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gravity hot water conversion

klaus
klaus Member Posts: 183
in THE MAIN WALL
There can be a lot more to a gravity hot water system than meets the eye.

Go to the tabs across the top of this site. Hit "systems", "hot water", then "Gravity" and start reading. There's lots of good information there.

Comments

  • art_9
    art_9 Member Posts: 1
    gravity hot water conversion

    i have four supplys two 2in and two 1.5 in return two 1.5 and two 1in im installing a new weilmaclain gas fired boiler with a grondfos pump im trying to find out how to pipe in the new boiler do i put valves on the supplys and down size the pipeing 3/4 very confussed. has any body had this problem thanks need help
  • Big Ed_4
    Big Ed_4 Member Posts: 2,992
    I'am lost for words as well

    A gravity system is one of the most complcated system ever designed. Now you want to convert to forced hot water. Yes it can be done .Most all make mistakes in the first few . As Rich stated do the research first. Check out heat loss, pump sizes,flow rate,btu per pipe size,,reverse return,boiler and system bypass,thermal shock.
    a
    Then go back to the Job and scope out the system again. Ask the home owner if there is any problem areas.Look for change made over the years and point out the corrections needed to be made. Good Luck

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • Mike T., Swampeast MO
    Mike T., Swampeast MO Member Posts: 6,928


    Are you positive this was a gravity system? Unless the house is fairly small or the climate rather mild, 2" supply mains really aren't that large for a gravity system. If it's a multi-floor house, one of the best indicators of a gravity system is the size of the branch piping. A 2nd floor rad similar in size to one on the ground floor will have smaller pipes feeding it. Old habits seemed to die pretty hard and the earlier forced circulation systems I've seen around here still had quite large main piping.
  • Steamhead (in transit)
    Steamhead (in transit) Member Posts: 6,688
    Those pipe sizes

    sound screwy for gravity hot-water, but perfect for Vapor.

    Are you sure this wasn't a Vapor steam system?

    Take some pics of the piping and some radiators, and let's have a look at it.

    "Steamhead"

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