160 OR 180

Couderay

Have a cast iron bang bang boiler at mothers house. All is well, but after reading another post about much the same (160 OR 180)what gives. Right now boiler is set to 180. When temp on tridicator hits 180 boiler shuts down. Boiler pump and system pump keep running until the zone or zones are satisfied and at 35* or colder and both zones calling boiler cycles at least twice. IF I lower aquastat in boiler to 160 what if anything do I gain? Being a bang bang boiler with pilotless ingnition and electronic damper and no ODR. 3 zones,(zone valved)all fin tube,2 upstairs, 1 down stairs, P/S piping arrangement.

Al Letellier_9

160 or 180

It all depends on the heat loss of the home, the amount of baseboard, design temperature, system loop temp and flow rates. While heating isn't exactly rocket science, there still are formulas and physics to consider. Heat loss the home, calculate the amount of baseboard and determine at what temperature you need to set the aquastat for the coldest conditions. You can use outdoor reset to automatically adjust the loop temp based on outdoor temp, assuming you have an indirect water heater or another source away from the boiler. Just turning down the temp is a hit or miss proposition until you find the coldest day....lots of work. Do the math.

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Dave

Plumb Bob

At 160F, the radiators emit less heat. So this gives more comfortable, even heat. The heat calls will be longer (no additional fuel is consumed, the boiler goes off sooner and stays off longer before starting again).

When it is extremely cold, you may or may not be able to heat the house adequately with 160F water, even though your boiler is big enough.

If 160F water is enough to heat the house even on the coldest day, then 160F is better than 180F because the heat is more even and delivered more gently (still bang-bang but the bangs are not as big).