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Radiant Heat - Boiler Working Overtime? Furry 12-30-2006
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Posted by Furry on February 12, 2007, 1:44 pm
> 061230 1341 - Furry posted:
>
>
>
> > Folks,
>
> > We have a 1200 sq ft full basement that we're heating via radiant heat.
> > There are 4 runs of Pex. We're very happy with it but I'm worried that
> > there is something wrong with the system. When the basement calls for
> > heat the pump turns on and I can see the temperature gauge go up to
> > around 100-110 degrees. There's no gauge on the return but feeling the
> > Pex it's obvious that the water coming back is pretty cool. The
> > problem: It takes at least an hour, sometimes 2, for the basement to
> > warm up enough that the thermostat stops calling for heat. 1200 sq ft
> > is a lot of concrete to heat up but isn't that a long time?
>
> > Any thoughts much appreciated.
>
> > Thanks, Bill

First of all thanks for your various ideas and feedback. It eventually
became clear that the radiant heat was working just fine - the problem
was the level of insulation in the basement. There wasn't enough
insulation installed on the exterior of the basement foundation when
the house was built, which allowed a lot of the warmth to escape
through the concrete. There was plenty of insulation installed *below*
the radiant heat though. The best solution I've been able to come up
with is to use Owens Corning Formular 250 which is Extruded
Polystyrene Insulation. It comes in 2" X 2' X 8' sheets and is about
$15/sheet. They have an R-10 rating. The stuff is very easy to work
with, all you need is a hand saw to cut it to size.

After putting the Formular 250 up [just stood them up against the
concrete] for just 30 or 40% of the basement wall the time between
reheatings went up from every 4 hours or so to almost 12. Still takes
the same amount of time to heat back up, say 3-4 hours.

So I'm going to complete the job, putting the Formular on as much of
the basement walls as possible. The thing I'm trying to figure out now
is what to use. Is there some sort of caulking or glue that will bind
the Formular to the concrete? I'd like to form as tight a connection
as possible to make sure air and therefore water vapor doesn't get in
behind the insulation and make a great breeding ground for mold. I'm
also going to want to tape the seams. Anyone have any ideas on what
products to use for gluing and taping?

Thanks, Bill


Posted by v on February 12, 2007, 3:43 pm
On 12 Feb 2007 10:44:06 -0800, someone wrote:

>First of all thanks for your various ideas and feedback. It eventually
>became clear that the radiant heat was working just fine - the problem
>was the level of insulation in the basement....... the time between
>reheatings went up from every 4 hours or so to almost 12. Still takes
>the same amount of time to heat back up, say 3-4 hours.
>
Glad ya got that figured out. You have what, nearly 15 cubic YARDS of
concrete to heat up, so it is no surprise that it takes hours!


Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file.

Posted by Big_Jake on February 14, 2007, 8:53 pm
>
>
>
> > 061230 1341 - Furry posted:
>
> > > Folks,
>
> > > We have a 1200 sq ft full basement that we're heating via radiant heat.
> > > There are 4 runs of Pex. We're very happy with it but I'm worried that
> > > there is something wrong with the system. When the basement calls for
> > > heat the pump turns on and I can see the temperature gauge go up to
> > > around 100-110 degrees. There's no gauge on the return but feeling the
> > > Pex it's obvious that the water coming back is pretty cool. The
> > > problem: It takes at least an hour, sometimes 2, for the basement to
> > > warm up enough that the thermostat stops calling for heat. 1200 sq ft
> > > is a lot of concrete to heat up but isn't that a long time?
>
> > > Any thoughts much appreciated.
>
> > > Thanks, Bill
>
> First of all thanks for your various ideas and feedback. It eventually
> became clear that the radiant heat was working just fine - the problem
> was the level of insulation in the basement. There wasn't enough
> insulation installed on the exterior of the basement foundation when
> the house was built, which allowed a lot of the warmth to escape
> through the concrete. There was plenty of insulation installed *below*
> the radiant heat though. The best solution I've been able to come up
> with is to use Owens Corning Formular 250 which is Extruded
> Polystyrene Insulation. It comes in 2" X 2' X 8' sheets and is about
> $15/sheet. They have an R-10 rating. The stuff is very easy to work
> with, all you need is a hand saw to cut it to size.
>
> After putting the Formular 250 up [just stood them up against the
> concrete] for just 30 or 40% of the basement wall the time between
> reheatings went up from every 4 hours or so to almost 12. Still takes
> the same amount of time to heat back up, say 3-4 hours.
>
> So I'm going to complete the job, putting the Formular on as much of
> the basement walls as possible. The thing I'm trying to figure out now
> is what to use. Is there some sort of caulking or glue that will bind
> the Formular to the concrete? I'd like to form as tight a connection
> as possible to make sure air and therefore water vapor doesn't get in
> behind the insulation and make a great breeding ground for mold. I'm
> also going to want to tape the seams. Anyone have any ideas on what
> products to use for gluing and taping?
>
> Thanks, Bill

Still sounds like the water temp is set too low. Is the burner
running almost constantly on the boiler, or is it running only a
fraction of the time? I recently had a call from one of my tenants
saying the boiler couldn't heat the apartment, and it worked fine once
I bumped the water temp up about 20 degrees.

