Thanks for input. That cicrulator is sounding supicious now that it has
come up.
I'm sure the burner people will not like it as my conract includes
circulator replacement. Is there some easily done test without dismantling
system to see if the pump is weak or really bad?


"Speedy Jim" wrote in message
. com...
John F. wrote:
When the outside temps (I'm in upstate NY) get down to the teens and
single digits my boiler can't keep up with the heat loss. There is
baseboard cabinet (7 inch cabinet) running the entire perimeter of the
first floor exterior walls of the four rooms (each 13x13) the zone
covers. The rooms are 8' 9" and all walls are insulated to R-13. The
windows are dbl insulated glass and the basement ceiling below is
insulated as well. The heat pipes are also fully insulated in the
basement. The boiler (oil fired baseboard hot water 2 zone system)
rated at 150,000 btu shuts down when it reaches the 180 deg boiler/water
temp. I've been told that the 180 deg is the proper shut down. The
thermostat calls for heat with a 2 degree drop in temperature. Right now
it only runs for about 10 minutes before it reaches its 180 deg mark and
then shuts down for about 15 mins. The result is a net loss of room
temperature especially at night of upwards of 6 to 8 degrees resulting in
a room temp of 60 to 62 degrees by morning. If temps go into the below
zeros then the boiler never catrhches up even in the daytime. So my
question is what if anything can I do or have the oil burner service
company do to have the burner deliver heat for a longer peiod. Your
usual good input would be appreciated. Thanks. John
It doesn't sound like a burner/boiler problem to me.

If the boiler is easily maintaining ~180F, the problem
seems to be that the circ pump and radiation can't *remove*
enough BTU from the water.

For example: Although the boiler has a rating of 150,000BTU/Hr,
let's say that the rads can only unload 50,000BTU/Hr.
The burner would only need to run 1/3 the time .

But the house needs 100,000BTU/Hr in coldest weather (example).
The boiler *could* produce that easily, but the rads can't
pump the BTU's into the house fast enough. So...house gets cold.

You may have to have someone re-calculate the fin-tube area
required and/or the pump capacity to deliver enough water velocity.

Jim