Home Page link

Yet another low hot water pressure problem ... Please help

Home| Search | About
Login Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Home Repair - - If it ain't broken, don't fix it. Otherwise look here. 

Page 1 of 3       1 2 3 > last >> Bookmark this page:  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Yet another low hot water pressure problem ... Please help jimduhaimejr 01-23-2007
If you were  Registered and logged in, you could reply and use other advanced thread options
Posted by on January 23, 2007, 9:12 pm


PLEASE HELP!!

Background ... Just bought a house, so I do not know the history. What
I do know is I have a Freddy Krueger oil furnace in the basement
handling the hot water and heating duties (Huge ... 54"w x 30"d x 54"h)
Found documents from furnace .. 1952 original with house!! The heat
works great, not to mention heating the basement nice and toasty.
Problem is with the hot water. No hot water heater, so it is coming
from the furnace, as i mentioned. The cold water pressure is great,
which is the driving force of our faucet water pressure. When hot
water only is on ... it takes 3 minutes to fill up a gallon jug (no
joke) and about 40 seconds of that water to start getting hot. Typical
is running the shower for 3-5 minutes before being able to jump in.
Money down the drain, literally. (one thing that works is turning up
the hot water temp so the little water that comes out warms the strong
cold water pressure to where it is usable ... just FYI for people with
similar problem)

What to do?? Now I checked this when the furnace is not actually on,
so the water flow should be dedicated to normal hot water use. Also,
there is a faucet just as the pipes come out of the furnace. Figured
if the flow was strong, the pipes would be full of mineral deposits.
BUT, the flow is the same (not to mention the faucet is leaking because
I disturbed it). So it must be the furnace hot water output, no?? Or
how / is it possible to get more hot water pressure? Would love to
change to a smaller furnace and reclaim my basement, but I heard these
old ones are work horses that I should run until it dies. And the bank
account likes to hear that, so ...

Is there anything I can do to increase my hot water pressure???

Thank you very much in advance ... and my water bill can use a break
:o)

Jim


Posted by krw on January 23, 2007, 9:52 pm


jimduhaimejr@gmail.com says...
> PLEASE HELP!!
>
> Background ... Just bought a house, so I do not know the history. What
> I do know is I have a Freddy Krueger oil furnace in the basement
> handling the hot water and heating duties (Huge ... 54"w x 30"d x 54"h)
> Found documents from furnace .. 1952 original with house!! The heat
> works great, not to mention heating the basement nice and toasty.
> Problem is with the hot water. No hot water heater, so it is coming
> from the furnace, as i mentioned.

This isn't unusual even for newer construction. My house, built in
'86, also has a domestic hot water coil for hot water. It works
well enough, though the boiler has to run all year (not necessarily
a bad thing).

> The cold water pressure is great,
> which is the driving force of our faucet water pressure. When hot
> water only is on ... it takes 3 minutes to fill up a gallon jug (no
> joke) and about 40 seconds of that water to start getting hot. Typical
> is running the shower for 3-5 minutes before being able to jump in.

Sounds like the boiler is a ways form the shower (we also have this
problem).

> Money down the drain, literally. (one thing that works is turning up
> the hot water temp so the little water that comes out warms the strong
> cold water pressure to where it is usable ... just FYI for people with
> similar problem)
>
> What to do?? Now I checked this when the furnace is not actually on,
> so the water flow should be dedicated to normal hot water use. Also,
> there is a faucet just as the pipes come out of the furnace. Figured
> if the flow was strong, the pipes would be full of mineral deposits.
> BUT, the flow is the same (not to mention the faucet is leaking because
> I disturbed it). So it must be the furnace hot water output, no?? Or
> how / is it possible to get more hot water pressure? Would love to
> change to a smaller furnace and reclaim my basement, but I heard these
> old ones are work horses that I should run until it dies. And the bank
> account likes to hear that, so ...

The domestic coil may be plugged with calcium (and other slime).
You can have it "boiled out" by your boiler service tech. They use
an acid to dissolve the built-up sluge. Another alternative is to
add a hot water tank and put it on a separate heat zone, bypassing
the domestic hot water coil.

> Is there anything I can do to increase my hot water pressure???
>
> Thank you very much in advance ... and my water bill can use a break
> :o)

--
Keith

Posted by on January 25, 2007, 9:24 am




> jimduhaim...@gmail.com says...
>
> > PLEASE HELP!!
>
> > Background ... Just bought a house, so I do not know the history. What
> > I do know is I have a Freddy Krueger oil furnace in the basement
> > handling the hot water and heating duties (Huge ... 54"w x 30"d x 54"h)
> > Found documents from furnace .. 1952 original with house!! The heat
> > works great, not to mention heating the basement nice and toasty.
> > Problem is with the hot water. No hot water heater, so it is coming
> > from the furnace, as i mentioned.This isn't unusual even for newer
construction. My house, built in
> '86, also has a domestic hot water coil for hot water. It works
> well enough, though the boiler has to run all year (not necessarily
> a bad thing).
>
> > The cold water pressure is great,
> > which is the driving force of our faucet water pressure. When hot
> > water only is on ... it takes 3 minutes to fill up a gallon jug (no
> > joke) and about 40 seconds of that water to start getting hot. Typical
> > is running the shower for 3-5 minutes before being able to jump in.Sounds
like the boiler is a ways form the shower (we also have this
> problem).
>
> > Money down the drain, literally. (one thing that works is turning up
> > the hot water temp so the little water that comes out warms the strong
> > cold water pressure to where it is usable ... just FYI for people with
> > similar problem)
>
> > What to do?? Now I checked this when the furnace is not actually on,
> > so the water flow should be dedicated to normal hot water use. Also,
> > there is a faucet just as the pipes come out of the furnace. Figured
> > if the flow was strong, the pipes would be full of mineral deposits.
> > BUT, the flow is the same (not to mention the faucet is leaking because
> > I disturbed it). So it must be the furnace hot water output, no?? Or
> > how / is it possible to get more hot water pressure? Would love to
> > change to a smaller furnace and reclaim my basement, but I heard these
> > old ones are work horses that I should run until it dies. And the bank
> > account likes to hear that, so ...The domestic coil may be plugged with
calcium (and other slime).
> You can have it "boiled out" by your boiler service tech. They use
> an acid to dissolve the built-up sluge. Another alternative is to
> add a hot water tank and put it on a separate heat zone, bypassing
> the domestic hot water coil.
>
> > Is there anything I can do to increase my hot water pressure???
>
> > Thank you very much in advance ... and my water bill can use a break
> > :o)--
> Keith

