Pressure Test

I spent last night working on our Central Heating System. I capped the pipes I cut and filled the system with water.

As you will recall, the pipes are part of the heating system in the house, which is a gas fired boiler attached to a network of radiators. I cut the pipes that used to feed the radiator in the upstairs bathroom because we removed that radiator. In its place, I installed an electric wall heater with a programmable thermostat. That way, we can set the thermostat to turn on the heat at 5:30 AM and the bathroom will be all warmed up when we go in to use it.

We are trying to get away from using the main furnace as much as possible. We will use it to keep the house at 60 degrees, thereby preventing the pipes from freezing. We will use our various space heaters to heat the rooms we actually occupy. The hope is that we can avoid the $400.00 a month heating bills we got last winter.

So, I capped the pipes in the basement where I cut them. I used these plastic fittings that snugged over the pipe end and then sinched down around a rubber sleeve as they are tightened. So far, they are working fine. I filled the system with water and there are no leaks coming from the caps.

The next test will be when I turn on the gas and actually heat the system up. Then I will find out how well these PVC fittings work.

I would like to add that we are now up to September 20th without the main heat turned on. I am hoping to make it to the end of the month.