Loop hot water system not heating outer loops - help?

Darin_5

They are right about the end switches on the valves going bad frequently. Cartridge pumps are extremely hard to troubleshoot without the proper knowledge or tools. Better off to get someone who knows what their doing as it is getting cold outside. Sellyour computer and pay a service call, at least you'll be warm:)

LindaZ

Loop hot water system not heating outer loops - help?

I have a gas-fired loop hot water baseboard heating system in my 1800 sq ft ranch-style home. There are three thermostats - one in the loop closest to the boiler (the bedrooms), one for the central part of the house (kitchen/dining), and one for the loop that is the furthest from the boiler - the living room. The problem is: the bedrooms heat up fast and warm, but it takes MANY hours to heat the second and third loops, despite what temperature I set the thermostats at, and what time I have them set to start heating up. If it is really cold outside, the outer loops (the living room) could take 8 hours to heat to a comfortable temp! Should I just leave the heat turned up all the time (ie - don't turn it down at night and when I am at work) so the system doesn't have to get fired back up again? Should I turn the heat off in the bedroom loop to allow for more heat to reach the other loops? Please help!

Mike T., Swampeast MO

How much setback are you using?

Does the living room zone always take this much time to recover or only when other zones are recovering as well?

I know everyone seems particularly interested in saving energy this year, but deep setbacks in very cold weather do little to save energy and MUCH to reduce comfort!

LindaZ

I don't know what a "setback" is. The living room always takes a long time, of course it is even longer when it is particularly cold outside. I'm wondering if my system would operate more efficiently if I just left the heat on 68 all the time, instead of turing it up and down. And it seems like the first zone (the bedrooms) somehow overrides the further zones - once the bedroom is warm, the boiler doesn't keep firing til the other zones get heated.

LindaZ

oh setback - duh - I was turning it down 8 degrees at night.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

How about trying say 66° without setback or 68° with only 2-3° of setback. You may well be surprised at the results, both in reasonable comfort and reasonable fuel consumption.

Blackoakbob

If the loop close to the heat.....

source is hot, then check to see if the pump is running. You may just be heating that loop by natural gravity circulation. Try flipping the on-off switch to see if there is a noticable change in temperature in and out of the pump. Also, read the temperature/pressure gauge on the boiler and let us know what you have there. Best Regards,

LindaZ

Thanks. Temp gauge says 170oF and pressure says 10 psi. How do I tell if the pump is running? I cannot see an off/on switch - should I just flip the breaker to the unit? It seems like when the first loop reaches the temp set on the thermostat for that zone, the thing doesn't keep running to continue heating the other zones regardless of the fact that the temp hasn't reached that set on the thermostats for those zones.

BRY

IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR OTHER 2 ZONES MAY NOT HAVE AN END SWITCH ON THE ZONE VALVE TO FIRE THE BOILER. IF THERE ARE ZONE VALVES SEE IF YOU CAN MANUALLY OPEN THEM WHEN THE PUMP IS RUNNING FOR THE BEDROOMS AND SEE IF THAT HELPS.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Given your observation, it sounds as if one zone is wired as a "master", e.g. the boiler won't fire unless that zone is calling for heat.

There may be a genuine reason it was done this way and it may be a bad control hookup scheme.

Have you checked "Find a Pro" at this site? It really sounds as if you need someone to come in and review the system.

joe_66

Heat

Do you have zone valves or circ and relays for each zone? If you have zone valves make sure that when the t-stat calls it opens the valve and then turns the circulator on. If you have separate circulators make sure it’s pumping by letting the return get cold and turning that zone up the return should only take a few minutes to get hot. Is it a possibility that the baseboard is dirty (dust pet hair) or did the flooring change (carpet tile hardwood) closing off the space under the baseboard?

LindaZ

Thanks. I'll have to get my husband to look at your comments and see about the zone valves, circuits, relays, etc. We cleaned all the baseboards (and fins) when we moved in less than one year ago, but we did have new carpet installed - however, it was just replacing old carpet and the height of the new carpet (pile) is the same as the old.

It seems like if I leave the t-stat cranked in the first zone (the bedroom loop, closest to the boiler), I can get the rooms in the outer loops to begin heating better. I tried one night leaving the t-stats in the outer loops up to 68 and turning down the bedroom one to 64, and it was 64 in the outer loop rooms (kitchen, living room) in the morning despite the t-stats being set at 68. I think if I set the bedroom t-stat to come up to a high temp (like 75) in the very early morning hours, and then have the outer loop t-stats set to 70 at the same time, it might warm up sooner in those outer rooms.

Thomas Mörtberg

If the system has zone valves, then end switch failure is very common in some zone valves.