Help! Top floor condo heating problem

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jconnor1121

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I live in a top floor a 15 floor condo with our own thermostat. Usu the baseboard is too hot to touch, but this year there is very little heat. I called the super, he said air bubbles and drained it. Still little heat. He must have drain it five, six times. Finally, he called in a plumber who said our zone valve motor was bad and he replace it for $380! BUt guess what... no difference so the problem wasn't the zone valve.

Now I call the plumber he points to super and said air bubbles, it needs to be drained. Super drained it said there is no air bubbles and the water he drained is steaming hot. He claims there is nothing wrong with the boiler and imply we should just live with it. But I try to tell him it was really hot last year so something must have change. So I'm cold and $380 poorer! I am at a lost of what to do! Would appreciate any advice. Thanks!
 
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MaintenanceMan

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Has anyone tried bleeding air at your radiators?

Air will migrate to the highest point in a system. If it doesn't get trapped elsewhere that is.

You being at he top floor means you will inherently get most of the air.

Air bubbles doesn't necessarily mean it needs the water drained. It means they need to bleed the air.
 
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jconnor1121

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Thanks for your reply. Yes, the super bled it many times but still the same thing. He bled it at one location near the zone valve.
 

MaintenanceMan

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Thanks for your reply. Yes, the super bled it many times but still the same thing. He bled it at one location near the zone valve.

But the zone valve should be close to the boiler. Did he bleed any air out at the baseboard radiators themselves?
 

jconnor1121

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Thanks Maintenance Man.
Sorry, I am confused, I thought it was the same thing.
What the super did was attached a hose near the zone valve motor in the baseboard in our bedroom and drained out a large bucket of steaming hot water. and he said 'see no air bubbles and see how hot water is'. I am not sure what he or plumber did down in the basement. Would you happen to know how they control the heat to the whole building is there a main thermostat on the boiler?
 

MaintenanceMan

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Well, I'm not very familiar with the layout of your system. But it seems to me from what I am picturing by what you are saying, is that the Supper is draining a lot of hot water coming up from the boiler, but hasn't tried to bleed any air down line from that at the other baseboard radiators. Sometimes your only option is to bleed each and every radiator.
 

Gusherb94

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well i cant see your system from here but from your description it sounds like there is a central heating plant for the whole building and each condo has its own zone controlled by a zone valve and thermostat. you say the baseboard doesnt get as hot as it did last year? whats the temperature in your place compared to what the thermostat is set at, has it been like this all winter? is the thermostat constantly calling for heat but not ever warming up to the set temperature? it might not be air in your rads but rather something changed with the boiler controls? assuming each condo is zoned each with their own thermostat all the thermostats from the zones would be tied into a main zone control panel at the boiler that would on the call for heat from any one of the condos fire the boiler and send heat to the zone or zones calling for heat, thats how a zoned system normaly would work though im not sure how its setup, there might also be a flow restriction such as some debris could have gotten lodged in the zone valve.
 
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jconnor1121

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Yes, sadly all this winter and our thermostat is set to max but the temperature hovers around 67 or so. The super claims nothing has changed with the boiler settings and pressure is set at the maxium allowable psi. Also I asked around and it seems like other apartments on our side of the building are also low on heat.

Thanks gusgerb94 for explaining the zone system.
 

Gusherb94

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well it sounds like the problem is not on your end if other people arent getting much heat either. who pays the gas bill? does it get split up to each unit owner? its possible this year they turned down the output temperature on the boiler via the controls at the heating plant to lower the gas bill but also making everyone in the building cold.
 

Jadnashua

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SOrt of sounds like they may have turned the boiler water temperuature down.
 

jconnor1121

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Yes the gas is part of the monthly common charge The super showed me the pressure reading and its set to close to max of what is inidcated on a manufactuer's tag near it. Is there a separate setting for output temp? How r they related?
Thanks!!
 

Gusherb94

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the water pressure in the system has nothing to do with how much heat the boiler puts out, if the issue were the pressure in the system there would most likely be no heat at all for the whole top floor as there wouldnt be enough pressure to get the water to the top floor so i would say thats not your issue, i realy think they turned down the water temperature, ask the super what the water temperature is.
 

Gusherb94

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oh and yes there is a separate setting for the temp. the water pressure and the temp arent related, the water pressure is normally set just high enough to get to the top floor.
 

Jadnashua

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The water pressure needs to be high enough to prevent the water from boiling, otherwise, it has no effect at all. Now, the pump may be shot or there's air trapped in the system, or the pipes or valves are corroded restricting the flow; any of which could affect the ability to produce heat up there.
 
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