Heating Help

Air Conditioning

@ February 9, 2010 9:50 PM in Steam history question

Growing up in Kentucky, I believe that it was air conditioning that reduced the amount of hydronic systems installed.  Paducah, the city I grew up in had a large building boom in the early fifties when an uranium enrichment plant was built near town to produce fuel for  "the bomb".  Many of the engineers at the plant built custom and expensive houses in town, many with in-slab radiant heat.  When a/c came into wide use in the south, mid-to-late 1960's the same class of people built expensive houses with forced air air conditioning. Why put in two systems.  When the radiant slab heating systems failed, many of these houses were retrofitted with all air systems.  My family is in the construction business, and I have only seen one new house with hydronic heat in the last 30 years.
When I added air conditioning to my 1915 Kentucky house, most of the contractors wanted me to abandon the hydronic heating system with recessed convectors and rely on gas furnaces.  No one wanted to service the boiler.  I replaced my somewhat ancient Severn boiler and could not have been happier.  I now live in the former "steam town" of Bellows Falls, VT and almost every house has steam, even those built late in the 1950's.  I think this may be because the dead men around town were used to steam from all the mills.

Vaporstat model number

@ September 26, 2008 11:22 AM in Vaporstat model number

Can anyone tell me the appropriate model number for a one pipe steam vaporstat. I have read Dan's books and would like to have my Pressuretrol that has the lowest cut out at three pounds replaced with a vaporstat. Oil tech doing yearly service looked at me like I was crazy. Currently the pressure at its lowest closes most of the vents before the radiators get hot. I'm in S Vermont. Thanks Chris

Water Heater

@ December 29, 2007 6:11 PM in WATER HEATER/BOILER COMBO

Try a Baxi Luna boiler with Modulo indirect water heater

DownFiring One pipe steam

@ October 31, 2007 8:25 PM in Down Firing

I took the EDR of my radiation and calculated that my boiler is approximately 60 percent oversized for my load not including the pickup factor. The boiler is a weil and I cannot find a model number on it. It appears to be about 25 years old, one clue to its age might be that it has a weil flame retention burner. My question is would it make sense to downfire the boiler when the tech comes tommorrow? One pipe steam, .5-1.5 lbs, new Gorton #2 vents 95% insulated. Part # the near boiler return and header are not insulated within 4' of the boiler, is it worth insulating? Thanks, Chris

@ October 31, 2007 7:51 PM in Air Vents or Steam Whistles

I have Dole adjustable vents from the 1960's that are quite noisy also. They all seem to be working properly and the main vents were replaced last year with Gorton #2 vents based on help fron the Wall. They radiator vents were boiled out in vinegar last year which improved their operation. I believe that the noise may be the nature of the beast with this type vent.

Boiler for very small peak load

@ July 17, 2007 9:16 AM in Need suggestions 14000BTU peak load

I need to find a wall hung heating appiance that can produce a peak heating load of 14,000 BTU for a series of small superinsulated retirement condos in Vermont. This unit would also produce DHW. The unit will be mounted in utility closets over the washing machine. Also I need some ceiling radiant panels for over sliding glass doors in the same project. I'm worried about finding equipment that is not oversized for the load. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks, Chris

@ June 26, 2007 7:49 PM in Heating Super-insulated houses

> I agree with constant circ, but here you might be
> able to use setback to an advantage. higher ramp
> up temps in morning could give the feel of "warm
> floors", maybe a short ramp up in the evening
> too. then ramp down to normal floor temps to
> prevent large over swing.

