cold upstairs

lauriew

I have read a couple of the threads about this, but they are a bit too techinical for me and wonder if I can get some "dumbed down" anwers here. I have an 1860's woodframed farmhouse heated with forced hot water by gas. There is only one zone.  The upstairs bedrooms have been colder than downstairs for as long as I can remember. Drafty windows have been remedied, attic is well insulated. I have placed a reflective shield behind one of the radiators (with little effect). There is heat going to the pipes and the radiators warm some, but not enough. I am pretty sure they have been bled recently. The furnace is a Burnham (about 10-15 years old). One of the posts mentioned something about checking the pressure in the system and making sure it was 18 (i think for a 2 story house)  There is a gauge near the water level window marked in psi, but it doesn't seem to move regardless of whether the burner is firing. There is a small hunnewell box also marked in psi, but it seems to be in very small increments. Is this even the right place to be starting or am completly barking up the wrong tree?

Gordan

Water level window

Hot water heating systems don't have a water level window/sight glass, since they're supposed to be filled in their entirety with water. They DO have expansion tanks, and (usually) circulators. A picture helps, but it certainly seems like you've got a STEAM heating system. The Honeywell thingy with small PSI increments is probably a pressuretrol of some sort.



Advice: post under the Strictly Steam section and put as much information about your system (boiler model, the model of that Honeywell thingy, pictures of the piping around the boiler, pictures of the "main" - the big pipe that goes from the boiler to all your risers, pictures of the radiators that are not heating up and any vents/valves on those radiators) and those folks ought to be able to help you.

lauriew

thanks

thanks for the advice, clearly i know less than i thought! but, it's never too late to learn.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Boiler Type

Do you have to fill your boiler with water once in a while? That would be steam. What is your pressure guage reading?