I have four zones (four thermostats) running from a single boiler. I need to remove two of the zones completely (remove all of the piping).
Should I join the "supply" and "return" for each zone, or should I cap off "supply" and "return" separately for each zone (each loop)?
Do I need to turn off the water supply to the house to do this???
(PS: this needs to be done because an electrician is installing baseboard heat in the those two zones)...
Thanks...
Did you run a comparison of Kwh to oil costs per Btu some areas are 2or even 3 times the cost for electricity, few areas are cheaper.
Cap off is OK.; th e other zones should still circulate. Is there one circulator for each zone of one total for all? Be sure to cut and cap the branches only.
No, but you do have to turn the water off to the boiler and drain it down quite a bit to get the pipes dry enough to solder.
I hope you have very cheap electric rates in your areas. I'd pay about double for electric heat over oil.
"hanson" wrote
Ed has a good reply, but i just want to chime in with a "Me Too"...
You are going to do away with hot water baseboard and replace it with electric???
WHY??!!!
Yes oil prices are high, but if you are changing to save money, you are going to pay more in the long run if you are trying to heat it with electric baseboard.
Thanks for your contributions / questions...
The house in question is a two family RENTAL house, with one apartment downstairs, and one apartment upstairs. Two zones are downstairs, and two zones are upstairs. My intention was to remove the two upstairs zones. And have electric baseboard heat installed.
Here is my rationale:
A) I like to have tenants pay for their own heat for two reason: #1 it makes the rent look lower and is therefore easier to get tenants, and #2 Tenants will naturally be more careful with the heat if they are paying for it, therefore it is less wasteful. (I tried setting the thermostats to 70 degrees, then using a cover so the tenants could not adjust the heat. For some reason this made the heat not work correctly. I removed the covers, now the heat works fine. (I had an HVAC Professional come in to confirm there was no other problem. He recommended removing the thermostat covers, so I did.))
B) Last winter, only the downstairs was heated, yet the upstairs remained around 60 degrees all winter. Therefore I suspect that the new electric baseboard heat will not have to work very hard to maintain
70 degrees.Those are my thoughts... I welcome any comments, thoughts, experiences etc. that you wish to contribute... Thanks...
Thanks for your contributions / questions...
The house in question is a two family RENTAL house, with one apartment downstairs, and one apartment upstairs. Two zones are downstairs, and two zones are upstairs. My intention was to remove the two upstairs zones. And have electric baseboard heat installed.
Here is my rationale:
A) I like to have tenants pay for their own heat for two reason: #1 it makes the rent look lower and is therefore easier to get tenants, and #2 Tenants will naturally be more careful with the heat if they are paying for it, therefore it is less wasteful. (I tried setting the thermostats to 70 degrees, then using a cover so the tenants could not adjust the heat. For some reason this made the heat not work correctly. I removed the covers, now the heat works fine. (I had an HVAC Professional come in to confirm there was no other problem. He recommended removing the thermostat covers, so I did.))
B) Last winter, only the downstairs was heated, yet the upstairs remained around 60 degrees all winter. Therefore I suspect that the new electric baseboard heat will not have to work very hard to maintain
70 degrees.Those are my thoughts... I welcome any comments, thoughts, experiences etc. that you wish to contribute... Thanks...
Thanks for your contributions / questions...
The house in question is a two family RENTAL house, with one apartment downstairs, and one apartment upstairs. Two zones are downstairs, and two zones are upstairs. My intention was to remove the two upstairs zones. And have electric baseboard heat installed.
Here is my rationale:
A) I like to have tenants pay for their own heat for two reason: #1 it makes the rent look lower and is therefore easier to get tenants, and #2 Tenants will naturally be more careful with the heat if they are paying for it, therefore it is less wasteful. (I tried setting the thermostats to 70 degrees, then using a cover so the tenants could not adjust the heat. For some reason this made the heat not work correctly. I removed the covers, now the heat works fine. (I had an HVAC Professional come in to confirm there was no other problem. He recommended removing the thermostat covers, so I did.))
B) Last winter, only the downstairs was heated, yet the upstairs remained around 60 degrees all winter. Therefore I suspect that the new electric baseboard heat will not have to work very hard to maintain
70 degrees.Those are my thoughts... I welcome any comments, thoughts, experiences etc. that you wish to contribute... Thanks...
Thanks for your reply:
Perhaps it *is* a better approach to raise the rent, and then pay for and control the heat myself.
Can you tell me more about the different thermostat options? I have tried searching on the 'net with little luck. What are remote thermostats, and how do they work? Where would I get better lock boxes which allow better air flow? (I have checked stores in the area, and all lock boxes look pretty similar).
(Frankly, I don't understand why my original thermostat covers did not work properly. I think it is because the walls in this old house are hollow and opened to the attic and the basement. Perhaps warm air was in the wall keeping the thermostat from kicking on properly.)
Thanks.
Tenents know the bottom line it is total cost a higher cost heat source adds up. There are different styles of lock boxes some allow more air to move and even remote thermostats , thermometers so you can have better control and better monitiring. Give a tennant high utilities and the apt is worth less to you in rent.
There are BTU meters made. You can install them in the upstaird zone piping. When hot water flows to upstairs zone, meter measures water temperature and flow and displays BTUs. You can then bill tenant for BTUs, but it will be less than cost of electric. Also less cost to remove old water baseboard and install electric. Also less cost than to upgrade your electric panel and meter capacity. Not sure who makes them but I have seen ads in the trade journals. Try googling BTU Meter.
Stretch
Your walls to attic and basement should be sealed as that is your heat loss. If it is a metal box maybe air openings are to small and you could bend them to open more, I did that. There are large size plastic boxes with good air movement. Location of stat may be poor or insulate from wall a piece of 1" wood would help. I have a remote sensor I forgot the make but it has a sensor on a 50ft cable, I have thermostat locked in boiler room. There are many makes talk to supply houses or Google. You can even get wireless units, and ones that average multiple room temps but prices climb fast.
You probably just have a bad thermostat location, maybe heat or hot water pipes in or near the thermostat wall or floor are afecting the thermostat and a box that doesnt circulate enough room air. New heating is a larger cost than a new stat and location.
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