To drain or not to drain?

georgearoush

I think the title says it all. Any suggestions, or should I not bother?

I have read online that if the water isn't drained, it will become dirty due to sediment settling, and dirty water, of course, takes longer to boil. Given this, how often should I drain it, and how much should I drain? All the way, halfway, or something else? Or should I not drain it at all?

ethicalpaul

Don't drain much

You can let out a little at the end of the season if you want, like a gallon or so, just to flush out some mud so it doesn't settle and become rock over the summer.

The reason you don't want to drain a lot is because doing so just creates more rust/mud due to the fresh water you will introduce.

Here's my best video so far on this topic:

https://youtu.be/Bx8NryCUkng

Captain Who

Would be better if you gave some more information about your system.

Depends upon how dirty your system is, how well it is installed, ie. near boiler piping, what your initial water quality is, etc.. Past performance issues over time without draining?

I don't dare to not drain and backflush both my boiler and my returns at least annually with my lousy piped boiler and 100 year old pipes and radiators.

As a general rule of thumb when TSS (total suspended solids) reach 30 to 50 ppm you are definitely in the danger zone for wet steam/carryover issues. Over 50 ppm is high risk.

ethicalpaul

I don't dare to not drain and backflush both my boiler and my returns at least annually with my lousy piped boiler and 100 year old pipes and radiators.

You definitely don't need to do this. You can contact me via my contractor link below if you'd like to discuss it!