heat system conversion


  #1  
Old 11-04-12, 08:47 AM
J
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heat system conversion

I am thinking of replacing my heating system. I currently have an oil fired steam system (single pipe). I want to install a gas fired hot water base board system with four zones. One for each floor. I will have a contractor install the boiler I plan on running the pipe and base board.
I have several questions. I have yet to do a heat loss calculation.
Are four zones to many, basement, main floor, second floor (bed and bath rooms) and attic (bed room)?
Should I run each of the zone base boards in series or parallel?
If parallel is used how do I ensure equal amounts of hot water flow through each base board?
 
  #2  
Old 11-04-12, 10:50 AM
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While I personally detest residential steam heating systems converting one to a forced hot water system IS a lot of work and expense. If you are willing to get dirty, don't mind tearing up a substantial amount of the house and have the necessary funds you WILL enjoy a much better system (in my opinion) than that steam system.

Absolutely the first thing to do is a comprehensive heat loss calculation. Do not go by the "quick and dirty" calculation that is free in several places on the Internet but do the one that costs around $50 for the three month license. Be sure to also enter all the energy saving upgrades that you plan on doing or else you will oversize the system. Do NOT add any kind of "fudge factor" just to be safe as all heat loss programs already have such a fudge factor built in, sometimes as much as 30%. Remember also that "design temperature" only occurs for a few hours to a few days a year and may never happen for several years running. It is better to put on another layer of clothing when the weather hits the 100 year low than to have a grossly oversized system 99.9% of the time.

No, a single zone for each floor is not too many. You DO need to be careful about "micro-zoning", where you start zoning individual rooms. This will usually cause short cycling (quick on-off cycles) of the boiler and is NOT conducive to economical operation.

Whether or not to use a series or parallel arrangement of the heat emitters depends upon several variables that cannot be determined until you do the heat loss and also decide where the heat emitters (baseboards, convector cabinets or radiators) will be located.

Are you planning on re-using any of the original cast iron radiators or do you want a system that is all finned tube baseboards?
 
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Old 11-04-12, 01:22 PM
J
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Thank You for the quick reply.
I might use 2 of the old radiators. In the kitchen and Bathroom not enough wall space for baseboard. I depends on what type options are available.
Who would i contact to do the heat loss calculation.
 
  #4  
Old 11-04-12, 03:04 PM
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I used HVAC-Calc for mine and I liked it. Costs a few bucks for a 3 month license. Not sure what the price is these days.
 
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Old 11-04-12, 08:59 PM
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HVAC-Calc is the one that is most often mentioned as being worth every penny of its $49 three-month license.
 
  #6  
Old 11-05-12, 04:56 PM
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I kinda like the slant fin one. Its free too. It also has a lot of different options. The more zones the more money, but 4zones is definately fine for what your looking to do. Just use baseboard and run your zones in series.
 
 

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