soot on the ceiling and walls from hot water sytem

ed wallace

are you sure it is soot more than likely it is dust being moved around by convection currents

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suzanne baldrate

soot on ceiling and wall

We are experiencing a problem with soot on areas of a vaulted ceiling, walls, over the baseboard units of a forced hot water system. Had our oil burner service company come and look, they do not know why and don't think it has anything to do with the burner. We believe this all started after the burner had been cleaned in the Fall of 2005, and it started when we began heating for the winter season. Have lived in this house for approximately six years and the burner was put in approximately a year prior to that. Is there anything you can inform us on how to deal with the problem and fixed it?

Al Letellier_9

soot in house

Could it be candles? This is often a problem, but if you don't burn a lot of candles, get a second opinion on that burner. Make sure there is sufficient combustion air for the burner. A tight house can create some weird drafts and air currents that can cause this problem, even if the boiler seems to be OK>

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clammy

seen before

As bad as it may sound i have seen this scenireo before and unfortunatly more then once ,On the occasions i have seen it it was being caused by ghosting usually caused by the boilers aquastat being set way to high (above 210)and what is happening is this higher setting is causing faster and more convection currents through the elements of the base board carring air borne dust and despoiting it on your walls .I know this i have seen it even removed all the cover and vacumed the elements and carpets under and around the basebaord then i went to the boiler room finally and saw the aquastat was set over 200 dropped it down to 180 and soon found out why it was on 215 . It seems some one desined this system with a supply temp of 215 they had piped the whole job in 1/2 copper and used 1/2 base board also ,i did a heat loss found the system radition completly undersized and made all the proper changes now she works like a charm purring along at a 170 max temp at design temps and no more ghosting ,Have some check your aquastat setting if it's over 200 set it at 180 peace and good luck clammy

Larry Savino

Show us a picture.

As noted by another person may be as simple as cheap candles, or burning candles too much.

is it in all areas or just one area

jim k

I've seen this happen in apts. with electric baseboard heating,so it is'nt nessecarilly(sp?) the boiler.It's most evident on the wall a bit above the heating unit,but you could also see the outline of the metal channels that the sheetrock is attached to and a screw head here and there.The explanations for this were burning candles,inscence,etc,or condensation,or a combo of the two.(Metal channels in the wall transferring cold from outside,causing condensation on the area of the sheetrock directly in contact with the channel,condensation attracts soot from candles.)

Bob Harper

BPM

See the thread below this one on "carbon" in the home. 71 posts do far. Will save you a lot of repetition.