JK


Posted by Bob Pietrangelo on February 14, 2007, 9:21 pm








>>
>>
>>
>> > 061230 1341 - Furry posted:
>>
>> > > Folks,
>>
>> > > We have a 1200 sq ft full basement that we're heating via radiant
>> > > heat.
>> > > There are 4 runs of Pex. We're very happy with it but I'm worried
>> > > that
>> > > there is something wrong with the system. When the basement calls for
>> > > heat the pump turns on and I can see the temperature gauge go up to
>> > > around 100-110 degrees. There's no gauge on the return but feeling
>> > > the
>> > > Pex it's obvious that the water coming back is pretty cool. The
>> > > problem: It takes at least an hour, sometimes 2, for the basement to
>> > > warm up enough that the thermostat stops calling for heat. 1200 sq ft
>> > > is a lot of concrete to heat up but isn't that a long time?
>>
>> > > Any thoughts much appreciated.
>>
>> > > Thanks, Bill
>>
>> First of all thanks for your various ideas and feedback. It eventually
>> became clear that the radiant heat was working just fine - the problem
>> was the level of insulation in the basement. There wasn't enough
>> insulation installed on the exterior of the basement foundation when
>> the house was built, which allowed a lot of the warmth to escape
>> through the concrete. There was plenty of insulation installed *below*
>> the radiant heat though. The best solution I've been able to come up
>> with is to use Owens Corning Formular 250 which is Extruded
>> Polystyrene Insulation. It comes in 2" X 2' X 8' sheets and is about
>> $15/sheet. They have an R-10 rating. The stuff is very easy to work
>> with, all you need is a hand saw to cut it to size.
>>
>> After putting the Formular 250 up [just stood them up against the
>> concrete] for just 30 or 40% of the basement wall the time between
>> reheatings went up from every 4 hours or so to almost 12. Still takes
>> the same amount of time to heat back up, say 3-4 hours.
>>
>> So I'm going to complete the job, putting the Formular on as much of
>> the basement walls as possible. The thing I'm trying to figure out now
>> is what to use. Is there some sort of caulking or glue that will bind
>> the Formular to the concrete? I'd like to form as tight a connection
>> as possible to make sure air and therefore water vapor doesn't get in
>> behind the insulation and make a great breeding ground for mold. I'm
>> also going to want to tape the seams. Anyone have any ideas on what
>> products to use for gluing and taping?
>>
>> Thanks, Bill
>
> Still sounds like the water temp is set too low. Is the burner
> running almost constantly on the boiler, or is it running only a
> fraction of the time? I recently had a call from one of my tenants
> saying the boiler couldn't heat the apartment, and it worked fine once
> I bumped the water temp up about 20 degrees.
>
> JK

100-110 is a pefect temp for your water, I am running mine at 95 degrees.

--
Bob Pietrangelo
bobp3@comcast.net (home)
bob@comfort-solution.biz (work)
www.comfort-solution.biz



Posted by Bob Pietrangelo on February 14, 2007, 9:22 pm

>> > > We have a 1200 sq ft full basement that we're heating via radiant
>> > > heat.
>> > > There are 4 runs of Pex. We're very happy with it but I'm worried
>> > > that
>> > > there is something wrong with the system. When the basement calls for
>> > > heat the pump turns on and I can see the temperature gauge go up to
>> > > around 100-110 degrees. There's no gauge on the return but feeling
>> > > the
>> > > Pex it's obvious that the water coming back is pretty cool. The
>> > > problem: It takes at least an hour, sometimes 2, for the basement to
>> > > warm up enough that the thermostat stops calling for heat. 1200 sq ft
>> > > is a lot of concrete to heat up but isn't that a long time?


Why not just leave the stat alone and let it maintain, rather than trying to
heat up the entire slab

--
Bob Pietrangelo
bobp3@comcast.net (home)
bob@comfort-solution.biz (work)
www.comfort-solution.biz


>



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