I sometimes encounter customers that have hot water heating systems with radiators on the third floor that do not heat up well. Do you have a home that has a third-floor level with radiators that stay cold or partially heat up? This is a common problem in homes or apartment buildings with more than two stories. Find out what can be a simple fix for this problem.
Circulator…
A circulator ( or pump) on your hot water heating boiler has one purpose, and that is to circulate the water throughout your heating system. Most boilers that are currently installed in homes today have a circulator installed on the return side of the boiler. The return piping in a hot water heating system brings the water back to the boiler so it can constantly be heated and recirculated back into the heating system.
Proper circulator location
The correct location for a circulator installed on a closed hot water heating system is the supply side of the boiler, not the return side. What is proper circulator location in a closed hot water heating system? Proper location means that the circulator “pumps away” from the boiler not back to the boiler.
Benefits from pumping away
When the circulator turns on and is moving the water away from the boiler, the pressure differential it develops will increase the system’s static pressure.When the static pressure is increased in the heating system the operation of higher radiators is improved tremendously. The results from pumping away are:
- prevention of high-temperature water flashing into steam
- elimination of air bubbles
- airless system
- no gurgling or sloshing noises
- no circulator cavitation
- no pump problems
- radiators three stories or more will heat up
What can you do?
If you have cold radiators on the third floor and hear gurgling and sloshing noise throughout your radiators at bedtime, a simple inspection will help you sleep better and stay warmer on those cold nights. Click to schedule a boiler inspection.
