Nest Energy Data

Kjmass1

I was curious to what you guys thought of my energy usage from my steam system. The last 3 days have been highs in the 60-66, lows in the 40-45s at night. Does this burn pattern seem standard? Each bar represents a 20 minute burn, and on Monday night it ran every 2 hours. My house seems to hold the temperature throughout the day, and steam hits each rad at the same time.

My thermomoter away from the thermostat says the house varies from 70-72 degrees each day, humidity 45-55%. All the nest aware functions are set off and it is set to 72 degrees. I do wish Nest could overlay historical temp along with energy usage, cost per therm, neighbors nest data, etc.

Thoughts?

Kevin

nicholas bonham-carter

That length of burn seems long in those relatively mild temperatures. How long is it taking steam to arrive at the radiators when you set up the temp from a cold start?--NBC

Kjmass1

It's a pretty old boiler (Pennco)- I think the last time I checked it was 8-10 minutes from an absolute cold start to the end of the mains. House is 2000 sq ft. I'll try and time it the next time it goes on.

In theory how fast should it travel down the mains? I have a Gorton #1 on each main.

nicholas bonham-carter

I think another gorton 2 on each would speed it up.
If you have a gauge in ounces, then it will show the back pressure as the air is being pushed out. Low back pressure=low resistance=shorter burn times=less money for fuel!--NBC

Kjmass1

I was measuring up the mains as I need to replace the asbestos insulation that we had removed. It's roughly 65' total between the 2 main vents. I'll time how long it takes for the main to get hot at the boiler and to the end of each main.

nicholas bonham-carter

I think JStar has calculated one gorton 2 is good for 20 feet of 2 inch pipe, so it looks like your main venting needs improvement.
If the boiler fires 5-6 times a day, then the extra few minutes to get the air out will make a difference over the winter in total firing time and con$umption!--NBC

Kjmass1

So here's what I got from a relatively cold start (12+ hrs)

2:34 Boiler pipe too hot to touch
9:26 Vent #1 closes (25 feet)
12:50 Vent #2 closes (40 feet)

13:00-20:00 radiators fill and thermostat call is fulfilled for +2 degrees

nicholas bonham-carter

That seems like slow venting, probably by a factor of 4.
If you took the main vents off the mains, (open vent test), and performed the same test, you would see a great difference (careful of the steam, and turn the boiler off when you see the steam)--NBC

Kjmass1

So you think I could put (2) #2's on the 45 ft main, and then use my 2 existing #1s on the 20 ft main?

nicholas bonham-carter

Yes that would be an improvement--NBC

SlamDunk

nicholas bonham-carter said:

I think another gorton 2 on each would speed it up.
If you have a gauge in ounces, then it will show the back pressure as the air is being pushed out. Low back pressure=low resistance=shorter burn times=less money for fuel!--NBC

8-10 minutes from a cold start sounds pretty darned fast to me. It takes me that long to boil a pot of water!

nicholas bonham-carter

It's the 7 minutes to go 25 feet that seems slow.--NBC

Kjmass1

I just purchased 2 #2's. Can I dip the antler down an inch or two if I need the clearance? Either that or punch a hole in the plaster ceiling (wouldn't be the first).

BobC

i would be very leery about lowering the main to fit a vent unless you have a lot of slope to that main. Better to sacrifice a bit of plaster.

Bob

Kjmass1

Anything wrong with setup?

BobC

That will work fine, I have the same setup on my steam main. Make sure the slope of that antler allows water to get back to the boiler.

Bob

Kjmass1

Great. I'm assuming the other main isn't ideal with the vent on the return side. There was an addition at some point so maybe that explains why it's slow on this short section.

Kjmass1

Some success! First of all supplyhouse.com shipped the gortons overnight with standard shipping so that was great.

new times:

2:30 boiler hot
7:45 short main closes
8:15 long main closes

That results in a steam travel time decrease of 25% for the short main, and 39% for the longer one. I'll take the 33% overall $$ savings!

Thanks for everyone's help!

Kevin

nicholas bonham-carter

Maybe another gorton 2 would speed things up further.
Now if you had some insulation on that pipe, the time for steam arrival could be even less.--NBC

Kjmass1

nicholas bonham-carter said:

Maybe another gorton 2 would speed things up further.
Now if you had some insulation on that pipe, the time for steam arrival could be even less.--NBC

Actually, Insulation was ordered yesterday, so that should help.

It'll be interesting to see how things progress once it gets colder and it runs more often. Thanks again.