Thank you so much for your input. Sounds like first step is getting
the coil cleaned, and a trust worthy guy will tell me if it needs
replaced. Good idea on a separate heater, seeing when this boiler
finally goes, I would do the two separate units anyway. Would spread
out the cost anyway over two installs.

Thanks again.


Posted by Edwin Pawlowski on January 23, 2007, 9:54 pm



> PLEASE HELP!!
>
> Background ... Just bought a house, so I do not know the history. What
> I do know is I have a Freddy Krueger oil furnace in the basement
> handling the hot water and heating duties (Huge ... 54"w x 30"d x 54"h)
> Found documents from furnace .. 1952 original with house!! The heat
> works great, not to mention heating the basement nice and toasty.
> Problem is with the hot water. No hot water heater, so it is coming
> from the furnace, as i mentioned.

First, lets talk the right terminology. You don't have a furnace, you have a
boiler. Furnace heat air, boilers heat water.

Inside of that boiler, you have a coil that heats up the water for domestic
use. They can become clogged over time. It may have to be replaced.

Slim chance, but the valve to the hot water feed may be partly turned off
too. My guess is that it is not and you checked that already, but if not,
give it a look.

As for that workhorse, it is probably very low efficiency. Are there any
slips from the service on it? It may show what the efficiency was read by a
meter. Not long ago, 75% to 80% was normal, but new models are better. You
may be blowing a lot of heat up the chimney.

Most of the heat in the basement is going to travel up, but some will be
lost to the walls and floor. If you like it that warm, do nothing, but if
you'd rather have it a bit cooler, insulate the pipes in the basement.



Posted by on January 25, 2007, 9:31 am


first. Thanks for setting me straight. I did check all the valves on
the boiler, and are all currently open. Sounds like the coil could be
the first wave of attack. And in searching the maintenance records,
looks like last service was 2002!! Woman we bought the house from was
only here for a few years, so looks like she did nothing. Will get on
the horn asap for an efficiency rating. As I replied to Keith above,
going with the separate hot water heater in the very near future might
be good, seeing as when this thing finally goes, I will have the two
units anyway. Do you suggest doing both a new furnace and hot water
heater at the same time? Any advantages/disadvantages??

Thanks Edwin, I appreciate your input


>
> > PLEASE HELP!!
>
> > Background ... Just bought a house, so I do not know the history. What
> > I do know is I have a Freddy Krueger oil furnace in the basement
> > handling the hot water and heating duties (Huge ... 54"w x 30"d x 54"h)
> > Found documents from furnace .. 1952 original with house!! The heat
> > works great, not to mention heating the basement nice and toasty.
> > Problem is with the hot water. No hot water heater, so it is coming
> > from the furnace, as i mentioned.First, lets talk the right terminology. You
don't have a furnace, you have a
> boiler. Furnace heat air, boilers heat water.
>
> Inside of that boiler, you have a coil that heats up the water for domestic
> use. They can become clogged over time. It may have to be replaced.
>
> Slim chance, but the valve to the hot water feed may be partly turned off
> too. My guess is that it is not and you checked that already, but if not,
> give it a look.
>
> As for that workhorse, it is probably very low efficiency. Are there any
> slips from the service on it? It may show what the efficiency was read by a
> meter. Not long ago, 75% to 80% was normal, but new models are better. You
> may be blowing a lot of heat up the chimney.
>
> Most of the heat in the basement is going to travel up, but some will be
> lost to the walls and floor. If you like it that warm, do nothing, but if
> you'd rather have it a bit cooler, insulate the pipes in the basement.


Page 1 of 3       1 2 3 > last >>
Similar ThreadsPosted
Need help with water pressure problem July 19, 2005, 8:05 pm
Water Pressure problem November 7, 2006, 8:40 am
Yet another low hot water pressure problem ... Please help January 23, 2007, 9:12 pm
Hot water pressure problem September 29, 2007, 6:07 pm
Hot water plumbing pressure problem October 1, 2005, 7:03 am
Water Pressure Problem - One Faucet Only June 10, 2006, 9:09 pm
Water pressure problem in my sprinkler system. July 16, 2006, 8:13 pm
water tank pressure is gaining air pressure February 2, 2008, 7:42 pm
Low Water Pressure at outlets in home and Hot Water issues November 21, 2005, 11:05 pm
Low Water Pressure at outlets in home and Hot Water issues November 21, 2005, 11:05 pm

Contact Us | Privacy Policy

XML SitemapXML Sitemap