booster/auxiliary pump for hot water system

tex andrews

last fall did a rehab/addition to my house. put in a new weil-mccain 167,000 btu gold cgs gas boiler. there are 13 radiators of various sizes on 3 floors. 4 of these are on the 1st floor with the boiler, fed from the ceiling. the rest of the radiators are above, with 4 on the second floor and the final five on the third floor, three of which are smaller sized (3 of the four on the first level are also smaller). last winter 3 of the first level radiators were always cold unless i turned off 2-3 of the second or third level radiators----these cold ones just didn't seem to be getting any heat at all. ultimately the house was real warm anyway because it has r-24 plus in the walls and r-30 plus in the attic, but clearly something is wrong.

i have been told that i may need an in-line auxiliary booster pump somewhere on the first level, but have gotten conflicting info.

my questions: 1. anyone on this forum have some experience here? 2. is someone interested in getting a consulting fee for their answer? i will gladly pay a consulting fee after sending you a schematic of the system with all the specs.

i live in baltimore city (maryland)

looking forward to hearing from someone.

Steve Paul

You mentioned that the first floor radiators are supplied from above. If this is a diverter "T" istallation it is possible that you may require 2 diverter "T"s. One on the supply side and one on the return side. The hot waters bouyancy may overcome the diverter "T"s ability to circulate the water with only one diverter T. Try putting one on the main in the return mode and one on the main in the supply mode. Use a manual bleeder on the radiator and it should heat just fine.