Hot Water Heat - Help Needed

[Red955i]

Hi....I have an older 2 family house. It was built in the 50's and is clearly not the best insulated which when combined with the old steel frame casement windows makes it drafty in the winter. The downstairs is 3 bedrooms, living room, dining room, bath (1250sf. 10 ft ceiling) plus it has a finished basement (1250 sf 8 ft ceiling). The upstairs is a one bedroom apartment. 850 sf 10 ft ceiling). Each has it's own Weil McLain CGM boiler. They are both the same CGM boiler that says 70000 BTU/HR then under it DOE 58000 BTU/HR...The downstairs I could never get toasty, but I have no problem getting to to 70 degrees with no plastic on windows etc. The upstairs, which used to be the same, I can no longer get warm. The furnace is set to 190 degrees. It heats the water to 190 then shuts off. I replaced the circulator. replaced all the air valves, bled the system. The house has convector style elements. An IR gun shows the elements at approximately 125 degrees. So I'm losing 65 degrees from boiler to element but they all seem to hold the 125 (I have no idea if this is good or bad) Temp in apartment shows 54 degree on thermostat, on separate thermometer and if aiming IR gun at walls and that's with the shrink film on all the windows. If it didnt previously gets to 70...and I didnt have the shrink film I might think it was all heat loss. But the fact that I have the same system operating a larger downstairs successfully, what could my problem be. PS I have not measured the downstairs element temps yet. That's my next step. Thanks Bob

 

[rizla01]

Have you considered UPVC Double Glazing?

 

[Chuck]

Your symptoms suggest that you have insufficient circulation in the upstairs system. Sludge due to corrosion is a common cause, particularly if the system is 'vented' (has a feed and expansion tank in the roof). If you have ruled out sludge, you need to recheck the circulator and for airlocks. It's not uncommon for amateurs to replace pumps with the wrong type, use the wrong settings, or fail to re-open the isolating valves fully.

And I'd agree with @rizla01 that you should try to get metal-framed windows replaced, if they're the ones I have in mind their thermal performance is shockingly bad.

 

[Alan Wright]

It could be that the hot water is not circulating fast enough around a central heating circulation loop.

This can be sorted with a radiator flow booster:

WRightChoice Radiator Flow Booster - WRIGHT Pumps - https://www.wrightpumps.co.uk/