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Living Room Cold (Hot Water System)

thumbiman
thumbiman Member Posts: 8
in THE MAIN WALL
Hi Fellas,



I own a ranch home.  I have a hot water system at home. I notice that my home is very uneven regarding temperature. My bedroom is very warm but my Living Room is very cool. I do believe that the living room is the last radiator before the water returns to the boiler. My friend mentioned that this is the reason the room is cold. What can I do to make the temperature warmer? He mentioned that I should consider putting a bigger circulator pump so the water flows faster through the system and doesn't give the time to cool as quickly as a smaller circulator pump. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

  • jumper
    jumper Member Posts: 2,385
    in theory

    Theoretically you adjust the valve in the warm room. I haven't had much luck doing that.

    Increasing circulation rate can be a bad idea. If the water goes faster than six feet per second.....

    The easiest thing to try is to increase hot water temperature. Notch up the low limit.
  • thumbiman
    thumbiman Member Posts: 8
    how?

    How do I raise the hot water temperature?
  • thumbiman
    thumbiman Member Posts: 8
    Living Room Cold (Hot Water System)

    What valve are you talking about? I only have the bleeder valves on my radiators
  • jumper
    jumper Member Posts: 2,385
    lucky you

    IMHO it's a good idea to not install valves on terminals. No kidding.



    On your boiler there's got to be some sort of gizmo with a dial or dials for adjusting the temperature of the hot water your boiler generates. At least I hope so.
  • Zman
    Zman Member Posts: 7,611
    New problem?

    Is this problem new or is the system design flawed? A good heating guy takes the temp drop into consideration in his design.

    Post some pics of the boiler and near piping.

    Carl
    "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough"
    Albert Einstein
  • heatpro02920
    heatpro02920 Member Posts: 991
    Where is the thermostat located?

    And what is the temp variation, for example bedroom 70 parlor 65?



    If this is an existing problem and the system design is the fault of the comfort issue, than I recommend more zoning. Have a contractor come out and give you a price to separate the parlor from the rest of the zone, or have them add more baseboard in the problem room to match the load even when the return temps are low... I have done jobs where I replaced the original baseboard with high out put units... But IMO making the original zone smaller and separating the problem rooms onto a smaller zone can increase the comfort and efficiency....
  • chapchap70
    chapchap70 Member Posts: 139
    If you have baseboard...

    An easy thing to try would be to close the damper in the warmest area to lower the convection so the hot water can stay in the line longer to heat the rooms further down.  Aluminum foil on the fins for extreme measure.  Cheap solution.
  • Gordy
    Gordy Member Posts: 9,546
    Agree with Zman

    Determine if this is a new problem, or has always been then decide what to implement for a fix..



    Could be a lot of different things.



    If the system was designed properly could be air, clogged baseboard fins, etc.



    If the system is flawed in its design piping near boiler, loops etc then more complicated things may need to be done to resolve the issue.





    To original poster pics of baseboard, and near boiler piping says thousands of words.
  • Nick W
    Nick W Member Posts: 200
    Uneven insulation may well be the culprit.

    Uneven, inadequate, or missing insulation is a frequent, if not the most common, cause of cold rooms.



    Neighbors of mine lived with a very cold bedroom for 35 years. At my suggestion they had a handyman help them blow additional cellulose insulation into the attic. About half way through the project the handyman reported there was no insulation over the bedroom that had been so cold for so long. This bedroom was the farthest room from the attic access in the garage, and the lack of insulation there could not be seen from the access hatch. The problem has been solved.
  • Paul48
    Paul48 Member Posts: 4,469
    Details

    Do you have baseboards? Is there a basement with access to the pipes?
  • icesailor
    icesailor Member Posts: 7,265
    Cold Rooms:

    How old is this house?

    Has this problem always been there? I find it hard to believe that the house is older and had this problem from the beginning. What kind of "Baseboard" do you have? If it is Cast Iron BB and it was set on a wood floor, has someone had wall to wall carpet installed and the carpet installers pushed the new carpet under toe baseboard, blocking air flow through the baseboard? If it is copper fin tube baseboard and the dame thing was done, it will be even worse.

    Post photos of your baseboards and the piping around the boiler and the connections to the baseboards in the cellar.
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