How good is good enough or do I need to add more radiation?

Jells

So the recent cold snap was a big a challenge to a heating system as we get in NJ. It dropped to 7F in my city according to one site. The system I installed in a small apartment using it's WH and 2 K120 kickspace heaters managed to keep it to 66F. Good enough or should I add another heater under the kitchen cabs? The return water is still 120-125, plenty of heat to strip out, at least 8k BTU with a k120.

Many people would say good enough for their own home, but this is a rental. Interior temps come from a logging thermometer right by the stat set to 70.

Jamie Hall

A rental? You may have a building code requirement to be able to maintain a set temperature -- often 70 F -- and if the space can't, the landlord may not be legally entitled to collect any rent. Talk to your building inspector.

Jells

Jamie Hall said:

A rental? You may have a building code requirement to be able to maintain a set temperature -- often 70 F -- and if the space can't, the landlord may not be legally entitled to collect any rent. Talk to your building inspector.

The state says this:

Under the state housing codes, from October 1 to May 1, the landlord must provide enough heat so that the temperature in the apartment is at least 68 degrees from 6 am to 11 pm. Between 11 pm and 6 am, the temperature in the apartment must be at least 65 degrees.

So I only break that under the most extreme conditions.

hot_rod

Was it a few years ago when parts of the eastern US dropped below design for a few weeks?
If you want to cover design and possibly below you need to have both enough WH and emitters

Do the kicks have multiple speed switches? What flow rate are you pumping? You could run tank temperature up also. You have 3 options for increasing output, SWT, fan speed, and flow rate.

Don't add more heat emitters then you have WH power to run. A typical gas fired WH maybe 30,000 actual output.

Jells

hot_rod said:

Was it a few years ago when parts of the eastern US dropped below design for a few weeks? If you want to cover design and possibly below you need to have both enough WH and emitters Do the kicks have multiple speed switches? What flow rate are you pumping? You could run tank temperature up also. You have 3 options for increasing output, SWT, fan speed, and flow rate. Don't add more heat emitters then you have WH power to run. A typical gas fired WH maybe 30,000 actual output.

They do have multiple speed that would bring up the emission by 15%, but I think it's too much to ask a tenant to do that, and it brings up the noise quite a lot to what I would consider annoyance level, though lower than a window AC. The water heater is 40k, and the return temps being over 120 I clearly have enough BTUs left to work with.

About the noise, I've been curious to know what is the sound level of the ubiquitous PTACs found in a lot of new hi-rise apartments. Are they as loud as the ones I've experienced in motels?