Low heat on top floor and high gas usage.


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Old 01-10-07, 03:16 AM
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Low heat on top floor and high gas usage.

Recently I have moved into an old farm house that uses a Lpg
Type burner. The burner looks less than ten years old, but the plumbing is old and very rusted with hard water formations, from our well water supply. Anyways we were using alot of gas to keep the house warm at a comfortable temp. of 68.
My room never even got the radiator warm at the top end of the house, furthest away. The lady who lived here never maintained anything for years. So I looked around for a expansion tank, nope. Any guages? Nope! Unless their in the boiler under a cover maybe, havent tried that yet. The only thing I've tried alot was bleeding air out,it never helped at all in my room. So finally I thought maybe I could fill the system alittle for about 15 or 20 seconds. Since then the heat in the house is now turned down to 61, and the boiler also turns on less. The radiators also stay warm alot longer holding heat. Is there anything else on my end that I can do to improve it or other steps besides bleeding air out?
It seems pretty good so far, and all the other people have not been complaing of freezing as much. Plus we were going through gas like crazy before, and the guy who services filling up our tank did a leak test that we paid for, he said it was good. Any info would be great! I hope I did the right thing.
 

Last edited by smallman77; 01-10-07 at 03:30 AM.
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Old 01-10-07, 06:13 AM
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Do a complete heatloss (HL) calculation for the house - you'll have to measure all the rooms and figure out how much insulation you have everywhere. This will give you a clearer idea of how much heat it should take to heat that home. (HL)

I think you should get someone in to service your boiler. Boilers are normally shut off from outside water so that the amount of oxygen is limited. This way, they shouldn't rust. A service person would make sure that it is operating safely and efficiently. The service person will be able to tell you how efficiently that boiler is supplying the heat for the home (BE). I'm not sure if you are owning or renting. If you are renting, the landlord should probably be paying for the servicing.

HL divided by the BE should be pretty close to target consumption.
 
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Old 01-10-07, 03:08 PM
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Without a pressure guage and thermometer on the system you have no way of knowing if the system has the correct amount of water or if the temperature controls on the boiler are properly set.

While a heat loss calculation (along with a complete energy audit) is a good idea you first need to know that the boiler/heating system is operating in the correct parameters. Since you give the impression of not having expertise in this area I second the suggestion of Who that you have a qualified serviceperson check out this system.

It's not rocket science but it a bit more than a campfire.

Please keep us informed as to your progress.
 
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Old 01-13-07, 08:01 PM
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Arrow service tech

When you call for service, tell them that you would like them to send someone who can do an efficiency test. Another (usually free) option, is that you, depending where you are, the electric company or an eco non-profit organization could do an energy audit. I live in Massachusetts, and the electric company will, at no charge, send someone out to do this, and CET (Center for Ecological Technology) will do the same. Some other perks is that they will often give you free flourescent bulbs, low flow shower heads, etc...
 
 

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