Questions tagged [hydronic]
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49
questions
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0answers
32 views
Wifi thermostat to replace old mechanical 2-wire 110V Honeywell?
I have hydronic baseboard heating in my house, which is controlled by an old mechanical Honeywell thermostat.
The Honeywell is 110V and connected with 2 wires (black/red). There is a bare ground wire ...
1
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0answers
22 views
How to calculate heat loss for sizing of supplemental heat source?
If a home uses a supplemental heat source such as electric baseboard or hydronic panel radiators to raise the room temperature by 10 degrees, how do you calculate the BTUs required in a given room?
I ...
2
votes
5answers
104 views
How to balance hot-water heating system when farthest radiator stays cold
Is there a counterpart to the advice given in this video except for late 1940s-era convector-style radiators which do not have a valve on their return and have only an air-bleed-valve? Basically a ...
1
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0answers
26 views
Is there a way to have one thermostat control a heat pump and a 3 zone hydronic system?
I have two heating systems that are independent of each other. One is a 3 zone hydronic system with 3 thermostats controlling a pump controller. The second system is a air to air heat pump without ...
0
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1answer
32 views
Parallel loop in existing FHW zone - will this work?
I have a contractor renovating a space for my in-laws, and his plumber added two kick heaters and tied them into an existing FHW zone, but did it differently than I expected. I expected him to tap ...
0
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1answer
39 views
Hydronic, In-floor, Radiant Heat
I am considering including a hydronic (Pex tubing) radiant heat system in my new house (still in the planning phase). I have done some reading/resaerch...here was a straight-forward, mercifully ...
0
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0answers
18 views
Adding Aquastat for hydronics to existing steam boiler
I have a steam boiler in a residential home of a friend of mine. He asked me if I would take a look at his system. Someone added a circulator to his steam boiler so that he could get heat in his ...
1
vote
1answer
279 views
Taco zone controller - blinking yellow light?
I have a Taco ZVC406 zone controller. This is the type which takes signals from multiple thermostats and uses relays to switch on the heating loop pump.
I am using a Honeywell CT87K thermostat on one ...
2
votes
0answers
249 views
Grundfos Alpha pump shows 0 GPM but consumes power and heating works?
I have some heating zones which run off a Grundfos Alpha pump which is set to the "auto" mode.
Heating seems to work fine - rooms heat up normally and this doesn't seem to take an unusually ...
0
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3answers
63 views
Updating baseboard radiator
My house was built in the 50s and I believe the baseboard radiators are original. We just bought the house and I went to go clean them. I realized most of them are rusty and painted over making them ...
0
votes
1answer
47 views
Splitting a hydronic zone. Zone valves or separate circulator pump?
I had some plumbers take a look at my hydronic system to discuss splitting the single zone. They proposed to use separate zone pumps. In retrospect the other way to do this would be with zone valves. ...
1
vote
1answer
107 views
What should the input pressure be for a hydronic system?
I have a boiler that's operating range is 12 to 30psi.The documentation says that it loses "efficiency" at the low end of of the operational pressure range. When looking at pressure reducing ...
0
votes
1answer
45 views
What is a media guard?
I am building a simple aquaponic system by learning from this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqe3IqPisns
at 1:24, we will a media guard is implemented; which is basically fat tube with lots ...
1
vote
1answer
75 views
Is this typical for how hot water heating loops are plumbed?
First time owning a home with hot water heat, and studying the plumbing the basement, I notice that the living room/kitchen zone that has a run of baseboard, a kick panel unit, and several floor units,...
0
votes
1answer
557 views
What are the steps to drain and refill zone for zone valve replacement?
I have a hot water baseboard (hydronic) heating system, gas boiler. Please refer to diagram of my system below. Ball valves 1 & 2 are supply. Ball valve 3 is return. Zone valves are on supply, ...
1
vote
1answer
146 views
Replacing old 2-pole line volt thermostats in a 120V hydronic heating system - is this configuration safe and acceptable?
I am replacing several old mechanical 120V 2-pole thermostats each of which controls both a blower fan (which blows air over hydronic coils to push warm air into the room) and a single central ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
Home Heating Efficiency
See a similar question I posted a few years ago: Heat pump minimum compressor temprature
I have a custom built new construction home, but I was not involved with the build process, so I don't know the ...
