I have four zones (four thermostats) running from a single boiler. I
need to remove two of the zones completely (remove all of the piping).


Should I join the "supply" and "return" for each zone, or should I cap
off "supply" and "return" separately for each zone (each loop)?

Do I need to turn off the water supply to the house to do this???

(PS: this needs to be done because an electrician is installing
baseboard heat in the those two zones)...

Thanks...

"hanson" wrote in message


Should I join the "supply" and "return" for each zone, or should I cap
off "supply" and "return" separately for each zone (each loop)?


Cap off is OK.; th e other zones should still circulate. Is there one
circulator for each zone of one total for all? Be sure to cut and cap the
branches only.


Do I need to turn off the water supply to the house to do this???

No, but you do have to turn the water off to the boiler and drain it down
quite a bit to get the pipes dry enough to solder.



(PS: this needs to be done because an electrician is installing
baseboard heat in the those two zones)...

I hope you have very cheap electric rates in your areas. I'd pay about
double for electric heat over oil.

"hanson" wrote

I have four zones (four thermostats) running from a single boiler. I
need to remove two of the zones completely (remove all of the piping).


Should I join the "supply" and "return" for each zone, or should I cap
off "supply" and "return" separately for each zone (each loop)?

Do I need to turn off the water supply to the house to do this???

(PS: this needs to be done because an electrician is installing
baseboard heat in the those two zones)...

Ed has a good reply, but i just want to chime in with a "Me Too"...

You are going to do away with hot water baseboard and replace it with
electric???

WHY??!!!

Yes oil prices are high, but if you are changing to save money, you are
going to pay more in the long run if you are trying to heat it with electric
baseboard.

Did you run a comparison of Kwh to oil costs per Btu some areas are 2or
even 3 times the cost for electricity, few areas are cheaper.

Thanks for your contributions / questions...

The house in question is a two family RENTAL house, with one apartment
downstairs, and one apartment upstairs. Two zones are downstairs, and
two zones are upstairs. My intention was to remove the two upstairs
zones. And have electric baseboard heat installed.

Here is my rationale:

A) I like to have tenants pay for their own heat for two reason: #1
it makes the rent look lower and is therefore easier to get tenants,
and #2 Tenants will naturally be more careful with the heat if they are
paying for it, therefore it is less wasteful. (I tried setting the
thermostats to 70 degrees, then using a cover so the tenants could not
adjust the heat. For some reason this made the heat not work
correctly. I removed the covers, now the heat works fine. (I had an
HVAC Professional come in to confirm there was no other problem. He
recommended removing the thermostat covers, so I did.))

B) Last winter, only the downstairs was heated, yet the upstairs
remained around 60 degrees all winter. Therefore I suspect that the
new electric baseboard heat will not have to work very hard to maintain
70 degrees.

Those are my thoughts... I welcome any comments, thoughts, experiences
etc. that you wish to contribute... Thanks...

Thanks for your contributions / questions...

The house in question is a two family RENTAL house, with one apartment
downstairs, and one apartment upstairs. Two zones are downstairs, and
two zones are upstairs. My intention was to remove the two upstairs
zones. And have electric baseboard heat installed.

Here is my rationale:

A) I like to have tenants pay for their own heat for two reason: #1
it makes the rent look lower and is therefore easier to get tenants,
and #2 Tenants will naturally be more careful with the heat if they are
paying for it, therefore it is less wasteful. (I tried setting the
thermostats to 70 degrees, then using a cover so the tenants could not
adjust the heat. For some reason this made the heat not work
correctly. I removed the covers, now the heat works fine. (I had an
HVAC Professional come in to confirm there was no other problem. He
recommended removing the thermostat covers, so I did.))

B) Last winter, only the downstairs was heated, yet the upstairs
remained around 60 degrees all winter. Therefore I suspect that the
new electric baseboard heat will not have to work very hard to maintain
70 degrees.

Those are my thoughts... I welcome any comments, thoughts, experiences
etc. that you wish to contribute... Thanks...

Thanks for your contributions / questions...

The house in question is a two family RENTAL house, with one apartment
downstairs, and one apartment upstairs. Two zones are downstairs, and
two zones are upstairs. My intention was to remove the two upstairs
zones. And have electric baseboard heat installed.

Here is my rationale:

A) I like to have tenants pay for their own heat for two reason: #1
it makes the rent look lower and is therefore easier to get tenants,
and #2 Tenants will naturally be more careful with the heat if they are
paying for it, therefore it is less wasteful. (I tried setting the
thermostats to 70 degrees, then using a cover so the tenants could not
adjust the heat. For some reason this made the heat not work
correctly. I removed the covers, now the heat works fine. (I had an
HVAC Professional come in to confirm there was no other problem. He
recommended removing the thermostat covers, so I did.))

B) Last winter, only the downstairs was heated, yet the upstairs
remained around 60 degrees all winter. Therefore I suspect that the
new electric baseboard heat will not have to work very hard to maintain
70 degrees.

Those are my thoughts... I welcome any comments, thoughts, experiences
etc. that you wish to contribute... Thanks...

Tenents know the bottom line it is total cost a higher cost heat source
adds up. There are different styles of lock boxes some allow more air to
move and even remote thermostats , thermometers so you can have better
control and better monitiring. Give a tennant high utilities and the
apt is worth less to you in rent.

Thanks for your reply:

Perhaps it *is* a better approach to raise the rent, and then pay for
and control the heat myself.

Can you tell me more about the different thermostat options? I have
tried searching on the 'net with little luck. What are remote
thermostats, and how do they work? Where would I get better lock boxes
which allow better air flow? (I have checked stores in the area, and
all lock boxes look pretty similar).

(Frankly, I don't understand why my original thermostat covers did not
work properly. I think it is because the walls in this old house are
hollow and opened to the attic and the basement. Perhaps warm air was
in the wall keeping the thermostat from kicking on properly.)

Thanks.

Your walls to attic and basement should be sealed as that is your heat
loss. If it is a metal box maybe air openings are to small and you could
bend them to open more, I did that. There are large size plastic boxes
with good air movement. Location of stat may be poor or insulate from
wall a piece of 1" wood would help. I have a remote sensor I forgot the
make but it has a sensor on a 50ft cable, I have thermostat locked in
boiler room. There are many makes talk to supply houses or Google. You
can even get wireless units, and ones that average multiple room temps
but prices climb fast.

You probably just have a bad thermostat location, maybe heat or hot
water pipes in or near the thermostat wall or floor are afecting the
thermostat and a box that doesnt circulate enough room air. New heating
is a larger cost than a new stat and location.

There are BTU meters made. You can install them in the upstaird zone
piping. When hot water flows to upstairs zone, meter measures water
temperature and flow and displays BTUs. You can then bill tenant for
BTUs, but it will be less than cost of electric. Also less cost to
remove old water baseboard and install electric. Also less cost than
to upgrade your electric panel and meter capacity. Not sure who makes
them but I have seen ads in the trade journals. Try googling BTU
Meter.

Stretch