Boiler temperature setting question
 

The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61 f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat. The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5 hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5 degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler, it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right? Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?

Boiler temperature setting question
 

On 2/6/2019 5:02 PM, KMT wrote:

The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61 f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat. The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5 hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5 degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler, it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right? Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?


First, what is the outdoor temperature? If you are used to dealing with
20 to 30 degrees and now it is suddenly -20, the warm up time will be
considerably longer and perhaps never achieved.

If it takes up to 2 hours to get from 66 to 70, the sizing is marginal
at best. My house can go from 62 to 70 in less than an hour.

There are three considerations. One is the size of the boiler itself.
If it is cycling, it is probably adequate. The next thing is the amount
of heating surface, radiators, baseboard, whatever. If you don't have
enough, it cannot move the heat from the boiler into the room.

The next is flow. Is the circulating pump working properly? Is the
water moving the way it should be? Feel the pipe and be sure it is hot
all the way through the loop. There will be some drop along the way as
it gives off heat, but should not be dramatic. The circulator is the
first thing I would check. They do go bad.

Boiler temperature setting question
 

On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:02:56 PM UTC-5, KMT wrote:
The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61 f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat. The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5 hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5 degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler, it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right? Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?


Of course it's not right. I'd say it was not right from the beginning,
if it takes 2 to 3 hours to raise the temperature from 66 to 70. That is
unless it's 0F outside. I wouldn't put up with that. I have forced air,
I can do ~5 deg in an hour.

If the boiler is hot, next question would seem to be is the circulating pump
running? Is it filled with water? Is the thermostat constantly calling
for heat?

Boiler temperature setting question
 

If the water in the boiler is hot, are the radiators hot too?
If not, check for air in the system in which case you need to bleed the air out.
Or as trader said, the!circulator pump is not working.
M

Boiler temperature setting question
 

Ed Pawlowski於 2019年2月6日星期三 UTC-8下�2時33分49秒寫�：
On 2/6/2019 5:02 PM, KMT wrote:
The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61 f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat. The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5 hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5 degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler, it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right? Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?

First, what is the outdoor temperature? If you are used to dealing with
20 to 30 degrees and now it is suddenly -20, the warm up time will be
considerably longer and perhaps never achieved.

If it takes up to 2 hours to get from 66 to 70, the sizing is marginal
at best. My house can go from 62 to 70 in less than an hour.

There are three considerations. One is the size of the boiler itself.
If it is cycling, it is probably adequate. The next thing is the amount
of heating surface, radiators, baseboard, whatever. If you don't have
enough, it cannot move the heat from the boiler into the room.

The next is flow. Is the circulating pump working properly? Is the
water moving the way it should be? Feel the pipe and be sure it is hot
all the way through the loop. There will be some drop along the way as
it gives off heat, but should not be dramatic. The circulator is the
first thing I would check. They do go bad.

It's between 17 f and 27 f in the daytime and 5 f overnight. I am a newbie here. I don't know if I got this right but I think the size of the boiler and the heating surface should be fine because I remembered standing on hot tiles in the kitchen when the thermostat was calling for heat,last winter and the house was warm.. As for the circulating pump, it was hot when I felt it so I think its working properly? The pipes are like "ouchy" hot when I felt them but when I was standing on the kitchen tiles, the surface only felt lukewarm. It used to be very warm before.

Boiler temperature setting question
 

trader_4於 2019年2月6日星期三 UTC-8下�4時35分35秒寫�：
On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:02:56 PM UTC-5, KMT wrote:
The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61 f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat. The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5 hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5 degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler, it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right? Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?


Of course it's not right. I'd say it was not right from the beginning,
if it takes 2 to 3 hours to raise the temperature from 66 to 70. That is
unless it's 0F outside. I wouldn't put up with that. I have forced air,
I can do ~5 deg in an hour.

If the boiler is hot, next question would seem to be is the circulating pump
running? Is it filled with water? Is the thermostat constantly calling
for heat?

The pump should be running because it's hot and water in the pipes feel hot too. The thermostat is constantly calling for heat.

