questions on \"how come\" book

allenh

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 apts done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume?

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)?

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)?

3. When pressure is at 30, t & p is blowing a tad, is it more likely to be auto fill valve or a bad air expansion tank? First floor unit with boiler in cellar.

4. What is a good book to read on basic boiler & trim pricipals?

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)?

3. When pressure is at 30, t & p is blowing a tad, is it more likely to be auto fill valve or a bad air expansion tank? First floor unit with boiler in cellar.

4. I noticed all the aquastats were set at 220 on high limit.? Does one get more btus out of a boiler doing that?

5. What is a good book to read on basic boiler & trim pricipals?

Thanks all.

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)? They are insulating basement tomorrow - but I feel that they undersized the boiler.

3. When pressure is at 30, t & p is blowing a tad, is it more likely to be auto fill valve or a bad air expansion tank? First floor unit with boiler in cellar.

4. I noticed all the aquastats were set at 220 on high limit.? Does one get more btus out of a boiler doing that?

5. What is a good book to read on basic boiler & trim pricipals?

Thanks all.

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)? They are insulating basement tomorrow - but I feel that they undersized the boiler.

3. When pressure is at 30, t & p is blowing a tad, is it more likely to be auto fill valve or a bad air expansion tank? First floor unit with boiler in cellar.

4. I noticed all the aquastats were set at 220 on high limit.? Does one get more btus out of a boiler doing that?

5. What is a good book to read on basic boiler & trim pricipals?

Thanks all.

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)? They are insulating basement tomorrow - but I feel that they undersized the boiler.

3. When pressure is at 30, t & p is blowing a tad, is it more likely to be auto fill valve or a bad air expansion tank? First floor unit with boiler in cellar.

4. I noticed all the aquastats were set at 220 on high limit.? Does one get more btus out of a boiler doing that? The probe is sitting right in the boiler well. I assume that because all the pressure was set so high that they can get away with a higher set limit.?

5. What is a good book to read on basic boiler & trim pricipals?

Thanks all.

allenh

questions on \"how come book\"

I read that entire book when I received it. It really explained a lot of things in good old plain English. I have a couple of questions though for those of you that are knowledgable...

1. Radiant heat question. If there were a room say 20 by 20 equalling 400 sq feet. If radiant is say 35 btus per sq foot the max output of the heat is 14000 btus. Assuming the room is well insulated here in the northeast that is really cutting it close for the btus needed. The question is - assuming thermisistat is at 70 degrees - if the ceiling were a lot higher than say 8 feet - would it still do a room with ceilings 10 or 12 or 20 or 30 feet high?

2. A friend had 6 two bed / 4 room apts totally done over last year. I was in the basement the other day and they had small Burnham 203 boilers with something like 60k input / 42k output. They were running a 10 k kick heater and then over 60 feet of baseboard. The apt was not getting to temp now at 30 degrees outside & it isn't really cold here yet. My question is - the first piece of heat is the kick heater and then the ~ 60 feet of base. The plumber came off boiler in 3/4 and then ran it in series down to half for kick heater. He came out of the heater back in 1/2 and then back up to 3/4. Did he drop more than 10 k btus (in kick heater) because of the restriction of volume (when he should have used a monoflow T)? They are insulating basement tomorrow - but I feel that they undersized the boiler.

3. When pressure is at 30, t & p is blowing a tad, is it more likely to be auto fill valve or a bad air expansion tank? First floor unit with boiler in cellar.

4. I noticed all the aquastats were set at 220 on high limit.? Does one get more btus out of a boiler doing that? The probe is sitting right in the boiler well. I assume that because all the pressure was set so high that they can get away with a higher set limit.?

5. What is a good book to read on basic boiler & trim pricipals?


Thanks all.

Bill Nye

Allen

The beauty of the radiant is that the high ceiling will not effect the comfort. Dan's book has an example of a Chapel or it was a Cathedral with a 97 foot ceiling and only a degree or two difference from floor to ceiling. Couldn't find the page.

The kick space heater should be "last" and connected with tee's like you said. There may be other problems?

Most likely the expansion tank is waterlogged or has no precharge.

#4 can contribute to #3. Yes the higher the temp the more out put at the baseboard. Most systems are designed for 180°F water. In Europe they design below 75°C [167°F] It is a closed sytem so the higher temps will work. Look at you automotive cooling sytems. I do not like to ever set high limit above 200°, but that is just me.

Audel books are a good place to start. Some of the info is dated [1950's I think] but it covers the fundamentals real well. The books are under $20 and you can find them at Borders or Waldenbooks

mph

Ceiling height

Keep in mind that to get those higher ceilings you generally have to have higher walls. Higher walls equals greater surface area to lose heat equals higher btu requirements. So, your net load for the room will be higher, but the air temp will be close to the same for the entire height of the room (assuming no big heat gains from a gazillion can lights or something like that).

Jeff