Loosing heat upstairs, the 1st floor is normal.

josechicago

Hello, This is our 2nd winter in this home. Last year was ok but this year I'm having trouble possibly with balancing the system. I crank the heat up to 70 degrees in the morning and in 4-5 hours the temperature drops by about 5 degrees in the 2nd floor but the 1st floor barely moves 1º. Not sure if this is a balancing problem or an actual air leak in the apartment. I have a 1-pipe system with 2 zone. I have a gorton#1 vale at the end of the short main and a hoffman #75 at the end of the long main. Most of the radiators on the 2nd floor are set to 5-6 adjustable vales which is the highest and 3 in the bedrooms. 1st floor are set to 1, 2, and 3 low settings. Thanks for your help!

Fred

This is not a balancing issue. If the boiler is running for 4 or 5 hours and the temp drops 5 degrees on the second floor and just rises by 1 degree on the first, something significant is wrong. What has changed from last year? I can almost assure you there isn't enough main venting but this is something else. How old is the boiler? Have you changed any plumbing or radiators? Have you ever calculated your radiator EDR? what is the Steam rating on the boiler? Are you adding a lot of water to the boiler? Some pictures of the boiler and piping would help.

josechicago

The boiler is running only for about 10-15 until the temp reaches 70º, then shuts off. After 5 hours (boiler not running) the heat drops in the 2nd floor by 5º and the 1st floor by 1º... The only change I made this year was replacing one main valve with a new one on the short pipe but it's the same maker and number. Never done an EDR, not sure what that is. It's a Pearless steam boiler. The piping is fine, I had 3 different companies stop by to provide quotes on pipe replacement and they all said it was a good installation.

Fred

OK, If the boiler is not running for 5 hours and the temp drops by 5 degrees upstairs and only 1 Degree on first floor, that is not a heating problem. Second floor is most likely exposed to more wind/external conditions, maybe un-insulated or under insulated attic or side walls, no heat thrown off by kitchen appliances or even by the boiler in the basement while it is at idle and any number of other conditions.

JUGHNE

You said a 1 pipe system with 2 zones, did you mean 2 floors or do you have zone valves on the system. How many T-stats do you have?

josechicago

Update: Turns out the rear door was not sealed properly, I had installed a vinyl door seal but apparently it was too stiff, so I replaced it with foam type seal. Therefore most of the heat was escaping through there. There's still minor heat lose but it's holding better than before. To compensate I have most of the 1st floor heaters to the lowest settings and the 2nd floor to max. The issue now is that my boiler keeps kicking "on" every 17min for about 4 minutes. Will this hurt the boiler?

JUGHNE

Is the T-stat firing the boiler every 17 min?
It might be just cold enough that that is what is required to maintain the temp in the house.
Does it run solid for those 4 minutes or go off on pressure switch? What pressure does it run at?

Jamie Hall

josechicago said:

Update: Turns out the rear door was not sealed properly, I had installed a vinyl door seal but apparently it was too stiff, so I replaced it with foam type seal. Therefore most of the heat was escaping through there. There's still minor heat lose but it's holding better than before. To compensate I have most of the 1st floor heaters to the lowest settings and the 2nd floor to max. The issue now is that my boiler keeps kicking "on" every 17min for about 4 minutes. Will this hurt the boiler?

Noooo... but it isn't good, either. If you have a digital thermometer, what is the cycles per hour or system type setting? Should be 1 or 2 cycles per hour, or steam... a lot of them come from the store set for hot air, which is 5 or 6.

josechicago

The thermostat clicks on and the boiler fires. It runs continuously for 4 minutes, I can not determine if it's the thermostat or some pressure switch that shuts it off. The cut-in is set to 1 PSI and the pressure gage next to it stays at Zero. This is the 2nd year we are using this boiler and it's not easy working with steam.
Also, our current outside temperature is 13º

View pictures for more info on the boiler.

Fred

Do you have a programmable Thermostat? If so, I am almost certain it is set at the Factory default for 5 cycles per hour (for hot air heat)instead of the "1" Cycle it should be set at for steam. The cycles are much shorter and will cause the boiler to cycle a lot more often and for much shorter cycles. See in you can find your owner's manual, it will tell you how to set it to "1"

josechicago

Fred, the system was set to 1 - 0 I changed it to 5-1..Not sure if I changed it to the correct settings. here's the manual.
https://manualslib.com/manual/69948/Honeywell-Pro-Th3110d.html?page=10#manual

Jamie Hall

If you changed setting 5 to a value of 1 -- which is what I think you said -- it should help a good deal.

Fred

Function "5" set to "1" is correct.

SWEI

How far above the waterline is that header?

josechicago

Hey Guys! The thermostat did the job. I changed the settings and that took care of the problem. Kind of weird though, because last year it didn't do that. Thank much I really appreciate everyone's help with this.

Fred

Great News! Than ks for the update.