Boiler temperature setting question
 

於 2019年2月6日星期三 UTC-8下�8時44分54秒寫�：
If the water in the boiler is hot, are the radiators hot too?
If not, check for air in the system in which case you need to bleed the air out.
Or as trader said, the!circulator pump is not working.
M

The radiators or the heating surface (not sure what it's called) are not hot, only lukewarm.I googled before I asked for help here and I was thinking it might be the air in the system, but as I am still learning about the whole heating system, I wanted to make sure all the temperature settings are appropriate. Are they?

Boiler temperature setting question
 

Just because the pump feels hot does not mean it is running.
The hot water will make it feel hot even if it is not
running. The water pipes should feel uniformly warm. If they
are much warmer near the boiler and cooler away from it, you
may have a circulation problem.
Is your system one zone, just one circulator.
You may want to invest in a low cost point and shoot
Thermometer from eBay.

Boiler temperature setting question
 

On Thursday, February 7, 2019 at 2:24:56 AM UTC-5, wrote:
trader_4於 2019年2月6日星期三 UTC-8下�4時35分35秒寫�：
On Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 5:02:56 PM UTC-5, KMT wrote:
The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61 f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat. The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5 hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5 degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler, it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right? Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?


Of course it's not right. I'd say it was not right from the beginning,
if it takes 2 to 3 hours to raise the temperature from 66 to 70. That is
unless it's 0F outside. I wouldn't put up with that. I have forced air,
I can do ~5 deg in an hour.

If the boiler is hot, next question would seem to be is the circulating pump
running? Is it filled with water? Is the thermostat constantly calling
for heat?

The pump should be running because it's hot and water in the pipes feel hot too. The thermostat is constantly calling for heat.

Water in the pipes where feels hot? A foot from the circulating pump or
20 feet away, at the farthest point, etc? Could be low on water. Did you
try bleeding air at the radiators? Like the other poster said, the pump
is near the boiler and will be hot regardless of whether water is moving
much or not. Any chance someone shut off the water feed to the boiler?

Boiler temperature setting question
 

On 2/7/2019 2:26 AM, wrote:
於 2019年2月6日星期三 UTC-8下�8時44分54秒寫�：
If the water in the boiler is hot, are the radiators hot too?
If not, check for air in the system in which case you need to bleed the air out.
Or as trader said, the!circulator pump is not working.
M

The radiators or the heating surface (not sure what it's called) are not hot, only lukewarm.I googled before I asked for help here and I was thinking it might be the air in the system, but as I am still learning about the whole heating system, I wanted to make sure all the temperature settings are appropriate. Are they?


Yes, sounds like a circulation problem. Either low on water or the pump
is not working. It will feel hot but you should hear it actually
turning and moving the water.

Boiler temperature setting question
 

The radiators or the heating surface (not sure what it's called) are not hot, only lukewarm.I googled before I asked for help here and I was thinking it might be the air in the system, but as I am still learning about the whole heating system, I wanted to make sure all the temperature settings are appropriate. Are they?


Maybe, maybe not.

Your terminology was a bit vague. Are you using a recirculating
hot water system which pumps heated water into baseboard heaters?

If that's the case, then...

a: if it's older than 20 or so years (in other words, "dumb"), then
yes, the piping should feel hot.

b: if it's newer and "smart", it will be designed to (in loose
terms) throttle up or down depending on how much heat it
thinks is needed.

In the old days, if the outdoor temperature was (numbers made
up) 50 degrees and you wanted 70, the boiler might only
come on, at _full_ strentgh, for five minutes out of a
half hour. But when it was on, the radiators would be hot.

If it was zero outside, the sytem might be on for 25 minutes
out of each half hour.

Nowadays, there are units that will cut back on their output,
based on the outdoor temperature and other factors.

So taking that 50 degree outside temperature, instead of
the boiler running at full capacity for five minutes/30,
it will cut down to 10 percent output for 25 mins/30.

The advantages here are better efficiency and less thermal
shift in the house.

HOWEVER, that calculation is based on some magical calculations
based on what the different thermo-sensors are reporting.

So... if you have a newer/smarter unit, there are plenty of
other things that could be going wrong.

