Hot answers tagged radiator
14
The US has a mixture of systems. I'm not sure what the prevalence is, but I've lived in homes with both steam and hot water heating.
Steam offers the following advantages:
One-pipe systems
More heat transfer for a given radiator surface
No distribution pumps
Steam offers the following drawbacks:
Furnace needs to be a low point
Corrosion
Finicky ...
10
Insulate the pipes.
You are likely losing a lot of heat into your basement if they aren't insulated. Unless your basement is finished (and therefore you want the heat there) you want to keep as much heat in those pipes as possible so that it gets into the main part of your house. The heater (and other similar equipment like hot water heater) should heat ...
8
This is basically going to be landlord work unless you plan playing heating technician and checking the basement pipes. Here's the gist:
Air vents on the radiator must flow air out so it can be replaced by steam to heat. They sometimes have adjustment valves on them so you can balance the system.
Air vents that are producing a lot of noise are either
too ...
8
If we're talking a cast iron radiator, it's a good process.
First you need to remove the old finish. You can get it sandblasted, or you can get in there with some sandpaper for a few hours. A wire wheel on an angle grinder can get out a good bit, or you might have luck with chemicals to strip them. If you do use chemicals, you'll have to wait for them to ...
6
The first valve looks like it might be a thermostatic valve - the numbers representing the various temperature "settings". There should be an indicator on the bit that turns that points to the number. Try turning this fully towards the "1" and then fully towards the "5". Leave the valve in each position for half an hour or so. The radiator should get a lot ...
6
Bleeding radiators is quite simple, and can usually be done by homeowners. All that's required is a radiator key, a towel and/or bowl, and a bit of time.
Why Bleed Radiators
Even with closed systems, air can still find its way into the system. When it does, it will collect at the highest points available (the top of radiators). Trapped air can cause ...
5
I had this issue too. Bled the system once myself, twice with professional plumbers who kept telling me that i didn't do it correctly. Cost me an arm and a leg. The worst part was when i asked a "plumber with 25 years of experience" where the air is coming from he couldn't explain it. Some people were saying it's because i have an old type of expansion tank ...
5
If your carbon monoxide detector is going off, you have a carbon monoxide problem. Contact your utility or local emergency services for a more thorough test. The symptoms you describe are consistent with early stages of carbon monoxide poisoning.
If your radiators heat with hot water or steam, or another system other than forced air, you will not have ...
4
Statistics? I'd argue this is a misuse of the word, unless you are asking what is the fraction of photons reflected by the reflective surface. Since that truly is a probabilistic question, we could indeed compute statistics on the distribution of such reflections.
Yes, this is not just a theory. Heat is transmitted in several ways. One such way is ...
4
There could be air trapped in your system - that is if the pump is working. You might have to bleed the system at the burner and/or at the radiotors.
And a good flush could help, but you might need help with that.
A : Bleeding valve
B : Trapped Air
E : Reducer boiler performance
4
There are different water heating systems, but I'd check if the the pump that is pushing hot water through the pipes is working.
A circulating pump in a central heating system typically looks like this.
You can tell if your pump is working by:
Checking if the pipe is cold or hot each side of the pump. If it gets
cold a foot or two after the pump, it is ...
4
I think you need to balance the system; as water will always take the easier option.
So when the system first comes on most of the water will go to the radiator with the shortest pipe run, once the thermostat rad valves on that radiator shut down, then the water will find the next easier option.
So by turning down the “lockshield“ values (the value ...
4
I'm afraid your super is right. The supply valve must either be fully open or fully closed. If it is partially open, condensate cannot properly drain back to the boiler. It will collect in your radiator instead. How much heat is put out is regulated by the size of the vent valve. If the boiler works by central control, meaning the steam goes on and off for ...
4
You are correct that having a hot radiator on what's effectively a cold space - the porch - is very inefficient and, presuming nobody's on the porch most of the time, wastes a lot of energy.
And you are correct that the hot water going into that radiator is being cooled in the process.
However, it is unlikely that the water is going to any other radiators, ...
