Hot water boiler question

[fc227]

Greeting's all,

Question , I have a old hot water boiler system with free standing cast iron radiators and cast iron base board radiators. The free standing radiators date back to before WWII and the base board radiators in the early 50's.

There is a about a 6' to 7' raise to the tallest radiator and with 2" dual black pipe delivery there is more water in the pipes than in the boiler. The boiler is ~ 20 years old (steel) and still in very good shape.

Two weeks ago I had to replace the plumbing to the tank-less heater to find the the tempering valve and had no more insides , it had corroded away , well after replacing the pipes and flushing the tank-less heater. I have better , hotter water than I ever had before because I did not use a tempering valve to mix cold water.

I am running the boiler @ low temp 130° to 150° . Of course after doing this I found the the fill valve (about 60+ years old ) , the regulator was stuck closed so after fiddling with it got unstuck , would set eh regulator to 10 psi , but over night it would creep up to 15 psi, so I would back off the adjustment drain a little off to get the system to 10psi and it would still creep up to 15#'s. So I shut off the fill valve , drain off more to get the pressure to 10# and the it held and is still holding ( I was concerned that the tank-less heater core was leaky , But thank you Jesus it was not.

So I got a caleffi regulator with attached back-flow valve 573009A
http://www.caleffi.us/en_US/Technical_brochures/01061/01061.pdf

My question is I want to keep the pressure low enough to be able to bleed the radiators ( I figure around 8 psi for the raise I need). But can I install this valve on the same pipe that feeds into the boiler (about 12" out from the boiler). this would be the easiest access to this . The valve is rated to work up to 150° f , But am I better off going more down stream to keep it cooler ?

I want to keep the pressure low because of the old pipes and some of the pipes are rusted , none are leaking and I would like to keep it that way.

Thank you , Guys !

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

i never had a problem with a pressure reducing valve being to close to the heat line.
I install them on the heat supply line (boiler out line) so that i won't be feeding cold water into the boiler.

I am sure you know this but i'll say it anyway, that old system is costing you big money to operate.
We did a conversion four years ago on a BIG two family house. It cost about $35K. But it reduced their heating bill from $1300.00 down to $400.00 plus now they have more heat and its evenly distributed. The system also went from a two zone to SEVEN zone.
anyway good luck and be gentle with them old pipes.

 

[fc227]

Thank you for the input , I use About 600 to 700 gallons a year plus we get are hot water off of it. The house is ~1200 square feet.

What did up grade to floor radiant ?

 

[fc227]

Feed it to the boiler out is a great idea , But I think I will leave the 60+ year old pipe be , although there is a a 1/2" NPT pipe on the boiler out side that goes to the expansion tank , but that would be a pain in the but to tap into.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

why not remove the one that is there now and install the new in its place?

 

[fc227]

The old one is a pain in the butt to get to , there are asbestos covered pipe that are in the way , etc . Near the boiler would be easier to get at when cleaning and expansion tank drain time comes. This is a 100 year old plus house.

 

[fc227]

What type of system did you convert too?

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

What type of system did you convert too?

i never had a problem with a pressure reducing valve being to close to the heat line.
I install them on the heat supply line (boiler out line) so that i won't be feeding cold water into the boiler.

I am sure you know this but i'll say it anyway, that old system is costing you big money to operate.
We did a conversion four years ago on a BIG two family house. It cost about $35K. But it reduced their heating bill from $1300.00 down to $400.00 plus now they have more heat and its evenly distributed. The system also went from a two zone to SEVEN zone.
anyway good luck and be gentle with them old pipes.

hot water to hot water

 

[BandAid]

I use About 600 to 700 gallons a year

What did you mean bye this,,general water ,sinks, toilette's,

 

[fc227]

Sorry , that is 600 to 700 gallons of heating oil We use in one year. Heating the house and getting the hot water for the house use also.

During the summer the boiler come on about every 3 hours and run's for ~ 4 minutes to keep it's temperature.

 

[fc227]

There is a 1/2NPT port on the expansion tank about 3" away from the other 1/2"NPT port where the boiler feed into the expansion tank . This empty port is psychically a little higher than the occupied port.

This tank is a ~ 30 gallon tank laying on it side between the joists (not a bladder tank). This I have easy access to. Do not know if that would be the proper way to do it.

The expansion tank is on the hot side of the boiler.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

There is a 1/2NPT port on the expansion tank about 3" away from the other 1/2"NPT port where the boiler feed into the expansion tank . This empty port is psychically a little higher than the occupied port.

This tank is a ~ 30 gallon tank laying on it side between the joists (not a bladder tank). This I have easy access to. Do not know if that would be the proper way to do it.

it would work and it shouldn't give you any problems
Make sure to put a shut off valve

House Water supply line, shut off valve, pressure reducing Valve, Boiler.
On that expansion tank set up you should also have a shut off valve to isolate the tank from the heating system for draining purposes, Make sure that you DO NOT install the pressure reducing valve in between the expansion tank and ITS shut off valve.

 

[fc227]

No , I would be tapping right into the tank it self.

And yes there is a shut off valve between the boiler and tank. SO you can drain the tank.

The Caleffi valve also has a shut off on it . It is the smaller knob on the bottom. But I will install a shut off before the Caleffi , this why when I close tank isolation valve and the shut off to the Caleffi , both the tank and the Caleffi will be isolated .

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

No , I would be tapping right into the tank it self.

And yes there is a shut off valve between the boiler and tank. SO you can drain the tank.

The Caleffi valve also has a shut off on it . It is the smaller knob on the bottom. But I will install a shut off before the Caleffi , this why when I close tank isolation valve and the shut off to the Caleffi , both the tank and the Caleffi will be isolated .

I would not do it that way.
I would re-pipe what ever needed to be re-piped.
Good luck.

 

[fc227]

I follow you , thank you.

 

[fc227]

It's installed . Thank god , only 2 minor leaks (repaired) (1 drop every 2 hours) .

I end up installing the valve near the boiler and re-piped back back to the the house water feed.

Ran out of Teflon tape , So My Wife pickup up some of that newer blue Teflon tape. That stuff it great.

 

[fc227]

Well , I though I had no leaks , I would really call this a leak ? more like a weep, But I had a couple drops out of the vent hole on the back flow preventer over night.

Boiler pressure @ 9 PSI , Inlet pressure between 30 -50 psi , Every thing else is dry .

The old over pressure relief valve did this , but it stopped on its own. (minerals in the water sealed it).

I can watch it and not see nothing it takes a long time for a drop to show. Dirt floor basement on ledge , every time it rains water come in one side and out the other.

I am am concerned about a little drip over night.