2 zone heat system - Getting too much heat upstairs question

NickB2005

Hey all - So, I have a brand new (well about 1 year old) Utica high efficiency boiler system that is setup for 2 zones, my basement and then the main floor. Currently, I am undergoing a complete renovation for the basement and they turned off the basement zone because they are replacing the baseboard heat. Turned it off on Thursday last week and it won’t be reinstalled till about Thursday this week. The issue seems to be that my Ecobee 3 thermostats (I have 2) is asking the bottom zone for heat due to what I have it set at and since the zone isn’t turned on it’s bypassing that zone and pushing that into the main floor baseboard heaters. Last night for example I had my upstairs thermostat set on 65 degrees and it was 77 in there. I checked to see when my heat through ecobee was turned on and it was set to go off on the main floor because the temp was so high all day. However, when I put my hand to the baseboard up there I can feel heat coming out.

So, my guess is even though they shut the zone off downstairs it’s somehow bypassing and going upstairs and adding excess amounts of heat. I have figured out a temporary way to resolve this and it’s setting the basement thermostat to like 52 degrees so it wont trigger needing heat and in turn the upstairs seems to be where it should be and will only go off when it falls below 65. I don’t know if this is the right way to be doing it, but I don’t know what my options are until the new baseboard is put back in and the zone turned back on.

Any ideas?

Ironman

Call the contractor that's working on your BBs, more than likely, he's done something to cause this.

NickB2005

Yeah, I figured that. I mean I can probably survive another few days if need be.

HVACNUT

Did he do any wiring at the boiler? Can you see the heat demand for the basement zone on WiFi?
If he did any wiring, it's possible he reversed the zones. Down thermostat controls up and up thermostat controls down.
Stand by the boiler and use WiFi to turn on the basement zone. If upstairs comes on instead, the contractor is from The Bizarro World.

NickB2005

HVACNUT said:

Did he do any wiring at the boiler? Can you see the heat demand for the basement zone on WiFi?

If he did any wiring, it's possible he reversed the zones. Down thermostat controls up and up thermostat controls down.

Stand by the boiler and use WiFi to turn on the basement zone. If upstairs comes on instead, the contractor is from The Bizarro World.

Nope he didn’t do any wiring at all. Just turned the valve off 2 of them for the basement zone. I can see the heat demand on wifi from the basement it shows a heat symbol, but of course because the heat isn’t on down there it seems to be going upstairs instead.

Leon82

So he closed the valve but didn't disconnect the thermostat?

I would start by shutting off that tstat

NickB2005

Leon82 said:

So he closed the valve but didn't disconnect the thermostat?



I would start by shutting off that tstat

Correct he probably had no clue how to control this ecobee. I have an option under my ecobee app to turn off the thermostat heat for just downstairs. Would that help?

Leon82

> @NickB2005 said:
> So he closed the valve but didn't disconnect the thermostat?
>
>
>
> I would start by shutting off that tstat
>
> Correct he probably had no clue how to control this ecobee. I have an option under my ecobee app to turn off the thermostat heat for just downstairs. Would that help?

Yes, the boiler is firing and the pump is trying to force the water. It may be going thru the flow check, which is normally not under as much pressure because there is flow thru the basement loop

NickB2005

Leon82 said:

> @NickB2005 said:

> So he closed the valve but didn't disconnect the thermostat?

>

>

>

> I would start by shutting off that tstat

>

> Correct he probably had no clue how to control this ecobee. I have an option under my ecobee app to turn off the thermostat heat for just downstairs. Would that help?



Yes, the boiler is firing and the pump is trying to force the water. It may be going thru the flow check, which is normally not under as much pressure because there is flow thru the basement loop

It won’t cause any issues by turning it off right? Just don’t want any pipes to freeze. I’m in Boston overnight lows this week are in the 20’s.

Leon82

Maybe a picture of where he closed the valve is in order. if it's near the boiler piping and you are still using the upstairs zone I don t see how it will freeze.

NickB2005

Leon82 said:

Maybe a picture of where he closed the valve is in order. if it's near the boiler piping and you are still using the upstairs zone I don t see how it will freeze.

I added a pic of one of the windows down there right now. It’s like wet but I’m not sure if it’s because they are plastering that room because the other room down there isn’t wet that hasn’t been plastered yet.

Leon82

You absolutely do not want that zone to call for heat. If they have already drained it the pump can be running dry.

Or you are getting gravity flow up to the top zone because the boiler is running because the basement wants heat and and the first zone is not pumping.

NickB2005

Leon82 said:

You absolutely do not want that zone to call for heat. If they have already drained it the pump can be running dry.



Or you are getting gravity flow up to the top zone because the boiler is running because the basement wants heat and and the first zone is not pumping.

That’s really helpful. Thank you. I have turned that thermostat off right now so it will no longer call for heat. They are installing new baseboards Tuesday or Wednesday this week as soon as plasterer is done. So, I should be ok? I assume the upstairs heat goes through the floor downstairs. I have the basement tarted off from upstairs so no debris comes upstairs and it’s pretty air tight. So there’s no other way I can think of that heat is getting down there.

Leon82

Those two antlers go to the boiler. So the first floor should run normally.

You would need weeks of maybe -30 weather to freeze the basement

HVACNUT

I still don't see how a zone that's completely isolated can force water through.... I get it now. Another pic or more info would've helped silly. You have P/S pumping? The primary pump is energized with a basement heat demand and forcing it upstairs.
Shut down the basement zone.
Looks like the basement is mostly below grade so there shouldn't be any issues with freezing.
Are you really having plaster work done? That's a lost art. Pretty cool.

NickB2005

HVACNUT said:

I still don't see how a zone that's completely isolated can force water through.... I get it now. Another pic or more info would've helped silly. You have P/S pumping? The primary pump is energized with a basement heat demand and forcing it upstairs.

Shut down the basement zone.

Looks like the basement is mostly below grade so there shouldn't be any issues with freezing.

Are you really having plaster work done? That's a lost art. Pretty cool.

Yeah, I shut down the heat on my ecobee for the basement it shows off now. Don’t know why I didn’t try this in the first place.

Yeah, it’s interesting I had all wood paneling down there so they gutted it all and insulated with some r15 since only r7 was there. They blueboarded it all the other day and started plastering Friday got 2 rooms done. They said they’d be done by Tuesday with all down there. It’s super messy, but really interesting watching them do it.

unclejohn

Just turn the basement thermostat off.