I'm a saver. For years, I jotted down things I came across in old books that I thought I could use when I was troubleshooting an old steam or hot-water heating system. I kept these notes in my "work wallet," an old leather billfold I carried in my jacket pocket. My daughters used to make fun of the work wallet because, after a while, it started to look like a leather-bound diary by Lewis and Clark. "Don't drop that on your toe!" they'd say.

When I finished The Lost Art of Steam Heating, the situation got even worse. I had dozens of charts in Lost Art that showed the maximum carrying capacity of steam pipes in just about any sort of system you'll ever run across. I had interpolated these charts from data that changed repeatedly during the Steam Era. I felt really comfortable with what I had finally decided upon, and they've served me well in the field ever since. But when I added those charts to what was already in my work wallet it started to look like a phone book.

Which is why I decided to put this little handbook together. Here, in Golden Rules, you'll discover all these hard-to-find charts, tables and formulas that will help you both size and troubleshoot steam- and hot-water-heating systems.

And because I like to smile, I also salted the book with my own personal "Golden Rules" such as:

Mother Nature makes no allowances for ignorance or budgets.

You can have it good. You can have it fast. You can have it cheap. Pick two.

The Laws of Physics will always override the Laws of Economics. When you do something stupid in heating you will always be rewarded in a small way. This leads you to do other stupid things.

When it comes to steam heating, if it makes sense, don't do it!

I think you'll like this little handbook a lot. It has 78 pages, and it measures 4" x 7" - just right for your coat pocket!

Dan Holohan