Recent content by Nathan Davis

  1. Nathan Davis

    Life expectancy of old A/C

    That makes sense. I'll still go with a heat pump for backup in case my boiler ever goes out. Right now, the air handler is in the attic above the 3rd floor. I assume that it would still be OK to put it in a closet on the 3rd floor?
  2. Nathan Davis

    Life expectancy of old A/C

    You all have guessed partially right. It is indeed a 3-story + basement, nearly uninsulated masonry building, but heavily insulated in the 3rd floor attic, reflective film over storm windows, and a full 2-story of add-on porches that provide shade across the west side of the house. But it's NOT...
  3. Nathan Davis

    Life expectancy of old A/C

    OK. That's what I figured but I wanted a second opinion. So I need to go shopping. We have 4300 sq ft plus a basement, but the basement does not need cooling. But 4300 sq ft works out to over 800 sq ft/ton. I have lots of insulation in the roof, but my walls are 6" clay tile with veneer, so...
  4. Nathan Davis

    Life expectancy of old A/C

    I live in Springfield MO, and have a Rheem 5-ton central A/C. The system was first installed in 1994, but the compressor was replaced in August of 2005. I use the system for A/C only, not as a heat pump for the remainder of the year (The system is a heat pump, but it is wired only for cooling...
  5. Nathan Davis

    Adjust gas flow valve down for a boiler?

    Thanks for the info. Mine is indeed a masonry flue, so I just finished resetting the low temp to 140F (on Saturday, outside temp of 20F). However, I now notice that I cannot get the water temp to go above 175F, or below 155F, no matter the setting. That is, I have it set at the highest setting...
  6. Nathan Davis

    Adjust gas flow valve down for a boiler?

    I like your insights. Although everything is now designed as a 3 zone system, the 3rd zone is the basement and I have it set so that it will come on whenever either of the other two zones come on. So it is running more like a 2 zone system. I did that because we use the basement a lot, and so...
  7. Nathan Davis

    Adjust gas flow valve down for a boiler?

    Low temp is set at 170. high temp is set at 180, and economy is set at 2. My understanding is that the system increases the water temp by 10 degrees for each 30 minutes that it fails to meet the demand temp, which we set at 65F. It's a large house, so it takes about 90 minutes to reach 65F...
  8. Nathan Davis

    Adjust gas flow valve down for a boiler?

    I recently add an Aquastat 3200 and outside sensor to my Utica 200K Btu MGB boiler, and also replaced my SINGLE zone of 3" diameter hot water distribution pipes with a 3 zone system of 1-1/4 PEX pipe. This is a non-condensing boiler rated at 81% efficiency with a DOE rating of 165K Btu. The...
  9. Nathan Davis

    Repurpose a boiler combination gas valve for a gas fireplace?

    Thanks for the info. I suspected that it probably wouldn't work without an ignitor assembly of some sort, but was hoping otherwise. The valve has a single on/off lever that you can depress in the ON position, maybe to ignite a pilot? But I am unsure if the contacts marked M, C, and P will...
  10. Nathan Davis

    Repurpose a boiler combination gas valve for a gas fireplace?

    When I replaced my boiler about 10 years ago, I scavenged a Robertshaw 7200 IPER combination gas valve off of it. It has three terminals marked M, C, and P, and a ground terminal. The valve is marked LP, but it was used for natural gas. Now, I'd like to install a gas fireplace with a standing...
  11. Nathan Davis

    Boiler location in a basement closet?

    When I start to upgrade my boiler distribution system with new pex, I will need to connect to threaded connections at each of the existing registers. I've always used Rectorseal T+2 for threaded connections because it seals so well. However, I'm now wondering if the soft thread compound might...
  12. Nathan Davis

    Boiler location in a basement closet?

    And to the above considerations, I also add a 4th consideration: 4. I really dread trying to drill 1.5" holes and feed 1-1/4" pex through my basement ceiling joists-- I assume that it is fairly rigid. So I've thought of an alternative-- attach the pex to the bottom of the joists, and use 2 x...
  13. Nathan Davis

    Boiler location in a basement closet?

    I am getting fairly close to ordering parts to add an Aquastat 3200 and outside sensor to my Utica MGB boiler, and also to replace my SINGLE zone of 3" and 2" diameter hot water distribution pipes with a 3 zone system of 1-1/4 PEX pipe. This is a non-condensing boiler rated at 81% efficiency...
  14. Nathan Davis

    Boiler location in a basement closet?

    On a totally separate issue, I have noticed that my boiler system does NOT include a filter of any kind, and when refilling the system, I have NOT included any treatment. Since I'm going to either move the boiler and/or replace some of the lines, this would probably be a good time to address...
  15. Nathan Davis

    Boiler location in a basement closet?

    That's a fascinating option with a lot of potential. I remember that you mentioned it in an earlier post but I was too focused on replacing the entire system to follow up at that time. I just checked the boiler model and it is indeed a Utica MGB series, model MGB200HID. However, it has one of...
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