How significant is air in boiler pipes?

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DIYer101

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I've got a boiler with no air vent and there is air in the lines (Weil McLain natural gas for baseboard hot water heating).

Supposedly that reduces efficiency, and I'm wondering if it's a major drag or just a little nuisance.

I've been having a lot of plumbing work done lately so I'm trying to slow down spending, but it's been a cold winter and the heat bill has gone up. If there's a significant improvement in heating by getting the air out, I guess I should do it.

Where I used to live (an apartment), I bled the air out of the ends of the baseboards myself. But I'm scared of those tiny air-bleed caps and have heard they're easy to break. I really don't want a water problem.

Regarding the heat bill, it's probably an extra $100/month this winter (over summer months) for about 1800 square feet in a drafty house. I do like to keep it warm... but I just got a little space heater for more focused heat.
 

Jadnashua

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Probably the biggest issue with air in the pipes is that given enough (and it isn't all that much), it can prevent the circulator from moving the hot water, and thus keep one or more radiators from producing heat at all. If one near your thermostat isn't getting heated, the thermostat will make things run longer so that it heats that area from other, overheated ones.
 

DIYer101

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Probably the biggest issue with air in the pipes is that given enough (and it isn't all that much), it can prevent the circulator from moving the hot water, and thus keep one or more radiators from producing heat at all. If one near your thermostat isn't getting heated, the thermostat will make things run longer so that it heats that area from other, overheated ones.
Thank you. Now that you mention it that's exactly what used to happen at the apartments - some people/rooms wouldn't get any heat until the lines were bled.

Thanks again.
 
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