Burnham K2 Gas Boiler

dmi325

Have a brand new K2-180A boiler and it is taking a long time for the temperature to climb in the house. The thermostats went from 66 degrees to 69 degrees in over 3 hours this morning (which is long), and there is no air in the system. The setpoint temperature on the boiler says it is at 150 degrees, and wondering if this is problem of the radiators not getting hot enough to emit the heat through the house. Should the setpoint temperature be higher to be more in the range of 160-180 degrees? Thanks

Tim McElwain

If you have baseboard 150 may be too low. However if it was determined that extra baseboard was added then 150 may be how it was set. That would perhaps with a 20 degree delta T give you a 130 degree return temp or lower which will aid the condensing function of the boiler. Do you get domestic hot water also from the boiler?

dmi325

OK. Yes, I do have baseboard heating and DHW is also from the boiler (DHW is set as the priority).

Tim McElwain

Was any baseboard added at the time of installation? If not then most baseboard needs 180 degrees to satisfy the BTU per lineal foot of the baseboard and at the same time satisfy the heat loss in the rooms. I would touch base with your installer and ask them how it was set up. Ask also if they considered the BTU requirement of the baseboard at the time of installation.

Is you domestic coming from the heat exchanger in the K2 or is it an indirect?

Henry

Baseboard temperature requirements are at the coldest weather. It depends on the original design. Say -4F with X lenght of baseboard will need 180F. But here we have 1000 hours of boiler run time. Out of this, a maximum of 200 hours are when you need 180F. The rest of the time outdoor reset is used. Stangely in the last two weeks I have had several apartments that were cool. There drapes in front of the rads, there was a ton of dog or cat fur blocking the rad. In another one, the rad element was covered with gyproc dust.

dmi325

Thanks. I was told by the installer that the outside sensor determines the BTU's (warmer days operates at less, colder operates at higher BTU's) which allows the boiler to be high efficient as it is meant to be. Therefore, the boiler will run longer on warmer days than colder.

nicholas bonham-carter

This illustrates how outdoor setback, and temperature setbacks do not mix well together. One temperature setting, and leave it alone.--NBC

dmi325

Seems to be the case. I feel like the next question is, is it more efficient (when speaking in terms of dollars) to setback at night or when not home, or 'continuously' have the boiler run at its efficient pace. I'm sure it is case by case depending on house and setup, and also trial and error.

nicholas bonham-carter

The length of the setback has a lot to do with the potential savings. A 2 week vacation can benefit from a setback, whereas an 8 hour workday may not, due to the reduction of water temperature in the outdoor setback process.--NBC

rbeck

Avoid night setback. If the OD reset was not adjusted for you area/home that would cause this. If not using night setback on the thermostat the ODR settings need to be tweeked. Do not let them disable the ODR function.