3
The metal mesh can usually be purchased in sheets at home improvements stores, then cut to size. A sheet isn't very expensive (last I looked, under $30). So, it is probably easier to just replace as opposed to taking it out and trying to cleanly remove the dent.
More researsh shows they come in 3x3 sheets, and you'll want to ask for "decorative metal ...
3
To echo what @acrosman said, yes insulate the pipes. I'd suggest using fiberglass pipe insulation joined with foil tape, and loose fiberglass / PVC caps for turns. Wear a respirator. Cuts can be made with a sharp, long utility knife.
here's an example:
3
The pipes should look like this:
There should be an unrestricted flow around the system.
Each radiator should be connected to both the flow (red) pipe and return (blue) pipe. The turnable value (or better still thermostatic valve) should be on the input to each radiator. There should be a simple on/off valve on the outlet which is normally set to fully ...
3
There are several possibilities here. As others have said, hot water heating systems are closed loop. The water is returned to the boiler, with little loss. Even with steam radiators, the steam condenses and most of it drains back.
There are other places the water can go. You might have a bad toilet valve. Surprisingly, a leaking toilet can be a huge water ...
3
If the radiators are still hot you'll have to get the shut offs repaired first. The heat and the resulting drying action will raise havoc with the wood. The issue isn't so much a fire hazard as a drying hazard. The wood is going to shrink in the winter and expand in the summer. The seams and joints will split. I would also make the design so that you have ...
2
Typical early style radiator heat is nothing like modern European style radiators. You should find out what originally came with the house to make the best fit. There is steam heat, water heat. The boiler may be powered by oil, natural gas, or (if it's really old) coal. As Joe mentioned, the radiators can be gravity powered or propelled with a ...
2
You should be able to find them in any of the original colonies in colder climates, as they're needed for restoration work in older homes. (so, eastern seaboard, from Maryland to the north)
American radiators tend to be heavy steel or iron and gravity fed, with larger pipes that I don't believe are as efficient as those found in areas like Germany. My ...
2
I haven't had very good luck with repairing steam radiator patches from the outside (sample size: 2). Steam under pressure is very good at finding microscopic holes between patch and substrate, and enlarging them.
What I have done successfully is an inside patch with epoxy, using a wire brush and steel wool to prep the surface. Getting at the leak may be a ...
2
Be sure that the leak is actually in the radiator itself, and not where the valves meet the radiator body: water is very good at travelling a good distance horizontally thanks to surface tension. I check this with a bit of paper towel.
If the radiator is newly installed it may well be that the hole will sort itself out by filling with mineral deposits; if ...
2
I think you have a air lock.
Turn off all but one of the none working radiators, this will force the water to go do that radiator. Then bleed the radiator and move onto the next one. Do with with the pump running, but the boilder turned off (or turned down so it does not heat the water).
If that does not work, you will need to get someone in to flush the ...
2
Don't change them. Single line steam radiators are tricky at the best of times, and most modern plumbers have little experience with them. In addition base board radiators make it impossible to put bookcases in. (In our climate they use up all of the external wall.)
There are lots of ways to dress them up
Recessing them is a bad idea, as the space to ...
2
To get your landlady interested, point out that the radiators are filled with moist, warm air, and that the system is corroding from the inside, shortening the life of the radiators and clogging the boiler with rust. That means the boiler's life is being drastically shortened and may soon cause a massive expense. Fixing it now would be much cheaper than ...
2
From my experience with German systems:
The whole system should be filled with water, with no air at all.
The system pressure should be 2 bar or so.
If it is not all filled with water, and the pressure is low, the air will collect at one point.
When a healthy pressurized system has air, you will hear the bubbles moving about. When you bleed a ...
2
It just so happens that I answered a similar question a few months ago here:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aruc9otOwqZWQas2oxvGTanty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20120107103406AAxQHhC
Customer reviews for 'Radflek' can be found here:
http://reviews.idealworld.tv/7724-en_gb/175362/reviews.htm
...
2
It maybe that air got into the system and this is preventing the heating system to fill up properly. You may have to remove the air from the boiler itself, there should be a valve to enable you to do this. Replacing the pump seems to be either coincidental or unecessary. Also, when draing some or all of the radiators down it is advisable to put a chemical in ...
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