Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Get help with Boilers & Radiant Heat
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Call (325) 219-0005Repairing and replacing hot water and steam boilers and the radiators, baseboard and radiant floors they feed, from pressure and circulator problems to trapped air, leaks and boilers at the end of their service.
01Boilers
Water, air and pressure explain most boiler trouble. These signs show which is out of balance.
Trapped air is the usual reason a hot water radiator stays cold at the top, while a whole zone going cold points at a circulator pump or zone valve. On a steam system, a stuck radiator vent or poorly pitched pipe can keep steam out.
A leaking valve, fitting, pump seal or radiator is the most common source, though water can also come from the relief valve or from the boiler itself. Finding which it is decides whether this is a small repair or the start of a replacement conversation.
Gurgling in a hot water system usually means air in the pipes. Banging in a steam system is often water trapped where steam is trying to pass. A rumbling boiler can mean scale on its heating surfaces, which makes the water flash to steam in pockets.
Pressure that keeps dropping points at a leak somewhere in the system. Pressure that climbs when the boiler heats often means the expansion tank has lost its air cushion or the fill valve is letting in too much water.
The relief valve opens to release pressure the boiler should not be holding. It is doing its job, and the question is what drove the pressure up, most often a failed expansion tank or an overfeeding fill valve.
02Hot water or steam
The two kinds of boiler look similar and work very differently, and each has its own common faults.
The boiler heats water that a circulator pump pushes around a closed loop of pipes, radiators, baseboard or floor tubing and back again. An expansion tank absorbs the swelling of the water as it heats. Pressure, pumps, zone valves and trapped air are where problems usually start.
The boiler boils water, and the steam rises through the pipes to the radiators, gives up its heat and runs back down as water. The water level in the boiler is critical and is watched by a sight glass and a low-water cutoff. Radiator vents, pipe pitch and water level cause most complaints.
Boilers & Radiant Heat
Serving Abilene, TX.
03How it holds together
A hot water system stays healthy when its water stays put, its pressure stays steady and its air stays out.
An automatic fill valve keeps enough water in the loop, the expansion tank gives heated water room to grow, and air vents and radiator bleed valves let out the air that collects at high points. When the expansion tank loses its cushion, pressure spikes each time the boiler fires and the relief valve opens. When the loop leaks, the fill valve quietly replaces the water and the damage hides.
Radiant floors run on cooler water than radiators and warm up slowly, so they suit steady settings rather than large swings. A technician reads the pressure and temperatures, listens for air and checks the pump, the tank and the relief valve before deciding what the system needs.
04Repair or replace
Pumps, valves and tanks are replaced on their own. The boiler itself is a larger decision.
A failed circulator, a waterlogged expansion tank, a worn zone valve, a leaking radiator valve or a faulty control can each be replaced while the boiler carries on. These repairs often restore a system whose radiators and piping are still in good order.
A cracked cast-iron section, a leaking heat exchanger or heavy corrosion inside the boiler usually ends its service. A replacement is sized to the building rather than the old unit, and a high-efficiency condensing boiler needs its own drain and venting, while steam systems are almost always replaced with another steam boiler.
None of this repairs the boiler. All of it keeps people clear of gas, scalding water and wet electrics.
Leave the building straight away without switching lights, appliances or the thermostat on or off, and without lighting any flame. Call the gas utility or 911 from outside, away from the building.
Water or steam from the relief valve can scald. Keep people away from it, leave the valve and its pipe exactly as they are, and switch the heat off at the thermostat.
If water is pooling around the boiler, keep people and pets away from it where it is near outlets, cords or the boiler controls, and leave anything electrical that is wet untouched.
05Questions
In a hot water system, air collects at the highest point of a radiator and keeps water from filling it. Bleeding the radiator lets that air out, after which the system pressure is checked, since releasing air can lower it. Air that keeps coming back suggests something is drawing it in or a leak is being topped up with fresh water.
A hot water system is sealed, so pressure that falls over and over means water is escaping, from a fitting, a radiator valve, the relief valve or the boiler. The fresh water that replaces it brings in oxygen and minerals, which slowly corrode and scale the system, so finding the leak matters.
Not by default. Many older boilers were larger than the building needed, and insulation or window upgrades since may have lowered the need further. A new boiler is sized from a heat loss calculation of the building and the radiators or floors it feeds, not from the label on the old one.
What the system is doing, when it started, what the thermostat is set to and what it reads, and whether the outdoor unit is running. The age of the equipment and a photo of its label help a technician arrive prepared.
If it smells of burning, is leaking water, or the outdoor unit is humming without its fan turning, yes: switch it off at the thermostat. A system that runs but does not keep up can usually stay on until it is looked at.
Lone Star Cooling and Heating
Call Lone Star Cooling and Heating, have us call you, or describe the issue.
Prefer to talk?
Call (325) 219-0005