These units are year used year-round. The owners are mainly older. Thanks for the suggestions. I meet with six of the owners tommorrow. The heating solution may be wall hung boilers in the bathroom in most units. Rinnai in others. Chris

Heating super insulated houses

@ June 19, 2007 11:35 PM in Heating Super-insulated houses

I'm an architect working on a project that is basically a semi-detached condo building in Southern VT, near the Mass border. It is in the late planning stage. Each unit is roughly square and is approximately 1500sf. The walls are SIP Panels (R-40) and the roof is (R-60). The foundation is insulated slab on grade. The Owners of the complex hired a heating expert that recommended against radiant floor heating due to slow responce. It was suggested that rinnai units be used as point source heating. Several owners want to heat with decorative vented gas stoves. One wants electric baseboard due to allergies. To complicate matters, several owners have asked to convert their utility rooms into living space. I'm investigating flat panel radiators and TRV's as well as propane wall hung boilers. The proposed solution for domestic hot water is one gas instantaneous heater per unit, located in the bathroom. I worked on a hotel project several years ago using electric instantaneous heaters which did not work very well and were replaced. Each unit will have a HRV system. Any suggestions?

clarifications

@ February 6, 2007 8:43 PM in New to steam question part 1.

Most of the removal of the radiators was for furniture placement I think. The radiator in the second floor bath is also missing, my guess is someone didn't enjoy burning their bum while standing at the sink. The valves go clink-psss-clink every steam cycle they are only slightly annoying but do not spit steam. How would you pipe both a coil booster and a radiant zone? Thanks, Chris

lots of Steam system questions

@ February 6, 2007 6:01 PM in New to steam question part 1.

This is my first winter in a steam heated house. 1912 one pipe steam system with approx 25 year old weil boiler burning at 78% eff. Historicaly, 2500 sf housein Southern Vermont uses 1100 gallons of oil a year (reasonably insulated). Currently the domestic water is heated through tankless coil no problems with low pressure etc. Thanks to steamhead I got the correct size Gorton vents to replace dole #4 main steam vents. The pressuretrol is set at its lowest settings Question #1 Would an indirect water heater save fuel? Should it be run from the existing coil? Question #2 There does not apear to be a header. The steam riser goes vertically to a T which splits the piping into two mains that follow the basement walls. There is both an equalizerand a hartford loop. It looks like this is orginal has anyone experienced this? Question #3 All the radiators have dole adjustable vents that are quite old. All vents appear to work. Does anyone have experience with them, also thaey seem to be quite loud in operation as they click with the steam cycles Question #4 previous owner, knucklehead removed two radiators, how will this effect system performance. Question #5 does turning off radiators save fuel as the boiler is sized for the edr for the entire house. Question #6 the second floor overheats as the thermostat is in the coolest room(nw corner with lots of glass) room on the first floor, I have set the second floor vents on their lowest settings. Does this effect fuel usage. Question #7 Next year I will be ripping out the second floor bath down to the studs. I have designed houses for other people with radiant floor/ wall in the shower and bathroom using hydronic boilers. I stick to layouts and insulation not system design. Is this impossible with steam? I know I would propably need a seperate heat exchanger for radiant water heated by the condensate. I have seen indirect water heaters with two coils (amtrol) that I thought might work fo this situation. Now Its your time to "abuse" the architect that is new to steam. BTW I am usually a site superintendant and not premadonna architect. Thanks for your imput- Chris

Steam Main Venting

@ November 27, 2006 9:19 AM in Steam main venting

I have been reading the wall for several years, just bought a house in S. Vermont with steam heat. I have a one pipe steam system with two mains each approx 45 feet long, 2.5 inch o.d. pipe. They currently have Dole #4 main vents at the end of the mains. One of these main vents is not venting, the other works. What size vent do I replace the non-working vent with? Is the #4 appropriate for the size main? My other question involves venting radiators, in rooms that overheat I have adjusted the Dole adjustable vents to lower venting settings and this is causing some whistling. Is this normal? Thanks Chris

Steam Main Venting

@ November 27, 2006 9:18 AM in Steam main venting

I have been reading the wall for several years, just bought a house in S. Vermont with steam heat. I have a one pipe steam system with two mains each approx 45 feet long, 2.5 inch o.d. pipe. They currently have Dole #4 main vents at the end of the mains. One of these main vents is not venting, the other works. What size vent do I replace the non-working vent with? Is the #4 appropriate for the size main? My other question involves venting radiators, in rooms that overheat I have adjusted the Dole adjustable vents to lower venting settings and this is causing some whistling. Is this normal? Thanks Chris