So I have a 2 story 1968 colonial that had no insulation. I've gutted both bathrooms upstairs. Put in insulation and pipe insulation in those rooms. Back of the first floor has an addition. That room is insulated. Basis of the house is baseboard hot water heating from an oil burner. When we lost power a few years ago I put in the Oslo stove. When the temps are 20+, the stove handles the whole house - upstairs included. When the temps are in the single digits, I need the baseboards for upstairs. But I can heat the firsr floor just fine with the stove. My problem is this: I now have baseboard heating pipes in uninsulated exterior walls. If I don't use them, I'm afraid they will freeze, even though it's 75 in the room. Does anyone else have this problem? Hopefully you have a solution. Cheers, Goose
Since you do not have a location on your avatar, its hard to understand how bad you are being hit weather-wise. Either way, if it is sub-zero you will need to keep that water circulating thru those loops no matter what. The last house I had was a hot water baseboard set-up and a complete PITA. Between zone valve problems and playing with circulator pumps it required way too much time. Glad I now have forced air duct work. Better yet, glad I have 2 wood stoves.
Hey Goose Raybonz just had a thread that may help you with this. Thermgard http://firewoodhoardersclub.com/for...t-pipe-and-paying-it-forward.2027/#post-45837
Yes you should be concerned.. I had one heat pipe freeze and burst and had hot water running in the inside and outside on the 2nd floor to the 1st floor.. Lots of fun dealing with that! Thought I was done with this problem and with all the cold we've had this year had upstairs freeze recently and fortunately didn't burst.. Forum member 343AMC generously sent me the Thermguard he wasn't using and as I type this it circulates hot water for 5 mins. every 2 hrs.. If this gizmo ever failed I would buy another as it is far easier and cheaper than a burst pipe! Here is the link to their site: http://www.bearmountaindesign.com/ Good Luck! Ray
It circulates hot water? So the boiler has to come on? Wouldn't it suffice to just circulate the water?
The boiler hardly runs for this purpose and the little heat it does produce is beneficial.. There is a switch on the Thermguard to turn it off when the temps are milder like in the teens etc. I have a tankless coil so I maintain water jacket heat at the low limit setting of the triple aquastat..
Thank you very much for this info. $70 seems like a steal. I couldn't even get a plumber to knock on the door for that price. I'll definitely be ordering one.
I had antifreeze put into my system to insure I don't freeze up. Been the coldest winter in the house yet. No problems. I think it was glycol based. Heat never kicks on with both stoves running.
The glycol upgrade should solve your problems, I manage a property where the boiler is in a greenhouse in the yard and the system feeds the air handler to the house. I remember wondering how it might ever freeze and then found out about the glycol in the system. On another note, the greenhouse is fairly warm and I have used it to grow tomatoes until December and start plants in it next month, nice.
Adding glycol can be expensive and in my opinion it's good for the boiler to get a little exercise too.. I use my boiler for hot water but I want to be sure it works for heat if needed.. I have heard that glycol can cause issues with seals as well and if you ever need to service your system the glycol has to be added back in.. Something to think about.. The Thermguard costs very little to operate and it will only be needed in severe cold which isn't that often where we live.. There is an on/off switch on the Thermguard which will be off most of the time.. This is by far the simplest and easiest cost effective solution.. Ray
Ray, A few questions if you don't mind. Did you have multiple zones? Did you wire at the tstat or back at the boiler board? I want to wire it at the boiler. Thank you again for the hardware info. I'm ordering right after I get your real world experience.
I have 2 zones but only concerned with upstairs zone because pipes jog out then back in. I wired at the T-stat because I can see it working and turn it on or off as needed.. You can do it at the furnace if you prefer..
