Boiler doesnt seem to be working at full capacity

JodiMe

I noticed yesterday that our temp was taking an awful long time to come up. When I went down in our basement to do laundry, it seemed our boiler was running quieter than usual, as if it wasn’t working as hard. It’s on, but it doesn’t seem to be pushing steam as hard as usual. I’m in NJ so there’s no big change of outside temp. Thoughts before I but a call in to our guys?

EzzyT

Boiler oil or gas?

JodiMe

Gas

Jamie Hall

How's the gas pressure down your way, @EzzyT ?

EzzyT

Could have a issue with gas pressure and volume.
Where in NJ are you located?

JodiMe

Would my other gas appliances be affected? Stove and dryer seem to be fine.

I’m in Cranford.

EzzyT

@Jamie Hall some areas are really low. During the winter months in low pressure areas PSEG only guarantees 3”-4” of pressure. I know all the utility companies in the area are trying upgrade the gas piping out in the streets.

JodiMe

Would gas pressure have a sudden drop? It was working normally on Thursday. At least I didn’t notice a difference until yesterday.

EzzyT

@JodiMe yes they could be depending on the situation if it’s a gas pressure or volume issue. A lot of the times in low pressure areas the smaller gas appliance won’t be affected as much as the larger gas appliances.

EzzyT

@JodiMe do you if you have high pressure coming into the house or low pressure? You can tell by seeing if there is a regulator by the gas meter.

JodiMe

I don’t think I see a regulator. Where would it be attached?

EzzyT

Before the gas meter.

JodiMe

Ok no regulator. I know PSE&G was mentioned but we have Elizabethtown for gas. Guessing it doesn’t make a difference in operations tho...

mikeg2015

EzzyT said:

Before the gas meter.

It’s a big round chapped thing.

IF you house is high pressure, there’s regulators at each appliance... smaller round things. Look like what’s attached to a propane tank for your BBQ grill. Also similar to what’s on the air regulator for a scuba tank. That’s a regulator. Maintains constant output pressure.

Stoves and simple burners like in your clothes dryer are less sensitive to pressure change. In shot burners on boilers are very sensitive. Low pressure can sometimes actually do the opposite of what’s logical and cause shooting due to reduced draft. Shooting hurts efficiency, causes high CO and will eventually start blocking the burners. Was a huge problem here locally last year when it go really cold. Carrier furnaces in particular all bit the dust.

JodiMe

Definitely no regulator then. It’s running right now. Here’s a video. Seems like a smaller flame, not roaring like usual. Sorry, can’t get the video to load, only a rogue pic of my meter. Lol

JodiMe

Turns out there was water in the gas line at the top of our street and it was affecting mutiple homes. It has been flushed and fingers crossed all works normally in the morning.

Y’all seem to have been right about low gas pressure... That’s why I keep coming back. 👏🏼

ethicalpaul

Wow, that’s not awesome! We have a leak around the corner from us where we can smell gas as we drive past.

My friend who works at PSE&G tells me at any given time there are ~1500 known active leaks.

JodiMe

Wow. That seems concerning.

neilc

ethicalpaul said:

Wow, that’s not awesome! We have a leak around the corner from us where we can smell gas as we drive past.

did you call and report it ?

ethicalpaul

I know they’ve been there to check it but I’m going to call it in