Help!
Like 200,000+ of our neighbors we lost power last Thursday. Fearing freezing of the heating system (4-zone, forced-hot water - baseboard radiators, McClain boiler, expansion tank, well-water supply) I opened the spigots on each of the zones and let them drain until the flow stopped. I only gathered about 2 gallons of water (clear - no apparent additives).
I know nothing about the system other than water in pipes freezes. The interior of the house is about 45 degrees right now and I expect that to remain relatively stable until it starts snowing Tuesday or Wednesday.
My question is: what will happen when the power comes back on? It appears there is a cold-water feed into the boiler, with a fancy valve (shut-offs on either side). I've read about bleeding the air from the system, but no clue as to where I would do that. I've also read it is difficult to "re-charge" forced-hot water systems - but again, no idea what that means.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
- Casey
Like 200,000+ of our neighbors we lost power last Thursday. Fearing freezing of the heating system (4-zone, forced-hot water - baseboard radiators, McClain boiler, expansion tank, well-water supply) I opened the spigots on each of the zones and let them drain until the flow stopped. I only gathered about 2 gallons of water (clear - no apparent additives).
I know nothing about the system other than water in pipes freezes. The interior of the house is about 45 degrees right now and I expect that to remain relatively stable until it starts snowing Tuesday or Wednesday.
My question is: what will happen when the power comes back on? It appears there is a cold-water feed into the boiler, with a fancy valve (shut-offs on either side). I've read about bleeding the air from the system, but no clue as to where I would do that. I've also read it is difficult to "re-charge" forced-hot water systems - but again, no idea what that means.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
- Casey