently, which are misleading. Obviously Peco built the calculator and know what they charge, so they consciously picked a summer month with outdated delivery costs instead of keeping it updated. Current peco rates are, at least from an online search is:
$15.70/month
+ $.68/ccf delivery
+$.59/ccf commodity cost.
+ whatever other fees they tack on. So they’ve misstated the savings by several hundred.
The issue with a gas utility (and I have a gas connection, no oil) is that they keep raising the delivery costs. You can have dirt cheap gas molecules but they’ll get ya with the shipping and handling. So conversion might look like a ten year payback, but as those flat fees are tacked in future years on it becomes a trap.
Re: Lochinvar NKC150N Water Temperature Problem
Update: Flushing the combi worked! I used a descaling solution, and then white vinegar. I couldn’t believe the stuff that came out.
I changed the water twice, reversing direction each time and running for 30 minutes each time.
Ran with just water for a last time until I got clear water.
Water gets piping hot and stays that way now.
Thank you so much guys, you have no idea how happy we were to save so much money at a difficult time like this. God bless you all!
Re: Looking for advice on balancing the system in my house to to help with heat and clanging
Make sure that the piping to the radiators, especially the far away ones are well insulated. You may be condensing the steam to water too fast before it can get to and heat some rads.
Re: Looking for advice on balancing the system in my house to to help with heat and clanging
@LRCCBJ, when I do the hot hand test, what would my ideal time be? I'm assuming I'll be worse than that time. If that's the case, I take it I'd want to add at least another #1 on to the main?
The "ideal" time would be something close to three minutes. However, this time does depend on the temperature of the piping when you do the test. If it is insulated, the piping might start at 140F or so and you should make the 3 minute time. If it is uninsulated and the piping is room temperature, the time is significantly more……………could be up to 7 minutes. If longer, more venting is needed.
If I were doing it, I would not add another #1. I would add a #1 vent right at the valve for 3-1. Get the main to give up steam to 3-1 rather than proceed down to 3-2. I'd probably steal one of the #1's from 3-2 and put it at the valve for 3-1. Some creative plumbing required at 3-1 to get it done but you must have considerably more venting on 3-1 if you want to get it to work.
ALSO: Get down in that crawl space and INSULATE that 9' run to 3-1. It will help dramatically.
LRCCBJ
Re: B & G Dou - Flo Valve??? Main loop Supply/ Return and Secondary loop Supply / Return
Thank you all for taking your time on this I feel truly honored. I also strive to be as knowledgeable as you gentlemen one day, as I sit here at the dinner and study. I wish I had the opportunity to be under your wings. Thank you again @hot_rod @delcrossv @EBEBRATT-Ed
Re: Recommend a towel bar radiator
The electric ones are sometimes a better option. The hydronic type don't always work so well as a zone of their own
The electric work during AC season also
I think they start around 150W, run them on setback and temperature control
Ive used them with spring wound 30 minute timers. Crank it on before you get in the shower
hot_rod
Re: Packing Heat
Hearing all this solar thermal lore from you guys has made me realize that, ROI aside, it just seems so much more fun than loading up on PV and calling it a day.
BTUser
Re: Indirect DHW Question
Triangle Tube has their SMART line of indirect tanks. Personally, I’m not fond of them as I’ve had to replace a few that have leaked; one, last month.
I prefer Viessmann stainless steel indirects.
Re: Frequent Boiler Interruption
Well… the first thing to do is to figure out what is shutting the boiler down. It might be low water. It might be high pressure. It might be a wonky connection somewhere. It might be a combustion or fuel delivery problem to the burner. Until you figure out what the actual problem is, you don't have much hope of fixing it.
It's unlikely to be a rash of bad traps. First off, they usually fail open — they'd have to fail closed to trap condensate. So honestly that's about the last place I'd look for a problem.
So figure out what is shutting off the boiler…
Like, for starters, what are you doing to "reset" the boiler manually? Which button do you push?
