QUESTION FROM lampinbrenda

have a baseboard hot water heating system. The baseboards in the basement are cold or lukewarm. They do not seem to be circulating the water. I had the heating guy check it when he was servicing the system and he said the system was functioning properly. Is there a reason that the system would not put off heat in the basement?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear lampinbrenda:

Sorry that it has taken us so long to get back to you.

Here are a couple of thoughts on why the baseboards in your basement are not putting out much heat:

1) the zone could need to be bled of air. Here is a video which describes how your baseboard heating system works, and includes a tutorial on how to purge air from each zone of your system: http://www.home-wizard.com/Baseboard_Heating_101.asp

2) the thermostat controlling this zone may have gone bad.

3) your circulation pump for this zone may have gone bad and is not circulating enough hot water.

4) the check valve in this zone may be partially stuck, and is reducing the flow rate of hot water (you might be lucky enough to solve this problem with some raps on the valve with a piece of wood, NOT a hammer).

I hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

QUESTION FROM Erin

I have baseboard heat, and have not really had any problem with it, we came home this evening and notice that the actually boards were HOT to the touch. We didin't change the temp or anything. What could cause this?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear Erin:

If suddenly your baseboard heating system is letting your baseboard radiators get too hot, then the first thing that I would check is your thermostat.

I would suggest checking several things about your thermostat:

1) Is there an open window or something that could be allowing the thermostat to be too cool ("tricking" your thermostat into thinking that the room is cooler than it actually is, and therefore having your system run too long)?

2) Has someone accidentally switched your thermostat from its "automatic" setting to the "on" setting (even though the temperature setting may not have been changed)?

3) Has the thermostat gone bad?

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

QUESTION FROM Too Cold

My house is extremely cold. I have bled all the baseboards and the pipes are warm but not hot enough to heat the house. What should the water level and water pressure be?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear 'Too Cold':

The optimum water pressure in a typical baseboard heating system is a minimum of about 12 psi. And as far as the water level, your system should be purged of all of air out of it, except in your expansion tank. If you need the procedure for purging the air out of your baseboard heating system, you can find it in the "Question & Answer" section of our Baseboard Heating System webpage of our online Maintenance Library:

http://www.home-wizard.com/maintenance/baseboardheating.asp

If all of the baseboards in all of your heating zones are only getting warm and not hot, the problem may be:

1) if you have minerals built up in the bottom of you boiler, this can keep heat from adequately transferring from your burner. A service technician can try to flush out this layer of sediments for you.

2) if your expansion tank has become full with water and not enough air, and this causes your system to run at too high a pressure (over 20 psi). You can also find the procedure for draining your expansion tank on the same webpage mentioned above.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com