I have got an old furnace I am going to have to replace eventually. I was looking for general advice right now what I should know when finding someone to replace it. I don't want to get into a situation where it will cost me thousands of dollars when I don't need to. I have a gas furnace with hot water radiators right now (they are more the baseheater type) with 2 zones. I am not sure if I am being to vague or not but ask away if you need to. Thanks

caibuadday

.if the old furnace give you "enough" heat then install with the same capacity.... if it doesnot give you enough heat .....but it cycle on and off ( pump may be too small/ or limiters not properly set....... if it dosenot give you enough heat....ask the sale person for a heat calculation( it free,... be ready to give him/her all the construction materials of the house including the area of window / wall/ door) or increase the capacity about 20% with a biger pump ( and valve that could be balance)

jduke44

The problem is we didn't run it that long b/c we just bought the house in May. We were not getting heat upstairs but the guy looked at it and gave me some suggestions to suffice for this winter. Since we didn't really run it, I have no idea whether it is sufficient. I will have that info for him when he comes. I want to try to have info on hand so I feel like I know what I am talking instead of trusting the people to give me what I need. I am sick of hearing companies selling what people don't really need just to make a sale.
If you or anyone else has more advice, let me know. Thanks

labman

Usually a heating plant that heats water is referred to as a boiler. Hot water is more common for residential use now than steam. Most ''boilers'' just heat, not boil the water. Don't fall for the tankless hype. Modern ''boilers'' don't have a big, heat wasting tank either.

Somewhere there is a sweet spot between cheap, inefficient units, and expensive, high efficiency units. My church recently replaced some high tech, high efficiency boilers with lower tech ones because the maintenance was killing us. Ask lots of questions, and maybe for references of people that have had the system for about 5 years.

caibuadday

[quote=jduke44]The problem is we didn't run it that long b/c we just bought the house in May. We were not getting heat upstairs but the guy looked at it and gave me some suggestions to suffice for this winter. Since we didn't really run it, I have no idea whether it is sufficient. I will have that info for him when he comes. I want to try to have info on hand so I feel like I know what I am talking instead of trusting the people to give me what I need. I am sick of hearing companies selling what people don't really need just to make a sale.
If you or anyone else has more advice, let me know. Thanks[/QUOT
to determine how much heat your house need (accurately)....you need a heat lost calcaltion ( plus throw in 10% of the total)........... or a cheap contractor may just do a BALL PARK estimate ( someweb site do offer it for 50$)........ you have 2 zone (2 pumps?)........ does each baseboard have its own control valve ( with sensor?)..... was the pipe for the upstair baseboard cold/warm?? .....or some hot but other cold??..........one more reason for the upper level not getting hot water is you have an air gap in the system............. if i were you this is how i would test the system (pump side)=== bleed out the air in the system.... check the water pressure ( close off 1 fl to see if any water go to 2 fl)........... or you could turn on the whole system in a few weeks........and if the upstair baseboards get heat then the system is too small..

jduke44

Caibuadday, actually it only has 1 pump currently. It doesn't seem like any of the baseboards have control valves. I don't know if I mentioned this but it is about 25 years old. The pipes are warm to the touch. I don't think the pump went on when I cranked the thermostat up. I will have to do this again when it gets little colder just to make sure. The problem is we have a 6month old and his room is the one that gets the coldest. I thought about the air gap but haven't done it b/c none of the plumbers (who also deal with funraces) seemed to think that was the major problem since they have looked at it. Who knows. I will take your advice to make sure they do a heat loss calculation.

Labman, I want as cheap as I can go but also I want a decent boiler. The one phrase I am beginning to hate is "well, do you want to cheap or do you want the job done right". That to me is a way of saying they are going to charge alot for the job they are doing. Thanks for your advice. I am planning on asking alot fo questions. This is why I am asking here first so I am aware of the questions I should be asking. Thanks again.

caibuadday

if the pipe was warm you probably have water flow thru , but does this pipe supply from a riser of from another baseboard(from another room)....... was the whole house feel cold or just some areas only and did the boiler ever cycle OFF ( did you ever raise the water temp- to get some more heat)..... if the thermostat still calling for heat and the water temp is set at max but the boiler is cycle OFF.... probably -- not enough baseboard length/ pipe/ pump too small

jduke44

The pipes seem to all loop together upstairs. I am assuming 1 supply per floor. From what I remember my sons room in the front of the house was the warmest and our room also in the front and my other sons room is the coldest. I did have a company come to give me an estimate and he suggested (along with others) that there is no circulation on the bottom of the baseboards b/c the rug goes right up against there. I am going to cut the rugs away from the baseboards and make sure the covers are not down and go from there. I can't remember if the pump was turning on now or not. I never thought about the water temp. By the way, have you ever heard of a repco boiler. If you have, what can you tell me about them? The guy told me that this thing could go another 10-20 years but I am not sure I want to take the chance. Thanks for your input.

caibuadday

just check the temp setting ; you will knowits temp.... your system may have other problem ( it could be that the capacity of the boiler isnot the main problem)... .. yeah those cast iron boiler do last a long time--- im not familiar with that boiler( but that doesnt mater....... a basic water boiler come with castiron sections, gas tube, gas valve, pilot,aquastat,pump- almost no moving part to break with (except pump),, ...if all the baseboards are loop in series it is very hard to control the temp in each room..... so before you buy a new boiler you should check to see if the system design(baseboards) will be able to heat all the rooms uniformly....... for ex: if two rooms with the same amount of heat lost ( pipe in series) the first baseboard (effective length) would have to be shorter than the second one or spending alot of time to balance the air vent- inorder to get both rooms temp staying the same... go to grainger .com it will give information about the heating capacity of your baseboard( BASE ON the boiler water temp),,,,,,, temp drop about 15 f for each baseboard.

jduke44

I haven't gotten a chance to test the system out yet, but I am getting to it.

In the mean time, what can anyone tell me about Pennco, Burnham, and Carrier gas boilers? These are the brands that the companies I got quotes from are putting in. If I have it done I might be going with the Pennco boiler.

Also, do you think it is necessary to have 2 circulator pumps since I have 2 zones? I currently have a 100,000btu boiler.


Thanks for your time.