Steam Heating → Vacuum Help Topics

This section is your comprehensive guide on steam heating systems with articles about proper steam piping, boilers, pressure, venting, radiators, water quality, and more. We'll also walk you through troubleshooting steam system problems like noisy pipes. 

Recent Articles in Steam Heating → Vacuum

Freezing Univentilator Coils

I had written a story for Plumbing & Mechanical a while back about a fella in Canada who sent me this email: "Our problem is that five out of hundreds of univentilator co...

Published on 05/08/2023 3:15 PM by Dan Holohan
Posted in Steam Heating
How Vacuum Can Cause Steam Problems

Back in the old days when most folks burned coal, vacuum was just about everyone’s friend. That slow and steady coal fire produced a steam that gently nudged the air from...

Published on 01/03/2021 1:26 PM by Dan Holohan
Posted in Steam Heating
jenningsunittypecondensationpump
Vacuum Pumps and Common Sense

Many big buildings in our older cities use vacuum pumps to create a negative pressure in their condensate-return lines. This below-atmospheric pressure, which averages ar...

Published on 05/22/2017 10:18 AM by Dan Holohan
Posted in Steam Heating
“Vacuum Boost” for Steam Heating Systems

Igor Zhadanovsky is one of the brightest people I have ever met. This paper is one you should read if you're involved with buildings that have steam heat, regardless of t...

Published on 05/17/2016 11:11 AM by Igor Zhadanovsky
Posted in Steam Heating
igor zhadanovsky
A New Look At Vacuum Heating

So let's say you're in one of America's older cities and scratching your head over an antique building that has a very confused steam-heating system. What to do? Of cours...

Published on 12/18/2015 11:33 AM by Dan Holohan
Posted in Steam Heating
Empire State Building HPC2306 lg 1
A Bit About Vacuum Pumps

Steam systems that make vacuum with pumps have been around for more than 100 years. In 1899, D.F. Morgan wrote an article in The Metal Worker magazine, suggesting that de...

Published on 06/24/2014 2:01 PM by Dan Holohan
Posted in Steam Heating
zone valves on steam boiler
How Vacuum Can Form in a Steam System

I heard from an old friend the other day. This guy works in Brooklyn, NY, and usually on some very interesting stuff. He's not one to say fuggedaboutit when there's a pro...

Published on 06/24/2014 9:05 AM by Dan Holohan
Posted in Steam Heating