connected load - kpc thanks
kpc, thank you for your info. After understanding what connected load means, I measured all my rad's. I have 16 rad's at different heights and sections, along with 8 baseboard heaters, in which I made a calculated guess on. When I added it all together, I came up with 265k sq. ft. My slant/fin heat loss was 194K BTU loss per hour. My boiler is 500K. One other note, if I use a set-back on my T-stat, say going from 62 to 68, this is what happens: Around 66, all my rads are hot, all the way across, even my baseboard heaters that some are 22 feet in length, in which all the data I have read about, says about a nine foot rule, for baseboard heaters. When the system is full of steam heat, and the traps (almost all replaced) have not opened yet to let the condensate return, the burner shuts off. I sat down by the boiler, drinking a few beers to watch this and take notes. It was evident to me, that the when my preesure hit 1.5 lbs. the burner shut down. Less than 60 seconds later, the burner came back on again, when the pressure dropped to about 1.2 lbs. This condition will continue, until my 68 T-sata is satisfied. I now have programmed my T-stat to never increase more than 3 degrees at a time. My water level never shuts down my burner, only the pressure control. I'm highly confident, that my boiler is oversized, especially for the fact this house has a coal shoot, and the pulley's are still above my boiler. I'm guessing when the original coal boiler was replaced, they put another big one in its place. Again, thanks for your help.
slantfin results
I completed a heat calculation loss, using the slantfin software. I included my basement, attic and garage,as my garage is heated, along with my two main living floors. I have a Mouat two-pipe steam system, 500K BTU boiler. My results were 194K BTU loss per hour. (4200 sq. ft home)I'm confident my data was correct, but was unsure about whether my all bick home is 4" or 8", but nevetheless, does not make a whole lot of significant difference, for my question. I appoligize for sounding stupid, but it sure looks to me that my boiler is oversized, and most likely the reason I have been having $900 plus gas bills the last three months. Now comes my question: Is there anything within reason, I could have done, to fix this issue, without replacing the boiler? Thanks in advance.
Sorry, I have no clue what you are asking
At what cost
You could improve your building envelope. But in the end it will be cheaper to install the right boiler for your needs. A short answer to a complicated question. Boilers arent really made to downsize and in this case its a 60% reduction.
you need to
measure all of your radiators for size....section by section. Check out this link... from the library...I wondered off the wall... http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=14
