Cycles Per Hour questions. Please help

HenryT

Hi all, from reading through the previous posts, it seems setting the CPH to 1 on digital thermostat is the most fitting.

My question is, if I leaky windows and poor home insulation, can I set the CPH to 2 only because I lose the heat in my home rather quickly. Will setting it to 2 CPH help maintain the desired temp?  Are there any drawbacks?

I have single pipe steam heating with a oversized boiler which cycles on pressure.



Thanks in advance.

Jamie Hall

Probably not...

The cycles per hour setting doesn't say the boiler can't run more often; what it does do is allow the boiler to run a little longer when it does run, making the boiler spend more time making steam and less time getting up to the point where it makes steam.



If the system gets your house up to temperature, it will stop -- of course.  But if the wind manages to suck all the heat out (and believe me, I know what you mean...) the boiler will switch back on again.



You might possibly have slightlly more even temperatures with 2 cycles per hour, but if your system is anything at all like the system I superintend, it would be at a significant cost in efficiency.

HenryT

CPH

Thanks, so do you advise against it?

Efficiency meaning I will pay for more gas output?  Any other negative drawbacks from switching from 1 CPH to 2 CPH?

I will have a new addition to my home, just trying to find ways to keep the little one warm!!

Thanks again.

Dave in QCA

Agree with Jamie

The recommendations for one cycle per hour applies to cast iron radiators.  The logic is that they take a lot of steam to heat them up and will hold the heat for a long time, giving it up over the course of an hour.  Of course, if your steam cycle was long, they will still be pretty hot at the beginning for the next cycle.  The assumption is that the room temperature in this type of operation will be relatively constant with little fluctuation.



I note that my Tekmar 279 controller recommends 20-30 minute cycles for steam systems with copper finetube convectors.  This is obviously because the cool down so very quickly when the boiler shuts off.