hot waterzone off steam return lines. this one is a lil different situation
#1
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hot waterzone off steam return lines. this one is a lil different situation
Ok so i have installed a baseboard heater system in a basement. It is a steam boiler that has a header pipe running from one side of the basement to the other. The boiler room is kind of in the mid of the basement so it has one header going one way and another one going the opposite way. Now because of this there are 2 return lines that twin in just before the boiler.
I had made one giant loop from this system. The base boards are tied in to the front return line and the back return line. I have a circulator pump pulling the return into the boiler after the twin. Will the system work like this. I cant see why not. I am not getting heat in front of the house but i think it has to do with controls.
- i had an electrician come in and hook up the tstat to the pump and aquastat but the boiler does not come on when the tstat is turned on, only the pump. I think i need to put in a switching relay to have the boiler turn on to make hot water.
Should i have designed it differently. Should i have run a feed and a return and not used the condesate return from the steam line?
Please get back to me with any advice
I had made one giant loop from this system. The base boards are tied in to the front return line and the back return line. I have a circulator pump pulling the return into the boiler after the twin. Will the system work like this. I cant see why not. I am not getting heat in front of the house but i think it has to do with controls.
- i had an electrician come in and hook up the tstat to the pump and aquastat but the boiler does not come on when the tstat is turned on, only the pump. I think i need to put in a switching relay to have the boiler turn on to make hot water.
Should i have designed it differently. Should i have run a feed and a return and not used the condesate return from the steam line?
Please get back to me with any advice
#2
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W,
You can run a hot water zone off of a steam boiler but not by tapping into return condensate lines.
They are two independently run systems. Your supply and return for the baseboard must both be installed below the water line and run independently with different controls than the steam.
Pics of the system would be good. Depending how it's wired the boiler should respond to the aquastat just as it would if you had a tankless coil for hot water.
We would need to see the system including wiring to go further.
Do you have gas or oil.
That would be a start.
http://www.oldhousejournal.com/Hybri.../magazine/1349
I hope this helps.
You can run a hot water zone off of a steam boiler but not by tapping into return condensate lines.
They are two independently run systems. Your supply and return for the baseboard must both be installed below the water line and run independently with different controls than the steam.
Pics of the system would be good. Depending how it's wired the boiler should respond to the aquastat just as it would if you had a tankless coil for hot water.
We would need to see the system including wiring to go further.
Do you have gas or oil.
That would be a start.
http://www.oldhousejournal.com/Hybri.../magazine/1349
I hope this helps.
Last edited by spott; 03-25-15 at 10:11 AM.
#3
here is more info. The circulator should be pumping away from the boiler. Think of the boiler like the expansion tank in a how water system. Always pump away and keep circulator lower than the water level in the boiler and include a bypass.
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