baseboard heating

[Buckthedog]

You should probably raise your aquastat temp to 190. Mine is there, if not 195 all year. It probably doesnt need to be though.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by tdstyles

Thanks so much I'll check it out. The temp is at 170 so that seems fine. I'll check the Aqua stat as you recommended when I get home tonight.

I'm assuming it's keeping up now that it's not -5 out?

Like I said it should be set at 180 hi and 160 for lo at this time of the year, at least. If you run into this problem again check the temperature on the boiler, if it's still in that range and the boiler is getting up to 180 or whatever you have the high set at then the boiler is making enough hot water and you can eliminate that as the issue.

From there for house that size you should have at least two zones and two pumps. If you have only one zone then you need to consider splitting it up. Zones can be created with independent pumps for each zone or with one pump and thermostatically controlled valves. If there is only one pump but you have valved zones then you should consider adding a pump. One nice thing about multiple pumps is if one breaks and you have cutoff valves before and after the pumps you can just shut them off to replace the bad pump and still have heat in the other zone.

Other things to look for is follow you pipes and see where they go, is there anywhere they are going through that is really cold?

One thing to keep in mind is that this was an unusual event, typically they try and size a boiler so it can meet the demands of that size house. You're boiler may be undersized for this type of cold but if it can keep up with whatever low temperatures are normal then there really isn't much you can do about it.

[Goldendoodle1969]

We do have 2 zones set up(upstaris/downstaris) but I don't know if there are 2 pumps, is that standard? The more I read the comments the more I think this is a pump issue.

[thecoalman]

It could be a problem especially if it's a small pump. Thye have different gallons per minute. If it's only one pump can you find the model number?

[Goldendoodle1969]

So a plumber friend came over, turns out the genius that installed the system used the wrong pipe size(too small) when he tied the new boiler into the system. So basically its trying to push water from a garden hose into a straw for lack of a better analogy and this is causing tons of air to enter the system and hampering the ability to work as it should. The way the set up is now I have to bleed it every 2 days. He is going to come back and re plumb it for e which should solve the problem.

I'm still interested in this pump thing because if this was installed incorrectly it is very possible that there may be other issues too. I'll keep you posted. Thanks again to all for your help!

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by tdstyles

I'm still interested in this pump thing because if this was installed incorrectly it is very possible that there may be other issues too.

Undersized pipe can be just like having too small a pump. If the plumber is going to be reinstalling pipes now is the time to to consider anything you are going to do with the pump because it's very likely the undersized pipe is attached to the pump. I would ask his/her opinion.