what need to be done

don123

Hi Everyone,

would like your input on my heating system.I have part radiant and baseboard heat. After reading some information on here I'm now wondering if my system is piped correctly.Would like some opinions on what needs to be done to be more efficient.As of right now it works,but not like i thought it would.I attached some pictures so you can see how it is now.

 In the picture were you see the recirc going left to right: 

1st fl. bathroom (Tile)

2nd fl.(Hardwood)

1st fl (Hardwood)

2nd fl baseboard heat

1st fl baseboard heat

last circ on on right is supper store.

The other pic is of the manofold.The top 2nd floor, bottom left is 1st fl. bottom right is 1st floor bathroom.Im aslo thinking mabe looking into outdoor reset affter i get this corrected. Thank you.

Zman

Boiler size???

What is the Btu rating of the boiler? Have you done a heat loss calc? How big is the house? Where are you?

At first glance you have quite a few zones and a quite large single stage boiler. How long is the typical boiler cycle?

Carl

CMadatMe

More Efficient

Get rid of all those pumps for starters. Why all the mixing valves? On the high temp wou,d have zoned with zones valves and use a Taco Bumblebee. Same for the radiant. One mix, balanced off the manifolds and one pump.



I think Carl hits the real questions. Heat Loss?

don123

what needs to be done

Hi Carl,

the btu of the boiler is 145.000 in.

Yes i did have a heat loss done.It was done by the supply house that i deal with.

My house is aprox.a total of 1800 sq.ft.Unfinished basement, unfinished attic.1st. fl.ceiling height is 7'10" 2nd fl. 8'.

I live aprox. 20 min north west of Boston Ma.

When i was home i timed the cycles for a little bit.

 I turned up the t-stat the burner turns on ran for 6 min

Shut off for 8 min

Ran for 4 min

shut off for 12 min

Ran for 3 1/2 min.After that i had to go get my kids.

Don

CMadatMe

No Way

There is noy way on gods earth you need 80 btu/hr per sqft to heat your home. I'll bet my house on it!!



I have the same square footage, R-11 in the Walls, updated windows, live in a zero degree climate and my heat loss is 36,000 btu/hr..

don123

what needs to be done

Hi Chris

Unfortunately my system is going on 7 years, Never got into radiant heating.Ive delt with a little steam, and forced hot water,but not radiant. With a little help 

i will follow the best advice.if it means taking it all apart i will.Just need some pictures of how i could set it up. thanks.

Whats happening is the floors get warm house gets warm t-stats shuts off then

floors will cool down until it calls for heat.I thought radiant would always keep the floors warm.But maybe because of the way its piped.I was thinking maybe an out door reset would help.But i want it piped correctly first.

Don

Gordan

Nothing wrong with how it's piped

It's just that it looks over-pumped, over-fired, and in general overdone. Why are there so many loops? How long are they? I wonder where you fit them all into a 1800 sqft home. If you want the floors warm then you need to rely on them to provide more of the output. How come you have both the radiant and the baseboard - are they in the same rooms?



First thing is to manage your own expectations; the floors should get no warmer than 85 F and much of the year they will have to be considerably less warm than that or the house will overheat, or you'd have them only be warm a portion of the time like now. Depending on what the heat loss calc said, you may not need the baseboard at all. If you do, it's likely to be needed only as backup heat during cold weather. Is that the only thing that's not working out for you - that the floors aren't as warm as you had expected?



So, in summary: on the emitter side, outdoor reset with constant circulation, plus not using baseboards until the floor reaches its max surface temp and can't keep up with heat loss, will help.

Zman

Short cycle

I am guessing that you turned on all the zones at once when you observed the cycle times. I am wondering what the typical cycle is (one or two zones calling).

Gordon is right on with his assessment. You are stuck with high circulator costs and a less efficient boiler and affordable fuel source. You may be able to make some modifications that will make your monster sized boiler run longer more efficient cycles. A boiler controller and/ or a buffer tank would help.

Carl