Expectations

tm

What should one expect from a good running well sized heating system (temp/time ratio)?
It took my system 12 hours to move from 60* to 68.5* - that's only about 1 degree every 1 1/2 hours. This seems slow to me and I feel that I need more footage of fin. My boiler high limit is set at 185* and my differential is now at 20*. Have hot water base system.

PS - I have the second floor zone completely off right now - could that condition be drawing more hot air up through the 1st floor ceilings than normal ( door at bottom of stairs IS closed)? - In other words when I finish piping in the second floor and have heat up there, will it help the 1st floor heat any faster? Thoughts?

hr

Depends on the load

How cold is it outside? Near design temperature? A perfectly designed system could run non stop at design conditions, AND maintain the indoor design temperature, of course.

Insulation and infiltration handled adequately?

Is this the very first start up? A brand new home with all the surfaces starting from a cold temperature will take a while to warm up. Concrete slab homes especially.

hot rod

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tm

It has been around 25* outside. Insulation and filtration are adequate. It is an old house with a new boiler. It is not a new start up - been on all month. So, is it slow (1 degree per every 1 1/2 hours)?

How long should it take for a well running, well designed system, in a well insulated house, on a 25* day to get from 60* to 68*? More responses would give me a general idea. Thanks

jerry scharf_3

I'll bite

tm,

It does seem slow to me. Where do you live, that will give us a guess at the design temps to compare the 25F you mentioned against.

Thank you for not blaming the boiler first, it's only a part of the heating system. All you know is that the SYSTEM is not performing. There are four other key things that impact the system, the emitters, the near boiler piping and distribution, the controls and the building envelope. If they don't dance well, the whole thing trips and falls.

Does the boiler run continuously for the 12 hours that it takes to heat the house?

Tell us about the heat emitters that you have and how they are hooked up (loop, monoflow, home run, other.) Tell us about the house construction.

Yes, the unheated second floor could well be a problem. The ceiling in between would not be insulated, and the heat loss for the downstairs rooms would assume that there is little heat loss from the ceiling. Since the baseboard is sized to the load, and you have more load that would be calculated, it doesn't surprise me. As an experiment, put some electric heaters and warm a second floor room that just about covers a first floor room. Then see if that room now performs better.

jerry

tm

Jerry, thanks for your comments - here are some answers:

1. Live in New York

2. No the boiler does not run continuously - The thermostat calls for heat continuously(set at 70). My boiler reachs high temp(185) then shuts off until it reachs about 158 and then restarts. It continues this cycle all day. I have the diff. on the aquastat set at 20.

3. I have a loop for the downstairs. The pump circulates the hot water continuous and all the heaters are good and hot right to the last one on the loop.

4. House is 50 years old and I have insulated most of the outside walls.

I figured the unheated second floor was hurting me. I will finish that zone soon and get it up and running.

Thanks!

Ray M

Try setting the aquastat to 200 with the 20 delta T, The space should make temp. This gives you 190 average water temperture.

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