California native new to water radiator heat system - Help? (Boston: rentals, houses)

[tediousjo]

So we recently moved in to our new place in Medford and we just tonight turned on the heat to see how it all works. It's kind of freaking us out and we have some concerns about the noises we're hearing:

-A hissing noise coming from each radiator, like a releasing of air?
-After a few minutes of running, a banging noise, as if someone was hitting the pipes?
-One of them started gurgling, and water started spitting out of the.. little round thing that sticks out the side - Enough to need a towel to wipe it up. It wasn't completely hot at that point..

So someone should let me know if these things are normal, or if I should call my landlord. T_T Thanks!

[tickybox]

1. The hissing is completely normal.

2. The banging may be an issue. Some mild pinging is okay, and to be expected from time to time. If the banging is ongoing, and LOUD, there are a few possibilities:
a) the pressure in your system is too high. This can be dangerous. You may need a plumber to take a look at it, or;
b) the radiator might not be level - this can result in water pooling at one end. There can be simple ways of dealing with this -- my plumber levered one end up a tiny bit while I slid quarters under two of the legs to even out a radiator that was still loud even after pressure had been adjusted (I would not have tried this without him there to tell me what to do) or;
c) if you look at the end of your radiator, you may see little knobs with numbers from 1 to 10, that let you adjust whether heat is arriving at a radiator or not. These can wear out and need to be replaced on occasion.

When I first moved in and turned on the heat, I thought someone was standing in my living room hitting the radiator with a baseball bat, all. Night. Long. All three of the above issues had to be addressed.

3. Water spitting out of your radiator is not normal.

[orangetravelerJP]

We experienced the hissing, banging, spitting radiators last winter. Being new to the area, we also didn't know what was normal and felt a little goofy calling the landlord about it. He ended up having a plumber come and clean out the system, change a couple of corroded valves, and he showed us how to empty some of the water once a month so that the system would stay clean longer. Money well spent since the clanging and banging was absolutely terrible and was due to the system not being maintained regularly.

[snatale1]

It's been said, pinging is good, banging is bad. If the radiator is straight use a shim to angle it slightly to the side where the pipe feed it, that will help the banging. But either way get it looked at. Most landlords will ignore the systems until the start crapping out on ya. A properly maintained system is very quiet, just the steam purging and the ping when the steam release shuts.

[tediousjo]

Our landlords had us reimburse them for the $397 they spent on 100 gallons of oil.. This was in September. Now, less than two months later, our oil is very very low. Is it normal to be going through 100 gallons of oil in two months, with fairly limited use of heat and normal hot water use by three people? This seems excessive to me; should I get the system checked?

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by tediousjo

Our landlords had us reimburse them for the $397 they spent on 100 gallons of oil.. This was in September. Now, less than two months later, our oil is very very low. Is it normal to be going through 100 gallons of oil in two months, with fairly limited use of heat and normal hot water use by three people? This seems excessive to me; should I get the system checked?

$3.97/gallon sounds a bit excessive for September. That is just about when oil is at its cheapest. Now as for 100 gallons in two months, this is low for the winter, but a bit high if it was mainly used for hot water. The likely culprit is an inefficient boiler, even by oil standards. If you have an old iron boiler with an oil gun jerry-rigged into it, you'll get horrendous performance. It's basically spitting out oil into the boiler and lighting it - pretty primitive. I've found that this is a common setup for rentals because landlords have very little motivation to spend money on an efficient system when they're not footing the oil bill. If you have a newer system, you can get somewhere around 85% efficiency, not as good as natural gas but not bad.

When we first moved to the area (Cambridge), we had the oil gun setup and we were routinely paying $1000-2000/month for oil during half the year (and we had a separate natural gas water heater). We learned and subsequently made sure that our rentals had natural gas or an updated oil system. We also adapted to area and eventually learned to live in half the square footage. Even if the rent costs a couple hundred more a month, you can easily save money if it comes with a more efficient system. In our current setup, we filled our tank in August and it's still 3/4 full despite the early winter weather and hot water usage. Good luck.

[tediousjo]

Originally Posted by Cato the Elder

$3.97/gallon sounds a bit excessive for September. That is just about when oil is at its cheapest. Now as for 100 gallons in two months, this is low for the winter, but a bit high if it was mainly used for hot water. The likely culprit is an inefficient boiler, even by oil standards. If you have an old iron boiler with an oil gun jerry-rigged into it, you'll get horrendous performance. It's basically spitting out oil into the boiler and lighting it - pretty primitive. I've found that this is a common setup for rentals because landlords have very little motivation to spend money on an efficient system when they're not footing the oil bill. If you have a newer system, you can get somewhere around 85% efficiency, not as good as natural gas but not bad.

When we first moved to the area (Cambridge), we had the oil gun setup and we were routinely paying $1000-2000/month for oil during half the year (and we had a separate natural gas water heater). We learned and subsequently made sure that our rentals had natural gas or an updated oil system. We also adapted to area and eventually learned to live in half the square footage. Even if the rent costs a couple hundred more a month, you can easily save money if it comes with a more efficient system. In our current setup, we filled our tank in August and it's still 3/4 full despite the early winter weather and hot water usage. Good luck.

Thank you; that was very helpful. How can I tell if I have the inefficient jerry-rigged system you're talking about? Will it be less expensive if I replace/fix it out of my own pocket before we get into winter and pay for more oil? Also, where can we order oil from?

[gilwood]

Oil heat is inefficient to begin with. Get used to living on barely any heat. My parents pay around $600/mo during the winter for heat and they still wear jackets indoors. The loud banging and creaking of the pipes wakes us up periodically at night, but it makes for a good spooky Halloween.

I hope you've realized the error in your judgement in moving to a cold weather place.

[nancy thereader]

Believe itor not, my last gas and electric bill (combined) was $23.12. That is not stopping me, however, from moving to Boston.

[litlux]

The oil business is very competitive in the New England area since the majority of houses are heated by oil. Part of this is due to the age of the housing stock.

On the positive side, those large metal radiators are wonderful when properly calibrated and maintained. The best are the hot water radiators, with the steam versions slightly less effective. They can deliver consistent, reliable heat with few ups and downs in temperature.

They are not installed in homes these days since they would be far too expensive.

If you own the home, you need to ask around to find a good heating-plumbing expert to come in and give your system a once over. My oil burner is from the mid 1990's and still going strong. A new burner might increase efficiency somewhat but my energy consultant said "not yet". The pipes and valves need to be looked at, and the fact that you are having clanging does mean that something is wrong - air in the system - which must be purged.

I have hot water radiators and the little spigot on top will enable me to remove any air that may have gotten in. Other than when I first moved in7 years ago I have not had to touch them. My system is without leaks or problems.

My oil burner also heats the water for doing dishes, showers etc. And if that is your situation, yes 100 gallons of oil in two months is not unusual for someone who leaves the hot water running without thinking it is money down the drain.

Can you hear the burner go on? If so you might be able to figure out how and when the demand is created.

In New England, heating is a major expense and the old houses that have radiators are also not terribly energy efficient. The more we can weatherize our houses, make sure the windows and doors are highly efficient at keeping heat in the better.

Good luck in finding a heating expert who can bring you up to speed on the system you have. It's worth the expense since they should get your system normalized and give you a pretty good idea as to future options.