58
votes
Accepted
Why is this pipe in my garage filled with concrete?
It's just a bollard to protect the gas appliances from your vehicle impacting them.
- 19.7k
23
votes
Accepted
Boiler *might* have caused water intrusion... who do I call?
You call a plumber and get the water heater replaced. Most of the white junk appears to be mineral build-up from ignoring a leak for a long time.
Have the new one installed properly to code with a ...
- 226k
10
votes
How can I move a new heavy boiler to the basement and the old one up and out?
Read the warranty carefully. Some appliances have parts-and-labor warranties for a limited period, and one year is usually within that period. Sometimes they are covered that way only if they are ...
- 45.3k
9
votes
Accepted
What is this box attached to the back of the house?
Thanks to @crip659 for the tip that helped solve this. It is a Boiler Sensor - Tekmar Outdoor Temp Sensor - Tekmar 70. Combined with the Tekmar 256 Boiler Control. It can be used to adjust the ...
- 1,088
9
votes
How can I move a new heavy boiler to the basement and the old one up and out?
First, I don't know why you are worrying about getting the boiler downstairs, since you are hiring someone to do the job. Any boiler installation job includes bringing the old one up and taking the ...
- 8,929
7
votes
Boiler Maintenance - hiring somebody to do it
The two higher quotes are for one time deal, they might never get any more money from you.
The contract is yearly charge and is hoping for major or minor piece to fail (15% off) and they get the money ...
- 30.3k
7
votes
Radiators not heating up
There's a high chance you'll need a callout, but it's worth going through a few of the basics first.
Bleeding radiators (DIYable)
Radiators usually have a bleed valve at the top, to allow you to let ...
- 7,926
6
votes
Mini-split vs gas boiler for heating
The thing is: heat pumps move heat around rather than creating it, so they are more than 100% efficient. They collect heat from the outside air and move it inside, and depending on the available heat ...
- 187
6
votes
Is storing hot water over 140F a regional requirement?
It's a new problem.
First, do anything you want. It's your health and there's no legal mandate, yet.
The legionella issue is actually quite new. The disease itself wasn't even identifed until ...
6
votes
Electric Boiler VS Electric Radiators hard wired
(I've assumed you're in the UK, as you've priced in pounds)
Given the price difference in the UK between mains Gas (currently about £0.10/kWh for domestic use) and Electricity (currently about £0.33/...
- 161
6
votes
Is it a good idea to place an electric boiler on the warm water line?
Point of use water heaters are a common solution to the problem you are trying to solve. Most operate on 120 Volt and can plug into a standard outlet and take about 12 amps. You can set the ...
- 86.2k
6
votes
Is it a good idea to place an electric boiler on the warm water line?
First, I would actually measure your numbers. Because I find 15l of water in the pipe to be non-believable. That's 100m (300'+) if the pipe is 3/8" trade size, 60m (200') if 1/2" pipe, and ...
6
votes
Accepted
Electronic boiler (water heater) stopped heating: weird cable hookup
1,3 and 2,4 should not be shorted - that would defeat the entire point of having a thermostat.
If the temperature is below the current setting of 70°C they should be connected (switched on) by the ...
- 226k
6
votes
Accepted
What is this small capsule found behind my boiler?
It is a container that once contained a nozzle for the oil burners.
Danfoss is the brand
0.55 refers to the gallons of fuel per hour
60 degrees refers to the spray angle
HFD refers to the spray ...
- 9,886
5
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to put Taco zone valves in a closed position?
TL;DR:
is there a way to put the zone valves into a forced-closed position?
Taco zone-valve (wax piston actator):
disconnect top wire at contact marked #1 and wait 2 mins, or
disconnect all wires,...
- 24.6k
5
votes
What kind of tubing should I use for draining condensate from a furnace / boiler?
TLDR: Plastic tubing seems the safest to use. You may be able to use certain types of metal in some cases, but acidity in the condensate can damage those materials.
ICC model building code as an ...
- 5,635
5
votes
Accepted
is it okay if heat exchanger's secondary is connected reverse
You want to get that corrected.
Plate heat exchangers like the one you have can be used in two arrangements:
parallel flow (co-current): both inlets on one end, outlets on the other, which is what ...
- 2,357
5
votes
What do T, RF and Lost mean in a circuit diagram?
The left part of the circuit diagram tells you how to connect the device, the right part tells you its internals. You need only to understand the left part in order to install it; the right part can ...
- 51
5
votes
Accepted
Why does boiler need minimal demand before heating water?
Some instant or on-demand water heaters have the ability to vary their firing rate according to the amount of water flowing through. In other words, they can modulate the amount of gas they burn or ...
- 33.4k
5
votes
Soft black specks coming out of the bathroom hot tap
I had a similar issue in my bathtub (black specks that smeared) and ended up determining it was an O-ring that had gotten old and started degrading. Replaced it and no problems since.
Perhaps you have ...
- 9,886
5
votes
What's the most energy-efficient way to run a boiler?
None of the above.
If the boiler is actually well insulated enough that you get sufficient hot water even with it is only on for a short time each day then it is not losing a lot of heat to the ...
5
votes
What's the most energy-efficient way to run a boiler?
Check out the bottom for the best solution.
Your use of "boiler" is confusing because this can describe either a tank water heater, or a hydronic house heating system which often includes ...
5
votes
How can I move a new heavy boiler to the basement and the old one up and out?
How you get a boiler (or anything else large and heavy) in and out of a basement is very site specific.
One method with the usual "bulkhead stairs outside access" is to remove the stairs ...
- 226k
4
votes
any sort of inflatable cork to plug pipe when shutoff valve is being repaired
If you can stop the flow of water in the system you can freeze the water in the pipe, then fix whatever you have to. This works on steel and copper pipe. I have frozen pipes up to 2 inches. A pipe ...
- 12.5k
4
votes
Is 29 volts too much for a 24 volt thermostat?
This seems like poor design of the thermostat: most household HVAC "24 VAC" transformers are designed to provide that voltage under load, i.e., while drawing the design current, perhaps one ampere. ...
- 8,997
4
votes
Can I have independent heating zones with a standard boiler?
Yes, it can be done. It just needs to be plumbed (and wired) right. Each thermostat should control a valve that admits hot water to its section of the house.
The boiler should be wired to fire up ...
- 4,169
4
votes
Boiler Maintenance - hiring somebody to do it
It's not necessarily a red flag that they're asking you to pay for the service contract before any of its included maintenance is done. However, it's obvious that they're giving these generous ...
- 33.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Hydronic heating not working, but have hot water
Your boiler is obviously not the issue because your DHW is working. There are really only two other major components to a hydronic heating system: the circulator pump and the zone valves.
Circulator ...
- 7,404
3
votes
Is there a way to put Taco zone valves in a closed position?
That's the way zone valves work. When the thermostat is not calling for heat, they're closed. Otherwise you would have heat going all the time the circulator runs in all zones.
- 126
3
votes
What could cause only one radiator to not become warm?
Air. Bleed the radiator. Air can very, very easily be trapped in one radiator, which will cause it to not heat.
- 221
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