I am wondering whats going here

11 years ago

HI all, thanks for advice in advance. Here are the facts..

We replaced our 1964 federal natural gas boiler, circulator pumps, and water heater this year. The house has 4 zones; modified split level. Based upon plumber recommend, we went with WMClein, I think CG6 or 6A or something along those lines, with valves insteda of pumps, and also, and indirect water heater...

Now, I have no problem getting the thermostats in 3 of the zones to hit their desired temperatue (73).. we have been keeping on the warmer side due to the recent cold snap here in the northeast...It has been getting below zero to 10 degrees at night..The 3 zones are the main living area, a family room, and the basement room..

Now, the 4th zone seemed funky, really since day one of the install, however this might be something we have to live with. Afetr the install, I called pro back and mentioned, it seemed like it was struggling to get enough heat to this area ( master bedroom) and I dont recall ever having this problem with my old boiler. Actually, the original boiler whic I think was installed in 64, before we put some additions on etc and modified the home...

Now, yesterday, come home,, its been in the teens all day.. the Thermostat room temp read 66, but was set to hit 70....Now, I went out replaced the thermostat. Over the night, I raised the thermostat to 73 degrees, figuring it would take awhile to hit the temp etc....But did not do it.. Got up in teh morning, the room temp read 69 degrees.... The pipes are warm, etc.. But just dont understand why can hit that temp...? Too cold? Asking for too much of the system?

I am going to approach the pro, but wnat some info, thoughts etc beforehand.. I think with the other rooms, If I adjust the tmerostat upwards, more than likely, I would be able to hit that temp, I think...

Thanks again..

Comments (6)

mike_home
11 years ago
What size was the old boiler and what is the size of the new boiler? Are you saying you removed the circulator pumps and replaced them with valves?
jimrac
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks Mike,,

Yes, that is correct..

The federal boiler was input aga 155,000 BTU,, the aga net is 105,000, then there is another number of aga 120,000

I forgte what that stood for.

Not entirely sure of the size ot the new.
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mike_home
11 years ago
It has been usually cold in the northeast so my first thought was your new boiler can't keep up with the heat loss of the house. But if that were true then I would think all your zones would have problems maintaining the set temperature.

I question removing the circulator pumps for your zones. Did the contractor explain why this was done? Perhaps your are getting a poor flow in the 4th zone? You may also have trapped air in that zone. Has this been checked?
jimrac
Original Author
11 years ago
Hi Mike,,,

He emntioned, the zone valves were a better option than all the circulator pumps. I agther, part is more readily available, and then if one goes, I guess you trip the lever and are able to override and provide heat to that zone.

I checked the BTU for the new system. Its Weil Mcclain.. Gold CGa-6 SPDN.... Its rated for 175,000 BTU.

Thats what i was thinking, air lock or soemthing; there appears to some heat going thru the baseboard, because the pipes feel warm, etc.. Juts not sure..

Further what i did, when I left in the morning at 7:00, the room temp was 69.. Then took a ride home about 3 hours later, figuring when the morning warm up, sun was out etc,,, the room would be around 73.. But no, it jumped up only 1 degree in over 3 hours.

Maybe its getting some water, but not enough or something.
lovespell21
11 years ago
I would honestly just call an expert. I went through something similar last year with our heater, and I tried to fix it myself for nearly two months. In the end, we ended up calling a furnace repair guy, and he was able to fix the problem within an hour. It would have saved us a lot of cold toes and complaining from the kids if we'd just called right away.

Here is a link that might be useful: furnace repair Salt Lake City
jonnyp
11 years ago
Two things to check. The upper and lower limits on boiler temp and your controller for priority zone. Upper 180 lower 120.If priority zone is set to the hot water maker and you are taking showers in the morning, then you will have a problem providing heat. Find another heating contractor, those zone valves are the same money as pumps and use the same controller but the zones just share the work of one pump between 4 zones.
Lastly I would look at air in the system. I suspect that an air scoop was used instead of a spira vent. If the installer used valves, I will bet they went with an older air scoop and bleeder design.

This post was edited by jonnyp on Sat, Jan 26, 13 at 18:17