First-World Problems (Stupid Homeowner Edition)...

Can you guess which valve position is optimal? And which causes all sorts of weird stuff that does not make for a nicely heated home?

There are a bunch of these valves all over my radiant heat system, mostly to isolate loops so that they can be flushed or worked on. Which is exactly what I was doing recently. But In my haste to restart the system for the final phase of the maintenance, I neglected to open that last valve. In my defense it was hidden behind some other stuff, but mostly it was because I was not methodical in opening the valves the way I was methodical in closing them. And for that I have no excuse other than...SQUIRREL!

That closed valve redirected the flow of hot water to a loop whose pump was not powered, but the pressure pushed enough hot water past the pump to heat the loop. So I had the fascinating problem of a room getting damned warm even though the thermostat was not sending a "heat" signal.

My troubleshooting was rational, but still, it took awhile before I checked the valves, since I never would have guessed that the main pump was powerful enough to charge the entire system with hot water.

But before I discovered the real problem I beclowned myself with a particularly stupid theory that my contractor shot down. Politely. What he should have said, was, "Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it."

posted by CBD at 02:00 PM

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