question regarding circulating pump for hot water heating

[danny burstein]

Ok, I've asked two of the local HVAC companies in the area I'm moving into and gotten two conflicting answers... So please be gentle with me.

I'm moving into a house in Michigan which has a natural gas fired baseboard hot water heating system.

It was built without much in the way of thought regarding energy conservation. To put it mildly.

There are separate piping loops for various sections, with levered shut-off valves on them. All are currently open.

Anyway, I asked the HVAC folk if I could, say, shut off the valves to the garage area and what this would do in regards to the circulating pump.

(There's enough heat leakage that I don't have to worry about the pipes freezing. At least until I do a lot more retro-insulating).

One said it would make the pump work harder and wear it out sooner; the other said it would be ok and might even save a bit of electrcity.

(In the long run I'll have them do proper zoning and controls, and get a new higher efficiency furnace, etc., etc., but all that's got to wait until I find out the truth behidn the Kennedy assasination.)

Seriously, for now I'm mostly concerned about the pump issue, and given that I got two different answers, I'm appealing to the experts.

Thanks

[Stormin Mormon]

Reducing the fluid flow should take load off the circulating pump. I'm with the "saves electicity" camp.

[Bubba]

You're in a "camp" allright. It just happens to be the moron camp. You'll never learn to shut your stupid pie hole until you gain some knowledge. Of course, by then, Im sure it will be a new century. Bubba

[X-Eliminator]

you are a f***in' moron

[The Freon Cowboy]

[geothermaljones]

Freons right, The BTU's saved by not heating will show up on your bills. The power saved by reducing flow to the zone is nominal at best. Your circulator is a fraction of a HP to start with, unless you own one of the real big homes, in which case you'd be rich enough to not care... The shut off zone will reduce flow & add head pressure, the pump will ride the curve up & will work just as hard. The difference in power consumption will be minute...

I'd take a good long look at the "won't freeze" idea & maybe put a freeze alarm in there, to avoid rupturing a pipe... (My attached garage w/2 warm walls gets well below freezing in the winter)

goodluck geothermaljones stpaulmn

[LarryC]

I agree with the last post; turning off a zone with a manual valve or electric zone valve should impact the life of the pump in any appreciable way. I'm thinking of the TACO pump in my mother's house; it's worked flawlessly for almost 50 years, and I don't think they are super expensive either way.

The guy who founded Taco, John Haven White, was a dedicated student of pumps and fluids, and his company builds excellent products. He was also a political activist, and his son, John Jr., continues the tradition.

The Taco (pronounced Tay-co) learning center provides excellent details on pump system design -

Good luck and get some insulation!

LC