We have a boiler with a booster and it seems to be running Waymore just recently. I was reading posts between Jako17 and BitbyBit and the recommendation by Jako17 was to shut the boiler off for the summer. Is there somewhere I can at least turn it down or something? I would be glad to shut it off except our boiler heats our water. We have a well McLain gold boiler, So if anyone could be helpful I would appreciate it.
One last thing, could this be killing my electricbill? If this just keeps running? Electric
bill is over $400 every month. It used to be over $400 when all five of our children lived with us and they had 15 friends over all the time. We also had a hot tub and a swimming pool running. It’s the same now, the electric bill with four people living here, no hot tub And no pool. I have added photos of my boiler. This might help with some of the responses.
Replies
WOW, I would love To hear about this. I drive my car about once a month. I definitely want cheaper insurance!
What??????
Either you or a capable HVAC tech needs to determine why this is happening.
it is likely that one of the heating zones is calling for heat, or the relay that operates a pump has failed.
if this is so, and you also have air conditioning, it would be reasonable that the AC working to overcome the extra heat explains your high bill.
You should be able to feel the pipes that go from the boiler to the rest of the house and determine if hot water is circulating where it is not needed.
Thank you so much for responding. We don’t have central air, unfortunately. I need to ask a silly question. Are you talking about the pipes that are directly coming off the boiler? The ones for each zone?
Yes. the pipes from the boiler should be pretty easy to get to. both the runs from the boiler and the returns.
there will be some transfer of heat, but a clear difference when the pumps are operating and pushing through the zones.
The one that feeds the indirect water heater will be hot, more so when you use hot water.
the rest should be tepid, or warm at most in the summer. if one is hot, it is a clue.
I Felt all the pipes and the only one that you told me would be hot was hot. One strange thing, we have lived in this house for almost 15 years and the basement has always stayed cool. I’ve noticed that our basement has been unusually warm, even during the winter. Of course now in the summer it’s even warmer. It’s just not usual for our basement.
We’ve had a W-M boiler for over 30 yrs and at one time or another there’s been control problems. However it’s usually been a case of repetitive cycling without ignition. It’s power vented out the wall, so it’s the venting fan that runs, without boiler ignition. Some causes are the “mutha board” or the sensor that opens the gas valve for full ignition.
When we notice that it’s running (exhaust fan) but no full ignition, we shut it down (switch at boiler which cuts power) or by the breaker in the electric panel. After giving it time to reset ,about 15 minutes, we turn the power to the boiler back on. This usually corrects the problem and it runs fine.
We also heat our water with a zone that heats it in a stand-alone tank. There’s a thermostat on that tank to regulate tank water temp.
On rare occasion something screwy might happen in any old contact type thermostats....oxidation, spider web, other..... so I turn the thermostat setting back and forth or remove cover and look for some sort of gunk. On rarer occasion, this fixes a call for hear problem.
Since we don’t need heat in the summer, we turn those thermostats all the way down.
So, even tho the boiler seems to run, check the burner to be sure that there was ignition and maybe verify what’s calling for heat in your various zones by shutting all thermostats down and turning on individually till you find the goofy one. Please also check the trouble shooting guide in the boiler manual. Unlike many appliance manuals, W-M’s gives you pretty extensive Info and direction.
If totally cornfused, call a qualified technician. Best of luck.
WOW! Thank you so much! That’s extremely detailed information and very appreciated! I will also try your ideas.
Using the boiler to heat domestic hot water is wasteful unless the boiler is also being used to heat the house. Before on demand water heaters were available I put a timer box on the furnace circuit so that it only heated water when we usually used it ie: after work and in early morning. This worked well for us for years. We also have 5 children and they all moved out in the same year. Electric bill decreased 80%! Gas fired on demand water heater is the way to go.
Thank you very much! We also have five children and they have all moved out. Our electric bill is still $400 a month and we no longer run the hot tub or the pool. I will see if I can figure this out also!!!
Your W-M Gold "water heater" is a storage tank, indirectly fired. This means the water is heated by the boiler - a separate unit. The boiler is what is firing up too often , correct?
Is the boiler electric, oil or gas fed/ powered? If oil or gas, the $400 electric bill is caused by something else. I don't think a recirculating pump will use $400 of electricity/ month, but as an experiment, you can disable it, but then you'll have to wait a minute or so to get hot water at the tap if it hasn't been recently used.
Frankie
Thank you Frankie, we do have oil. Thank you very much for responding. I was wondering, if I disable it, I will still be able to get hot water? I’m really sorry but If I do disable it, do I have to start it up again to get the hot water? I know I should probably leave this up to my husband but he’s not that helpful around the house. LOL I find myself doing everything. I even repaired my dryer! LOL!
Hi Katiebell - that all depends on the setup. There are on-demand boilers (similar to newer on-demand water heaters) that provide both space heating and domestic hot water. A separate storage tank is not required for these systems, though setups like Frankie described are also common. With either the setup Frankie described or a regular on-demand boiler (like I have - also a Weil-McLain oil-fired boiler), the boiler needs to stay on year-round in order to have hot water for showering, etc. Like Frankie said, the $400 electric bill is unusually high. I'd follow Calvin's advice and call a technician. Annual cleaning/service of these units is a good idea to ensure you have hot water when you need it. Most people tend to call for service only when the unit's malfunctioning.
We recently had someone add a new water tank because we could never have a hot shower and our water pressure was absolutely horrible. I added a few photos so you could see my setup.
We definitely have our Boiler cleaned every year. Thank you for your help. I agree with you, we are going to have to call a technician.
Don't disable the boiler. That's not the problem and it'll prevent hot water being made. Something else in the house is using electricity - a lot of it.
No window AC?
If not, go room by room, outlet by outlet and see what is using power. Go to the main panel and write down all the breaker feeds. Does any of them suggest massive loads like "Garage Floor Heater"?
Frankie
Yes, we have four window Air conditioners
quick thought is to have someone watch the meter w/ all 4 a/c units on and then turn them off one at a time and see how the wheel slows down as each one is turned off - then do it the other way with all off, and turning on one a/c at a time to see which one causes the wheel to spin "the fastest" - should give you an idea of which one is drawing the most electricity
good luck
WOW! Great idea. I was wondering if some of the air conditioners are just old. Probably why I was concerned about the boiler was because I didn’t think it was running too much. I did also notice some oil on top of the oil tank. Is that normal? I do see a bit of corrosion to on my boiler and the booster
you can also get a kill a watt
https://www.amazon.com/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q
And measure the electricity use of those window units. (and other devices you plug in)
One thing to check is that they all are clean. the outside fins need to be clean, as does the filter inside. either one can turn a window AC into a watt waster.
if the boiler runs more than it used to, it is likely that the folks who installed the new indirect water heater set it up to do so.
Thank you, we do clean the filters but I haven’t clean the outside of fins. I will do that. I will also check with my son who has the third floor walk up and make sure he is doing the same.
Kill-a-Watt is a cheap and easy tool to use and confirm it's the window AC units.
Old ones are less efficient and dirty ones are the worst.
If you have an issue with water pressure, ask your plumber to install a self-sensing inline pump. Set it to a reasonable pressure. Increase in 5# increments/ week until you're happy. Too much pressure can stress the pipe joints though. Plumber should have a good idea what your pipes can handle.
Frankie