The Cellar - View Single Post - Anybody have experience with radiant heating?

hot_pastrami · 11-24-2003, 11:09 PM

Well, I guess I should have provided more info...

There are four loops in the house, a north and a south for both floors. Each loop has an independent thermostat, but all thermostats are tested and working. Each of the section valves are also working, I had one replaced a couple weeks ago that was failing on me. When that was replaced, the whole system was flushed, so sediment shouldn't be an issue.

This system has an air bleeding device on the lower part of the piping, right next to the boiler. I asked the repair guy if we'd need to bleed the air out of a valve at the high point in the system, but he assured me that the little device will take all of the air from the lines... but then he also said that water softeners are useless and that I should buy special magnets to put on the pipes which "polarize the water's energy" and are "ten times better than a water softener," so maybe his advice isn't the best in the world. But on the other had, he said he almost the same setup in his house, so maybe his info is reliable. I don't know. The little thingy does appear to bleed a lot of air, you can see it bubbling out occasionally. Incidentally, it looks like it's not a closed water system, it has a contant, open connection from the house's water supply into the boiler.

The return path of the loop is hot to the touch in all sections except one, which is pretty warm, but not hot. The baseboards are the sheet-metal enclosed finned-pipe. They never make any noise or crackle when they are on... I presume that would happen due to heat expansion if they got as warm as they're supposed to.

So I guess my next best course of action is to see if I can find some high bleeder valves, and if present, open them up until water dribbles out. But if the return loop is warm and I've bled all the air out, the pump is probably OK, and the problem is most likely that there's enough calcium in the pipe that that it's effectively insulating the inside of the pipe, preventing the outer surface of the pipe isn't getting very hot.

Right? Or am I way off?

11-24-2003, 11:09 PM	#12
hot_pastrami I am meaty Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 1,119	Well, I guess I should have provided more info... There are four loops in the house, a north and a south for both floors. Each loop has an independent thermostat, but all thermostats are tested and working. Each of the section valves are also working, I had one replaced a couple weeks ago that was failing on me. When that was replaced, the whole system was flushed, so sediment shouldn't be an issue. This system has an air bleeding device on the lower part of the piping, right next to the boiler. I asked the repair guy if we'd need to bleed the air out of a valve at the high point in the system, but he assured me that the little device will take all of the air from the lines... but then he also said that water softeners are useless and that I should buy special magnets to put on the pipes which "polarize the water's energy" and are "ten times better than a water softener," so maybe his advice isn't the best in the world. But on the other had, he said he almost the same setup in his house, so maybe his info is reliable. I don't know. The little thingy does appear to bleed a lot of air, you can see it bubbling out occasionally. Incidentally, it looks like it's not a closed water system, it has a contant, open connection from the house's water supply into the boiler. The return path of the loop is hot to the touch in all sections except one, which is pretty warm, but not hot. The baseboards are the sheet-metal enclosed finned-pipe. They never make any noise or crackle when they are on... I presume that would happen due to heat expansion if they got as warm as they're supposed to. So I guess my next best course of action is to see if I can find some high bleeder valves, and if present, open them up until water dribbles out. But if the return loop is warm and I've bled all the air out, the pump is probably OK, and the problem is most likely that there's enough calcium in the pipe that that it's effectively insulating the inside of the pipe, preventing the outer surface of the pipe isn't getting very hot. Right? Or am I way off? __________________ Hot Pastrami!