first boiler and questions!

First thing I did was install smart thermostats (i like ecobees). That way, I could monitor the house temperatures remotely and get alerts if temps drop suggesting the system has failed. I also bought a wifi temp sensor (

As for insulating the pipes, it's never a bad thing but hard to say if it's worth it. Typically, the fiberglass pipe insulation is too expensive relative to savings you gain after installing it. However, the black foam is pretty cheap and will insulate to some degree. Whether its worth the time/cost depends really on your system (how long are the runs and how exposed are they).

Running circ 24/7 isn't really necessary. If you have a low limit on your boiler, like PJ said, you will continue to heat your house by doing this. Alternatively, once you have a smart stat, you can monitor and get a feel for how often your system runs. I know that if temps are <40F, my zones will usually cycle on at least once a day to heat the home to 50F, which is good enough for me.

Boiler settings are also hard to save. 170F is likely a good set point for your baseboards. One way to improve savings and comfort when home is to install an outdoor reset, like the

When I am home, my boiler maintains 160F for domestic hot water and 180F max with an ODR for heating control. I set the house around 70F. When we leave for a week, I set the house back to 62F. When we leave for more than a week, I set the house back to 50F and turn off the low temp on my boiler (making it cold start. this is specific to me because I used a tankless coil in my boiler for hot water). I continue to let the ODR pick the boiler temps based on the outside temperature. I also monitor house temps and crawl space temps to make sure everything stays well above freezing.

I do recommend you get to know your system before trying too much. For example, you might find setting the house to 50F could result in some area in the house that is poorly insulated/far from a radiator/far from a thermostat to drop well below 50F. This could possibly result in pipes freezing and might mean you need to always maintain 55F or something higher to keep that area warm enough.

Also, if you are going to be away from the house for a short time (like just a week), don't set the temperature back too far. All of your furniture etc hold temperature and help keep spaces warm. If you let them cool down too much and don't give them sufficient time to warm before returning to the house, it will feel cold and uncomfortable for the weekend you are there. If I set my house down to 50F, I will program the temp back up to 62F a few days before we plan to head there. The morning before we arrive, I will turn it back up to 68F. If I leave the stats at 50F until we get there and turn the temperature back up to 70F, the house will continue to feel chilly since all the furniture and surfaces haven't had time to absorb any heat back.

hope this helps. good luck.

Hi, Thever. I similarly have a summer home that is year-round and we visit only 1-2 weekends a month in the winter time. Most of the house is situated above unconditioned crawl space or ~4ft basement. All of our plumbing (DHW, hydronic heat, waste) run through the unconditioned space and most is not insulated. Our heating system does contain antifreeze (glycol; can't remember the concentration) in case the system fails in the winter. You should consider adding glycol, just know it reduces system efficiency and needs to be replaced every 3 or so years (it degrades and becomes corrosive to the system). I actually plan to remove the glycol because (1) I will have early warning if there is a system failure and can hopefully react quickly enough to fix and (2) a lot of other plumbing runs alongside the hydronic lines, so if the heat fails, and there's a freezing risk, I'm in trouble either way.First thing I did was install smart thermostats (i like ecobees). That way, I could monitor the house temperatures remotely and get alerts if temps drop suggesting the system has failed. I also bought a wifi temp sensor ( here ) to keep in the crawl space. Our crawl space is dug down 2-4ft below grade, so even if its 20F outside, the space has never dropped below 48F. I am not sure if your crawl space is at or below grade but if you get the temp sensor, you might be find that it stays warmer than you would have thought.As for insulating the pipes, it's never a bad thing but hard to say if it's worth it. Typically, the fiberglass pipe insulation is too expensive relative to savings you gain after installing it. However, the black foam is pretty cheap and will insulate to some degree. Whether its worth the time/cost depends really on your system (how long are the runs and how exposed are they).Running circ 24/7 isn't really necessary. If you have a low limit on your boiler, like PJ said, you will continue to heat your house by doing this. Alternatively, once you have a smart stat, you can monitor and get a feel for how often your system runs. I know that if temps are <40F, my zones will usually cycle on at least once a day to heat the home to 50F, which is good enough for me.Boiler settings are also hard to save. 170F is likely a good set point for your baseboards. One way to improve savings and comfort when home is to install an outdoor reset, like the Tekmar 256 Outdoor Reset . The ODR will adjust the boilers target temperature to something suitable to heat the home based on the outside temperature. This means that on mild days, your boiler will only heat to maybe 160F. This will save money and, if you are home, will feel more comfortable.When I am home, my boiler maintains 160F for domestic hot water and 180F max with an ODR for heating control. I set the house around 70F. When we leave for a week, I set the house back to 62F. When we leave for more than a week, I set the house back to 50F and turn off the low temp on my boiler (making it cold start. this is specific to me because I used a tankless coil in my boiler for hot water). I continue to let the ODR pick the boiler temps based on the outside temperature. I also monitor house temps and crawl space temps to make sure everything stays well above freezing.I do recommend you get to know your system before trying too much. For example, you might find setting the house to 50F could result in some area in the house that is poorly insulated/far from a radiator/far from a thermostat to drop well below 50F. This could possibly result in pipes freezing and might mean you need to always maintain 55F or something higher to keep that area warm enough.Also, if you are going to be away from the house for a short time (like just a week), don't set the temperature back too far. All of your furniture etc hold temperature and help keep spaces warm. If you let them cool down too much and don't give them sufficient time to warm before returning to the house, it will feel cold and uncomfortable for the weekend you are there. If I set my house down to 50F, I will program the temp back up to 62F a few days before we plan to head there. The morning before we arrive, I will turn it back up to 68F. If I leave the stats at 50F until we get there and turn the temperature back up to 70F, the house will continue to feel chilly since all the furniture and surfaces haven't had time to absorb any heat back.hope this helps. good luck.

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Well, it finally got warm enough in upstate NY that I know I won't need to turn the heat on again....

I did a search with no luck since everyone is talking about A/C this time of year.

We are going to replace the ancient oil-converted-to-gas monster with something smaller and more efficient.

We have an sq foot cobblestone in upstate ny with baseboard radiators.

We are planning to split the single zone into at least 2, maybe three zones. Luckily the piping is already split that way so there is no major plumbing to be done.

The contractor worked with my father for many years and so far has treated us well with adice, repairs, and installations on other items in our house including the water heater and no-vent space heaters so I expect good advice from him going forward as well.

He is advocating copper bottom boilers from Teledyne and/or Lochinvar rather than a cast iron boiler from Crown.

Does anyone have any experience with the copper boilers as far as longevity and reliability? Are these sound manufacturers?

He rough quoted a price of $ to $ for the boiler installed depending on the unit needed. I will be removing the dinosaur.

Any thoughts on these units?

Thanks

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