Gas Boiler Questions- Viessmann

[fugazi11]

I've been in the house for a couple of years, but really don't know much about gas boilers. I have been bleeding the lines a couple of times during the winter but wanted to know what else I should be doing to obtain better performance? I also signed up for the deal Ontario Hydro had with the heat reflectors and will be putting those on this year. Unfortunately the previous owners didn't leave a manual and I'm not sure what things should be set at. i.e water pressure (currently needle is at 10 KPI).

Any advice is great.

[MacGyver]

You should get your system, particularly the boiler, checked by a qualified service tech each year before the heating season, to make sure it's running at peak efficiency. Without knowing all the ins and outs of your heating system, it's hard to say precisely what other things you should be doing.

If you don't have a manual, you should call Viessmann and ask them for one. http://www.viessmann.ca/en/service/kontakt.html
You may be able to find it on their website.

[synaptech]

I've been in the house for a couple of years, but really don't know much about gas boilers. I have been bleeding the lines a couple of times during the winter but wanted to know what else I should be doing to obtain better performance? I also signed up for the deal Ontario Hydro had with the heat reflectors and will be putting those on this year. Unfortunately the previous owners didn't leave a manual and I'm not sure what things should be set at. i.e water pressure (currently needle is at 10 KPI).

Any advice is great.

Can you elaborate on the reflector deal?

As for contacting a pro to come and look -- I did the same last year (I had no idea where to begin) and the first guy was totally clueless -- no idea about hydronics even though he was there to inspect a boiler. His recommendation of course was to replace it. While he was strongly recommending a replacement to me, when my wife came in the b*stard tried to scare her with how bad the situation was :evil: So he was asked to leave. The next guy I called was recommended by the boiler manufacturer -- much better and all he did was clean it. For efficiency we're considering a new boiler, but that's our choice now and not a panicked decision. Call Viessmann - they're in Waterloo - and ask for their recommended tech.

[nornet]

Single story house -12 psi
Two story - 17 psi

Make sure your expansion tank isn't full or empty, it should be about 25% full.

[synaptech]

Single story house -12 psi
Two story - 17 psi

Make sure your expansion tank isn't full or empty, it should be about 25% full.

Where do you get the psi data and is it ht pressure or cold? How do I fill the explansion? Does it need pressurized?

I have a 3 storey and I am waffling between running the old boiler into the ground or biting the bullet and buying a new mod-con...

[nornet]

Where do you get the psi data and is it ht pressure or cold? How do I fill the explansion? Does it need pressurized?

I have a 3 storey and I am waffling between running the old boiler into the ground or biting the bullet and buying a new mod-con...

The pressures come from may years of experience with hydronic systems. Expansion tanks used to be located at the highest point in the system and were easy to maintain as you could see the amount of water in them. Now they are located by the furnace and can be located on either the supply side or the return side of the system. You have been given good advise by the 2 previous posts to my original and I suggest you heed it. Messing around with the expansion tank when you don't know what your doing will lead to a service call any ways as if you fill it, the bleed valve discharges the excess water. My original post was intended to provide information and not be a how-to. My apologies for the brevity, I should have made this clear. When you call someone in make sure the dispatcher is aware you want your system balanced.

edit I took a look at the tech manual for one of the current Viessmann boilers and the max pressure is 30 psi.

[fugazi11]

Thanks everybody. Sounds like I am best off to contact someone who truly knows what they are doing. Not something I want to fool around with.

In regards to the reflectors, it was a flyer I received in the mail from toronto hydro. They stick to the wall behind the rads and save you from losing heat in the wall. Not sure how well they work, but it seems to make sense to me and all we had to pay was shipping....think it was around $10.

[pkguy]

Why do you think you might not be getting good performance now?
Are you not getting heat out of the rads up on the top floor. If you are then there isn't much more you can do other than do what you're doing now and bleeding each rad/baseboard a couple of times a season. Start the bleeding process in the basement though and work your way up to the top floor. You are always going to have some buildup of air in the system needing bleeding out because it comes in with the water that fills the boiler when it fills.

What you should do if you can spare a little cash is to call a long-time in the business Heating contractor who specializes in hydronic heating and SPECIFICALLY tell them to ONLY send a guy "an old guy preferably" who is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of residential hot water heating. Not some youngster who thinks they know. That's what I did when I bought this house and it was money well well spent. He went over my whole system and explained in detail how it all works, how to maintain it, etc etc. BTW my boiler is original to this house built in 1958 and according to the guy who came he said it will probably outlive me. On top of that after he was done my gas bill dropped appreciably and I have nice even heat all throughout the house.. The previous owners were paying something like $350 month on the budget plan.. now I pay about $170 and keep the house at 22 (72 F) in the winter.

[nornet]

Why do you think you might not be getting good performance now?
Are you not getting heat out of the rads up on the top floor. If you are then there isn't much more you can do other than do what you're doing now and bleeding each rad/baseboard a couple of times a season. Start the bleeding process in the basement though and work your way up to the top floor. You are always going to have some buildup of air in the system needing bleeding out because it comes in with the water that fills the boiler when it fills.

What you should do if you can spare a little cash is to call a long-time in the business Heating contractor who specializes in hydronic heating and SPECIFICALLY tell them to ONLY send a guy "an old guy preferably" who is thoroughly familiar with all aspects of residential hot water heating. Not some youngster who thinks they know. That's what I did when I bought this house and it was money well well spent. He went over my whole system and explained in detail how it all works, how to maintain it, etc etc. BTW my boiler is original to this house built in 1958 and according to the guy who came he said it will probably outlive me. On top of that after he was done my gas bill dropped appreciably and I have nice even heat all throughout the house.. The previous owners were paying something like $350 month on the budget plan.. now I pay about $170 and keep the house at 22 (72 F) in the winter.

I agree with everything you have said with one exception. It's not necessary to find an "old guy". The best service tech I've had was a fairly recent grad from a community college who was able to point out deficiencies and short cuts in one installation that had gone unnoticed for 20 years. Other techs that have a good background are from Europe where these systems are much more common. I'm curious about how he regulated the heat throughout your house. If the engineer who designed the system knew what he was doing, the heating control comes from the correct sizing of the rads. To fine tune it I'm not sure what you do (other than turn the control valve off slightly).