Thread: Can you tell me what this is?

The following was a question/description referred to me.

"The grid is on the main level of my house and seems to have something to do with my boiler and the in-floor heating. There is a long ventilation pipe connected to the grid that goes to the outside and periodically the grid and the pipe make a noise when air is moving through it; it sounds like a tumble dryer is running but the pipe is cold. The top bar in the grid is warm, the bottom bar is cold.
This grid made little noise until about a year ago when a service person made some changes to my boiler.
What is this and should it make this noise?"



I think the description given is a little inaccurate.

Originally Posted by David Rolland

The following was a question/description referred to me.

"The grid is on the main level of my house and seems to have something to do with my boiler and the in-floor heating. There is a long ventilation pipe connected to the grid that goes to the outside and periodically the grid and the pipe make a noise when air is moving through it; it sounds like a tumble dryer is running but the pipe is cold. The top bar in the grid is warm, the bottom bar is cold.
This grid made little noise until about a year ago when a service person made some changes to my boiler.
What is this and should it make this noise?"

I think the description given is a little inaccurate.

Looks like hot water heating tube/fins to me. There should be no air in the loop and if there is, that is the cause of the noise.

If it is a loop (or part of a loop), both tubes should feel the same. Could be an air problem. Try bleeding the lines.

PS, There also may be a booster fan in there (but I don't see one), which could also be noisy, especially if the fan bearings are worn.

Thanks for the reply Steven.

Are you sure this is not an electric forced air electric resistance heater?

Expanding and contracting metal when heated can make noise.

I am not sure about anything in regards to the pic or description, although it does look like a copper tube with fins. The house in question is on the opposite site of the city otherwise I'd go have a look. I'm going to have a chat on the phone to draw out more info. Thanks for the input.