HO doing diagnostic

Thad English

So here I sit staring at a monstrous gas bill from PGW and wondering what I can do be more efficient. I have already insulated the mains on my 2 pipe air-vent steam system, changed all 16 vents on the radiators to Gortons (thanks to Steamhead for Ken Kunz' name and number), and am now just waiting for a pro to come by and clean out (or replace) a clogged return, as well as install a Gorton #2 on my main. I went downstairs to the boiler like I do every day and checked how many CCF I used. While I was standing there lamenting another 18CCF-used day, something leapt out at me: the pressure gauge on the boiler is reading what I have always assumed was .5 PSI. But now that I look closely at the gauge, there is no point in front of the 5 on the gauge. Could this be sitting at 5lbs of pressure? On the face of gauge there is a notation that says the following:

"Hg psi


Does that mean tenths? The pressurtrol is cranked down to .5 like everyone on this site says so something appears to be wrong if the gauge really means 5lbs of pressure. Would this be pointing to a clogged pigtail? Thus giving bogus info to the pressurtrol. The boiler seems to come on for a 2 minutes and then off for 15 minutes. The pressure gauge moves up to 6 when the boiler is firing and usually returns to just below the 5 when it shuts down. The lone semi-working vent in the basement hisses for several minutes after the boiler has shut down.

I know that putting the #2 on the main will help, but I am wondering since I will have the pro on site should he be checking out the pigtail and pressurtol, too?

In this house we have about 90 feet of 2.5" main in the basement. There are 2 nipples for vents on the main, but only one is currently in use. The other is capped. Would it be worthwhile/necessary to add a second Gorton #2 to help move air out?

In light of the $1000 gas bill that I just received I am looking for anything that will help me heat this place at a lower cost.

Thanks in advance,
Thad

Mark Hunt

sounds like

> So here I sit staring at a monstrous gas bill

> from PGW and wondering what I can do be more

> efficient. I have already insulated the mains on

> my 2 pipe air-vent steam system, changed all 16

> vents on the radiators to Gortons (thanks to

> Steamhead for Ken Kunz' name and number), and am

> now just waiting for a pro to come by and clean

> out (or replace) a clogged return, as well as

> install a Gorton #2 on my main. I went

> downstairs to the boiler like I do every day and

> checked how many CCF I used. While I was

> standing there lamenting another 18CCF-used day,

> something leapt out at me: the pressure gauge on

> the boiler is reading what I have always assumed

> was .5 PSI. But now that I look closely at the

> gauge, there is no point in front of the 5 on the

> gauge. Could this be sitting at 5lbs of pressure?

> On the face of gauge there is a notation that

> says the following:

>

> "Hg

> psi

>

> Does that mean tenths? The pressurtrol

> is cranked down to .5 like everyone on this site

> says so something appears to be wrong if the

> gauge really means 5lbs of pressure. Would this

> be pointing to a clogged pigtail? Thus giving

> bogus info to the pressurtrol. The boiler seems

> to come on for a 2 minutes and then off for 15

> minutes. The pressure gauge moves up to 6 when

> the boiler is firing and usually returns to just

> below the 5 when it shuts down. The lone

> semi-working vent in the basement hisses for

> several minutes after the boiler has shut

> down.

>

> I know that putting the #2 on the main

> will help, but I am wondering since I will have

> the pro on site should he be checking out the

> pigtail and pressurtol, too?

>

> In this house

> we have about 90 feet of 2.5" main in the

> basement. There are 2 nipples for vents on the

> main, but only one is currently in use. The

> other is capped. Would it be

> worthwhile/necessary to add a second Gorton #2 to

> help move air out?

>

> In light of the $1000 gas

> bill that I just received I am looking for

> anything that will help me heat this place at a

> lower cost.

>

> Thanks in advance, Thad





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Mark Hunt

sounds like


you need an assesment of your home sir.

Blower door, etc............

At some point you need to understand that the system is working, but the house around it isn't.

Mark H

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Dale

Mercury

I think Hg is mercury, I also think 2 inches of mercury equals 1 psi. So if you really have 5 inches mercury you have 2 1/2 psi. I don't know what your gauge actually reads but if it were me I would buy an inexpensive 0 to 5 psi gauge at the wholesaler and temporarily pipe it in parallel to see what both read. With the old gauge off you could put some water down the pigtail to see if that was clear. As to your fuel bills a good heat exchanger cleaning and comkbustion analysis with stack temp check should tell you how much fuel is being wasted. I see alot of old conversion burners get revent piped without the vent blade restriction which equals alot of wasted fuel.

kk_2

Dale - could you explain your last sentence? Are you talking about an automatic vent damper?

Thad English

leaky house

As far as the house around the steam system goes, I know that I need to do some more insulating and general weather-proofing. I have R-30 insulation for my attic on the way, storm windows are in the budget for around September, and I have already installed weather-stripping around the doors and sealed the edges of the windows. The exterior glazing of the windows will be addressed when we paint the house in the spring. So I am conifident that I have a plan to get the house tighter by next heating season, but in the interim I want to make sure that the steam system is as efficient as it can be.


All of that being said, I think that a reasonable course of action will be to just replace the gauge with a 0 to 5 psi unit and clean out the pigtail along with adding that second Gorton #2. Does anyone see any problems with that idea? Can you have too much venting on the main?

Have a great day,

Thad