1
vote
1answer
370 views
Where Can I connect my C-wire on A Hot Water (Hydronic) Heating System?
I have a hydronic heating system (Lochnivar)that came controlled with an older (dumb) thermostat. I have 5 wires behind the wall and 5 wire in the wire packet going into heating system however only ...
1
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0answers
18 views
What is the advantage of a using a "Zone Controller"?
Looking at most pre-fab hydronic panels, the provide a Zone Controller. Initially I though they were used to stage the activation of the pump until after the valve was able to open but, looking at ...
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3answers
99 views
How impactful will it be to lose 7' of radiant heat pipe in a room?
My home has a hydronic heating system, with fully enclosed floor radiators. In one room, there is a radiator that runs the length of the room, on the outside wall which is about 20' long. In the ...
2
votes
1answer
282 views
Can’t shut off power to heat-only (hydronic baseboard) thermostat
I have no AC in my condo, only hydronic baseboard heat, currently controlled by an old mercury thermostat. I have a new smart thermostat with a c-wire adapter I want to replace it. Trouble is, I’ve ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
Can I replace hydronic water boiler return pipes with pex?
My house was built in the 1920s, the heating source was a hot water/radiator system. Originally the basement was probably used only for a coal furnace (we have the drop-off door that the coal guy used ...
1
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2answers
421 views
New thermostat for hydronic heating, no wiring labels, 3 wires
This hydronic system was not working when we bought our home. The fan would kick on with a manual switch but when you changed the temperature settings to go above the room temp nothing would happen. ...
0
votes
1answer
128 views
How do I purge the air from a hot water furnace with zones
I want to try and bleed the air from my hydronic ( baseboard ) heating system. It's a natural gas system, I think I understand the basic functionality but my system seems to be a bit unusual and I'm ...
0
votes
1answer
233 views
Boiler Valve Corrosion
I have a hydronic heating system in my house, and I noticed a valve on a pressure gauge on the side of the boiler is extremely corroded (see 3 pictures below).
1) Is there any purpose for this valve ...
0
votes
2answers
157 views
Most efficient way to improve my house's heating
I live in the mid-Atlantic in a 100 year old house, and I'm looking for a way to reduce my heating bill. Last winter, I left the thermostat at 68F, and our gas bills were incredibly high, despite ...
-1
votes
1answer
178 views
Calculating the feet of head for a single loop cast iron radiator system
I am trying to figure out how to calculate the total equivalent length of a loop with cast iron radiators. The pipes and fittings are easy to calculate because pipe is calculated linearly, and the ...
0
votes
1answer
268 views
Use CLR to clean stuck bleeder valve
I was bleeding the air out of hydronic heating zones and I notice some mineralization on bleed valve attached to my air scoop. I took the Schrader valve cap off and tapped the valve I noticed it was ...
0
votes
1answer
30 views
New Thermostat Won't Engage Plinth Heating in Kitchen Island
I have two plinth heaters on either side of my kitchen island. Since the rest of the house is hydronic, I presume that these are hydronic (there is a zone valve at the boiler) with electric fans ...
2
votes
0answers
45 views
How to remove a Honeywell Braukmann 104v radiator actuator
I have a radiator with a Honeywell 104V radiator actuator that I'd like to replace, I think it's P/N T104V1422. I can't seem to figure out how the thing is connected to remove it. The rest of the ...
0
votes
2answers
263 views
What's the effect of introducing bends into a primary-secondary heating loop?
I've been learning about primary-secondary boiler systems for my home, and have landed on a two-boiler system (two apartments), very much like Siegenthaler describes in his illuminating book and here ...
1
vote
1answer
114 views
cannot get last radiator on the line to heat up
All radiators but one are toasty. The cold one is up on the second floor, and is the last one on the line, farthest from the boiler.
It has been bled of air. It shoots out a thin stream of (cold) ...
0
votes
3answers
3k views
What are normally-open hydronic zone valves used for?
In a hydronic (hot water) heating system electronically operated valves control whether hot water runs through a particular zone of the building, or not.
