Hot water steam heating. Clunk, clunk, rattle and roll in your home or apartments' heating pipes in the wall. Steam hot water heat may be noisy and a bit less convenient yet it sure tops the list in terms of economical heat and heating in the cold of winter. Yet few do the standard routine maintenance of hot water heating systems. And then these "experts" why they have high repair costs from home furnace repair tradespeople. And on top of that noisy and gurgling pipes. It is not very difficult or time consuming to maintain your water heating system or systems. And on top of that if your systems are professionally maintained upgrades can be worked in the process as well.
Rule number one is in the fall time, or late summer have the radiators and / or convectors drained or "bled" thoroughly of heating fluid coolants. At the same time practice number two is to have the circulatory pump lubricated. As a choice for simple lube jobs heating trades professional and heating engineers and plumbers recommend the use placing a few drops of oil - Number 20 electric motor (non-detergent) oil is the recommended professional grade. The oil should be squirted or applied to both oil cups - that is at either end of the pump apparatus and as well on the top of what is referred to as the "bearing assembly" or assemblies in the areas between the pump and motor bodies.
Next in line are the periodic and routine checks that any home owner, or maintenance engineer should perform. This is accomplished routinely by examining the standard format gauge which measures water pressure and pressures overall. These measurement devices - that is the pressure gauges can usually be found prominently mounted on either the front or side areas of your boiler or boilers.
What is a reasonable run of the mill pressure that is considered "safe" or at least "ok"? Water pressure measurements are not static or standard. The person or maintenance expert who is taking the measurement must always take into account the temperature of the water and its expansion. Acceptable cool water temperature water pressures of 3 lbs per inch are fine, yet this system when hot, in the middle of the cold January winter season could well register 30 lbs per square inch measurement due to expansion that occur to a liquid when heated.
Regardless, regular maintenance of hot-water heat and heaters is not a convenient option - it is mandatory and routine. Count on it.
