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[mrmopar22]

I appreciate everyone’s input on my air in the system dilemma.  But finding that piece of the puzzle has only made me feel that there is more missing. 
I have B&G 100 pumps on my boiler at work.  The maintenance guy told me that they were an "industry standard" and you couldn't beat them because would work in almost every application, so I used them on my wood boiler at home.  I have a friend with a wood boiler that has a B&G NRF-22 on it, which I thought looked way to small for what I was doing.  After all, it was only 1/25hp Vs. the 1/12 of the 100, certainly won't do the job.   

After educating myself on pumps and how to read the pump charts, now I am more confused than ever; but, In all of this I guess I found my minimum requirements.  I have read through the B&G website and compared/contrasted the pumps that are approximately the same in pump volumes and head pressures. 

My question is:    How can the B&G 100 compete with a pump the size of a softball, is half the hp, uses half the electricity, costs a quarter as much, and pumps the same amount of water @ equal head pressure?  I feel like I should sell all of 100's I have, including the ones at work, put these little pumps in their place and be further ahead.
What is the advantage of the 100 as the "industry standard"?  How come everyone doesn't use the smaller and more efficient pumps?  I feel like I've cheated myself,  but it's my own fault (especially after I just bought a brand new B&G 100 trying to solve the air problem  )

[mikenc]

? did you get your air problem solved? What did it end up being?

I have installed B&G pumps for years in commmerical applications. They do seem to be industry standard for commerical use. There are other manuf. of commerical pumps that work well but everyone seems to prefere B&G. They are expensive especially for res use.
Never installed many on res boilers.
 I have one in use on domestic HW only because it was given to me. When I installed my OWB i used Taco & Armstrong because of price and size.

[maine owb]

The thing with pumps is there is little guess work. Knowing the design and using the charts tells you what pumps you can use, often i would downsize rather than upsize if it is close. Here in New England the two biggest circulators are Grundfus and Taco. For most residential heating systems people go with a Taco 007 or 008 without checking the charts, if there is a problem they get a bigger one. But you should really use a chart. I use a Grundfus 3 speed circulator on my system. speed 1 = .55 amps, speed 2 = .67 amps, and speed 3 = .77 amps. These are small in size. I have a total of 150 feet of 1 and1/4" pex and my boiler is just about a foot higher than the circulator. I have run this pump on both medium and high settings and had no problem, this is enough to supply my 110,000 btu/h heat exchanger. If you use a chart it will say this pump is too small but i have used this for two years and it works well, cost $10/month to run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and was about $85 to purchase. Most all dealers recommend a much too large circulator and that is because they sell too small of pipe.

[willieG]

The thing with pumps is there is little guess work. Knowing the design and using the charts tells you what pumps you can use, often i would downsize rather than upsize if it is close. Here in New England the two biggest circulators are Grundfus and Taco. For most residential heating systems people go with a Taco 007 or 008 without checking the charts, if there is a problem they get a bigger one. But you should really use a chart. I use a Grundfus 3 speed circulator on my system. speed 1 = .55 amps, speed 2 = .67 amps, and speed 3 = .77 amps. These are small in size. I have a total of 150 feet of 1 and1/4" pex and my boiler is just about a foot higher than the circulator. I have run this pump on both medium and high settings and had no problem, this is enough to supply my 110,000 btu/h heat exchanger. If you use a chart it will say this pump is too small but i have used this for two years and it works well, cost $10/month to run 24 hours per day, 7 days per week and was about $85 to purchase. Most all dealers recommend a much too large circulator and that is because they sell too small of pipe.

maine are you coming up with about 7 feet of head loss and your pump giving about 10 to twelve gallons a minute?

what do you heat, i mean how many outlets or "appliances" or zones

did you calculate all the piping in the hosue ass well? also is your pump at the stove or in the house/ and does it make a difference where the pump is/

[maine owb]

I would have to look back at my info to see the feet of head loss I had. Circulators on a normal closed loop system work anywhere because of the 20 psi give or take the system has on it, but an open loop such as most outdoor wood boilers have no pressure on it and it is important where the circulator is located for the paddle to move water, these are not pumps as many people call them. My OWB runs through 150 feet of 1&1/4" pex through a heat exchanger that can remove 120,000 btu/h. My normal heating system is a closed loop system and takes heat from the heat exchanger as needed, the two systems are separate. I made sure to have my circulator in the house for ease of maintenance. But my wood boiler is just 12"-18" above my circulator, but it all works well.

[willieG]

i too put my pump in the house, my stove is 250 feet from the house (one way and only 1 inch pex al pex pipes underground) over 110 feet of 1/2 pex and about 70 feet of 3/4 copper with elbows and tees. these pipes feed domestic hot water, hot air furnace, a rad in an old fireplace and radiant floor heat. all this with a taco 0011 for 9 years i have never had a problem but i know my little pumps must be near its limits. my stove is (i am guessing a little) about 7 feet higher than my pump and 4 feet higher than any of my "appliances"

[juddspaintballs]

When calculating your total head, don't forget to include all fittings, valves, reducers, elbows, etc.  They all significantly add to your head calculation. 
http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploads/FileLibrary/SelectingCirculators.pdf

[boyland]

you can also oversize causing all kinds of issue if the water moves too fast your heat transfer stinks.  Proper sizing and speed are the keep to making these things work.

[juddspaintballs]

There's nothing wrong with going with an oversized pump and using a  fan speed control rheostat to turn it into a variable speed pump.  Too much pump, and you can turn the speed down until the water moves at an acceptable speed.  Too little pump, and you're stuck with either upgrading or adding a pump.