It seems to be a common setup for the valve ...
0
votes
2answers
374 views
Difference between geothermal and regular hydronic zone valves
Taco makes two variants of zone valves - one type for general hydronic use, and another type marketed especially for geothermal use.
What is the difference in valves that particularly suits them for ...
-1
votes
1answer
778 views
Where to place an aquastat that is external to the hot water tank?
If you need to retrofit an aquastat to a heating system what is the best way to do so?
i.e., in some hot water tanks or even boilers there may be a purpose-made port specifically to accept a "well" ...
-1
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1answer
1k views
Nest E thermostat on ancient 2-wire Bryant boiler system with 2 zonesq
I have a 2-zone hydronic system running off an ancient Bryant boiler. Power is supplied by a 24V transformer, and each red wire passes through a Taco zone valve before heading off to the appropriate ...
0
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1answer
765 views
Rattling sound from heating pipes
I keep on hearing a rattling sound like metal banging from 1 section of pipe in my hydronic heating system, I tried bleeding but no improvement. Thanks
1
vote
1answer
520 views
Bosch Heat Pump + Hydronic Coil?
I was hoping to get some advice on the proper setup for this system. I live in Long Island, NY and just moved into a large house with an extremely old oil burner and 3 a/c condensers. I'm about to ...
0
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0answers
614 views
Slant/Fin Victory II Boiler - How do I turn on?
This summer, we moved into a home that has sub-floor heating installed. However, I have no idea how to use the boiler or turn it on.
The boiler itself (a Slant/Finn Victory II gas-fired boiler) has ...
3
votes
1answer
6k views
Anyone installed a hot water coil in their HVAC ductwork to increase heat pump efficiency?
Hydronic heat supplement to Heat pump Home heating System.
Anyone have experience putting a heating coil in the ductwork of a forced air heat pump system?
Background.
The existing HVAC system is a ...
1
vote
1answer
801 views
Hydronic kickspace heater on same zone as cast iron radiators?
Small older home that has in-wall cast iron radiators throughout the house in a single zone. Hot water not steam. When the kitchen was remodeled years ago the cast iron radiator was removed because it ...
0
votes
0answers
426 views
single radiator whistling and whirring on and off (hot water system)
As the question stated, I have a single radiator whistling and whirring on and off and I am trying to understand the cause, so I can stop it. It is a fairly high pitched whistle/whirr/squealing sound. ...
0
votes
1answer
1k views
pressure in boiler getting too high
The pressure relief valve on the hydronic system boiler is releasing a little water every time the boiler cycle is almost done and I looked at the gage and its rising to about 30 psi, But I can't ...
2
votes
1answer
104 views
Hydronic heat radiators not used for long time - should they be drained?
What should I do with radiators that have been out of action for about 3 years since the boiler went on the blink?
Is it better to drain the water out of the system while system is dormant?
1
vote
0answers
90 views
Hydronic Heating: Noisy pipes in the basement/walls
My issue is i have a natural gas boiler + hydronic heating system (two zones). It seems that after I remove air from each zones, the heating system is quiet until 12 hours later. In the early morning ,...
1
vote
2answers
147 views
Can I run my hydronic circulator off an appliance cord in order to use it to purge air?
I have a hydronic heating system with a relatively powerful B & G circulator pump. This pump has a relay that is controlled by the furnace electronics; if there is no power to the furnace, there'...
4
votes
4answers
23k views
How to install hydronic radiant heat over concrete slab
I'm trying to figure out the most ideal way to install hydronic radiant heat in my basement over the existing concrete slab. I've looked at several products for heat distribution, like Warmboard, ...
1
vote
2answers
198 views
Are hydronic systems set up as loops or ladders, and how can I tell the difference?
My hydronic system has a loop (or ladder) that visits baseboard radiators on four floors. All piping is hidden in the walls.
On the attached diagram, squares are windows, red is baseboard radiators, ...
1
vote
1answer
982 views
Can I install thermostatic radiator valves on a hydronic heating system?
My house has three hydronic heatin loops; two are shaped like a ladder.
The baseboard radiators are plumbed with type M copper pipe.
I'm thinking about installing thermostatic radiator valves on the '...