As the folk in alt.hvac (back when Usenet was a thing) used
to say, probably a good idea to have a licensed and experienced
technician take a look.

--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key

[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

Boiler temperature setting question
 

Ed Pawlowski posted for all of us...




On 2/6/2019 5:02 PM, KMT wrote:

The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine
until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f
to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not
coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61
f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past
few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat.
The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The
thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5
hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial
points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5
degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler,
it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before
shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right?
Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?

First, what is the outdoor temperature? If you are used to dealing with
20 to 30 degrees and now it is suddenly -20, the warm up time will be
considerably longer and perhaps never achieved.

If it takes up to 2 hours to get from 66 to 70, the sizing is marginal
at best. My house can go from 62 to 70 in less than an hour.

There are three considerations. One is the size of the boiler itself.
If it is cycling, it is probably adequate. The next thing is the amount
of heating surface, radiators, baseboard, whatever. If you don't have
enough, it cannot move the heat from the boiler into the room.

The next is flow. Is the circulating pump working properly? Is the
water moving the way it should be? Feel the pipe and be sure it is hot
all the way through the loop. There will be some drop along the way as
it gives off heat, but should not be dramatic. The circulator is the
first thing I would check. They do go bad.

It may or may not be the circulator. Find a dial gauge on the the boiler
called a tridicator. It shows boiler temperature and pressure. The temp
should be around 180° and pressure around 13 depending on building height..
Find the expansion tank and feel the top and bottom of it and know on it to
determine the water level. The tank may be waterlogged, if it is hot on both
the top and bottom. Look on your search engine to find out the term and how
the system works. Do you have a service plan from your oil supplier for an
annual tune up? Please post back when and how your issue is resolved.

--
Tekkie

Boiler temperature setting question
 

Tekkie® posted for all of us...



Ed Pawlowski posted for all of us...




On 2/6/2019 5:02 PM, KMT wrote:

The 13 year old hydronic heating system in my house seemed to work fine
until this winter. It used to warm up the house in 2~3 hours (say from 66 f
to 70 f on not so cold days ). But I have noticed the temperature is not
coming up fast enough this winter. The thermostat in the room is set at 61
f overnight and starts to call for heat at 7 AM for 68 f. So for the past
few days at 7 AM, the thermostat reads 59 f and starts calling for heat.
The boiler cycles on and off through out the day and at 12 PM, The
thermostat reads around 60 f to 61 f. ONLY 1~2 degrees up for running 5
hours!!!! The system uses Honeywell Aquastat L4103D and L6006A. The dial
points at 190 f on L4103D and its set at 140 f on L6006A with Diff 5
degrees. Is this the right setting? According to the gauge on the boiler,
it is tuned on at 130 f and off at 190 f. It runs about minutes before
shutting off and the next cycle comes on in about minutes. Is this right?
Why is the house not warming up like it used to be?

First, what is the outdoor temperature? If you are used to dealing with
20 to 30 degrees and now it is suddenly -20, the warm up time will be
considerably longer and perhaps never achieved.

If it takes up to 2 hours to get from 66 to 70, the sizing is marginal
at best. My house can go from 62 to 70 in less than an hour.

There are three considerations. One is the size of the boiler itself.
If it is cycling, it is probably adequate. The next thing is the amount
of heating surface, radiators, baseboard, whatever. If you don't have
enough, it cannot move the heat from the boiler into the room.

The next is flow. Is the circulating pump working properly? Is the
water moving the way it should be? Feel the pipe and be sure it is hot
all the way through the loop. There will be some drop along the way as
it gives off heat, but should not be dramatic. The circulator is the
first thing I would check. They do go bad.

It may or may not be the circulator. Find a dial gauge on the the boiler
called a tridicator. It shows boiler temperature and pressure. The temp
should be around 180° and pressure around 13 depending on building height.
Find the expansion tank and feel the top and bottom of it and know on it to
determine the water level. The tank may be waterlogged, if it is hot on both
the top and bottom. Look on your search engine to find out the term and how
the system works. Do you have a service plan from your oil supplier for an
annual tune up? Please post back when and how your issue is resolved.

Knock on it

--
Tekkie