What temp. Hot water heat

[allhandsworking]

I have oil/hot water heat one zone per floor, basement first second floor. Should I set the water temp. To high or low? if I set it high the boiler runs longer but the radiators get hotter and stay hotter. If I set it low it runs for a shooter time but comes on more frequently. What is the most efficient way to set the water temp? I run my wood insert most of the time but I want to get the most out of my oil heat!

 

[nate379]

Floor heat or baseboard?

Floor heat you want it to be 120-140*. Radiators 160-180*

 

[Tarmsolo60]

The cooler you run it the more efficient it will be. Just as long as it can keep up with the heat load and with a oil boiler make sure your return temp does not go below 140 to prevent condensation of gases.

 

[allhandsworking]

Floor heat or baseboard?

Floor heat you want it to be 120-140*. Radiators 160-180*

I have radiators

 

[stee6043]

Man I'd hate to lay my hand on a 180 degree radiator...

 

[ihookem]

I burn a lot less wood at 160 than 180*. If the heat oad keeps up with demand go a little cooler.

 

[allhandsworking]

Man I'd hate to lay my hand on a 180 degree radiator...

That is the burner temp not the radiator temp.

 

[btuser]

Differential is what you're after

Look into a intellicon or tekmar unit. If you've got an indirect DHW heater the Tekmar 260 is a good unit, but kinda iffy on the payback period compared tot the intellicon. The right answer depends on the size of your system, what time of year it is, what's the temperature of the day, how well your building holds heat, a ton of factors. If you system is short-cycling @ 160F in September I'm betting your differential is too narrow. Either that or your house has no insulation, you've got a tankless coil, and you like having your windows open.

How big is your house?
What is the brand/model/size/age of your boiler?
How do you get hot water? (indirect tank off boiler, tankless coil ect)

 

[allhandsworking]

Differential is what you're after

Look into a intellicon or tekmar unit. If you've got an indirect DHW heater the Tekmar 260 is a good unit, but kinda iffy on the payback period compared tot the intellicon. The right answer depends on the size of your system, what time of year it is, what's the temperature of the day, how well your building holds heat, a ton of factors. If you system is short-cycling @ 160F in September I'm betting your differential is too narrow. Either that or your house has no insulation, you've got a tankless coil, and you like having your windows open.

How big is your house?
What is the brand/model/size/age of your boiler?
How do you get hot water? (indirect tank off boiler, tankless coil ect)

ok guys were talking oil burner here. It's a peerless with hot water/radiators. The temp setting on the boiler is from 180-240 there is a little arrow that points to 210. Is 210 ideal? Is this the temp inside the burn box? it's not the water temp because water starts to boil at 205 ? am I correct? is the temp control used to control the circulator pumps in the zones? I hate being ignorant about something this important. I also clean the boiler and change my own filters so you know were I'm coming from.

One last thing I have a family room in the basement that is about 20 / 11 I have 4. ' of base board. It is insulated well. I know 4' is probably insufficient. I was thinking about replacing the base board with cast iron base board would this be a better option. My wall space is a litle limited

 

[benjamin]

No, 180-240 is the water temp. There is usually a pressure gauge also that shows something like 10-15psi, water boils at a much higher temp at that pressure.

I'm no expert on controls, here in the midwest, at least outside of major cities, there is very little hot water heat and if there is, its usually controlled with the thermostat turning on the burner and pump at the same time, as crude as it gets.

Your zones are probably controlled by thermostats in each zone. The boiler probably controls it's own temp by firing to maintain the temp when the zones take heat.

Is the basement not staying warm enough? and is it on its own zone?

I don't have the answer here, but hopefully I can help you get a little closer.

 

[Chris S]

Cast iron baseboard will generally give more btus per ft than fin tube. We usually figure 600 btus/ ft for copper fin tube unless its the commercial taller style. 600*4
2400 btu is not a lot, but if the room is warm... Also, 600 is at 180 degrees, you seem to be higher than that.
Cast iron is more often run at 160 degrees, I would say 210 is too high.
Often an unknowing service tech, neighbor, relative thinks that hotter is better, and they're helping you out by adjusting something that should be left alone.
More often than not today as homes are made more energy efficient, lower temperatures are all that is needed, and in most cases will save you on operating costs.
I 2nd the installation of a Tekmar , or Intellidyne HW+ you will see savings.

 

[allhandsworking]

No, 180-240 is the water temp. There is usually a pressure gauge also that shows something like 10-15psi, water boils at a much higher temp at that pressure.

I'm no expert on controls, here in the midwest, at least outside of major cities, there is very little hot water heat and if there is, its usually controlled with the thermostat turning on the burner and pump at the same time, as crude as it gets.

Your zones are probably controlled by thermostats in each zone. The boiler probably controls it's own temp by firing to maintain the temp when the zones take heat.

Is the basement not staying warm enough? and is it on its own zone?

I don't have the answer here, but hopefully I can help you get a little closer.

Yes the basement has its own zone with thermostat. There is a zone on each floor total three! The system works good I just want to maximise efficiency! Thanks for the help!

 

[allhandsworking]

Differential is what you're after

Look into a intellicon or tekmar unit. If you've got an indirect DHW heater the Tekmar 260 is a good unit, but kinda iffy on the payback period compared tot the intellicon. The right answer depends on the size of your system, what time of year it is, what's the temperature of the day, how well your building holds heat, a ton of factors. If you system is short-cycling @ 160F in September I'm betting your differential is too narrow. Either that or your house has no insulation, you've got a tankless coil, and you like having your windows open.

How big is your house?
What is the brand/model/size/age of your boiler?
How do you get hot water? (indirect tank off boiler, tankless coil ect)

Are the units you talk of domestic hot water? Right now I have a seperate 50 gal gas Hot water heater. It is over its prim due to it being 10 years old. I would like to go tank less but dont have wall space on an outside wall. Also I keep the temp at the A setting this is low and the family is comfortable with it. this time of year I turn it up a bit! I seem to burn very little natural gas with this set up. I will look for something symular to replace it. Maybe something that is a little more durable that will last longer maybe some extra insulating blanket on the tank!

 

[velvetfoot]

I would suggest a Tekmar 256 outdoor reset. I just Froogled it; they're at $144 now.
I got one and it works great. Super easy to set up. One of the setting is what kind of 'terminal unit' is used-you have radiators.
My application was a little more complicated because I had an indirect water heater and I had to put in a relay to continue to have hot water priority.

 

[btuser]

If you've got nat gas then a tankless is an idea. I've just got oil so I'm stuck with an indirect, which I really don't feel is that efficient no matter what I hear. The tekmar 256 is what you want if you don't need priority, the tekmar 260 will do priority, and also has occupied/unoccupied setting, indoor sensor capacity, and a couple things I can't remember.