black streaks above baseboards

jj_3

I have a client w/ black streaks above all the baseboard radiation  in house. Its a 3yr. old Weil McLain CGA boiler natural gas. Boiler is clean as can be w/ plenty of fresh air in room. Older home which cannot be that air tight. Told her to clean heating elements as good as possible. BB has min. 1" clearance from floor. She swears streaking is has not been there for long. Any other suggestions out there?  

Brad White

Pictures?

Black streaking quite often is room dust entrained in the convective air moving through the heating element. It deposits on the wall especially where there is moisture, just a thin film condensing on the surface. The dust, whatever the composition, adheres.

No idea about the source of the dust, but a leaky home often has plenty. Having done my share of renovations, it still amazes me how much soot, dust and godknowswhat you can find inside a joist cavity. It tells you something about infiltration and how loose original construction can be.



On older buildings especially those which have not been painted in years, you can actually see the ghosting of lath, plaster and studs by this deposition.

Big Ed_4

Streaking

With the rising convection and infiltration streaking will accrue with burning candles , dura flame logs , basically burning $#!@ ... With the popularity of candles , look around the room , but good luck explaining to the lady of the home ... They must be addictive