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Unbalanced heat distribution

hotandcold
hotandcold Member Posts: 1
in THE MAIN WALL
I live in a 12 unit building built in the 1920's in Brooklyn, NY.  We have oil heat and radiators, and huge heating bills.



We replaced the boiler about 10 years ago.  About 5 years ago, we replaced some old pipes and the plumber also replaced some rather large radiators with small radiators in some of the apts.  He also moved the thermostat from the 4th floor to the second floor.  I am now in charge of the thermostat.  I try to keep it at a comfortable level for everyone (this has eliminated all the nosebleeds we all previously got when the guy on the 4th floor kept it at around 95 all winter).  What's strange is that I have to keep the thermostat at 78 or above or the heat does not kick in at all.  When it is at 78, the 1st floor is boiling hot, but the 4th floor is freezing.  In fact, the people on the 4th floor have space heaters in their apts and the first floor owners all have their windows open.  If I turn it up to appease the top floor people, it is unbearable on the first and second floors.  If I turn it to 77, everyone is cold. 



I believe we need the heat redistributed equally but I have know idea how to go about that. 



Does anyone have any solutions for me?



-Tired of complaining about the heat or lack thereof

Comments

  • CMadatMe
    CMadatMe Member Posts: 3,086
    The Solution

    Too many varibles to even attempt to troubleshoot this from afar.The first step would be to get someone that knows what they are doing on the job site for an evaluation of the existing system. From there the meter starts running.

    There was an error rendering this rich post.

  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
    brooklyn boiler/freezer

    it is hard to diagnose this from a distance, but i'll gather some information.

    1.is this hot-water or steam? if steam, is it 1-pipe or 2-pipe?

    2.has the system always been so unbalanced? if not, was there something done to the system which preceded the imbalance?

    3.what sort of thermostat is now in use [make/model]?

    obviously, the system when first installed, would not have had these problems, so the goal is to bring it back to its previous state of operation.--nbc
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