QUESTION FROM Ron

we have water circuit heat....it continues to run water thru the pipes for a long while (which can be heard in the baseboards of the rooms), before actually just working and warming the house like it should,when you cut hot water on the water heater makes a rattling sound like it isn't full could it just be my water heater on the blink and not my water circuit unit in all?....thanks for any info you can provide

ANSWER FROM POLICY-Wizard™

Dear Ron:

I suspect that the problems with your hot water heater and your baseboard heating system are not directly related.

Let's start with the problem you are having with your water heater first. Its a bit difficult to diagnose problems with a noisy water heater without actually hearing the sound and physically seeing when it is occurring, but here are a few thoughts which will hopefully be helpful for you. If you are hearing a rattling sound when you are running your hot water, then the problem with your water heater may be with check valve type nipples installed on the top of your water heater, if you have them. If you have them, they are a good have because they can save some energy, but they also can be very annoying.

On the other hand, the noise that you are hearing from your water heater could be the sound of boiling water caused by excessive build-up of sediment in the bottom of your tank. This sediment could be causing the bottom of your tank to overheat and water to boil, which could be the noise that you are hearing. The remedy for this is to routinely backflush your water heater as described on the "Water Heater" page of our online Maintenance Library:

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

Now, regarding your first problem, it sounds like your baseboard radiators are heating up fine, but you think that it is circulating water for too long before it actually heats up the baseboard radiators. Am I understanding you correctly? What I'm wondering is if whether the sound that you are hearing in your baseboard heating system pipes is the sound of trapped air that is circulating in with the water, and causing your system to operating inefficiently. If you haven't tried it already, I would suggest that you bleed all of the air out of your system.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

QUESTION FROM Concerned Tami

Hi my landlord switched my boiler from oil to gas, well ever since I started my heat my pipes and radiators are banging I did real a little about it. I dont know how to get the air out. BUT I S THIS DANGEROUS as I have 3 kids.

ANSWER FROM POLICY-Wizard™

Dear "Concerned Tami":

From what you've described, I suspect that the banging that you are hearing from your pipes and radiators is due to air that is trapped in the system that needs to be bled out.

You can read about how to bleed your radiators on the "Radiators" page of our online Maintenance Library:

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

And also, if it would help you to see a video demonstration on how to bleed air out of a radiator, you can see short video here: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1455704/how_to_bleed_a_radiator/

Assuming that it is just air trapped in your system, this is annoying and reduces the efficiency of your heating system, but it is not necessarily dangerous.

Home this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com