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New Steam Gas Heating System

Bklyn
Bklyn Member Posts: 1
This past summer i had my oil burner replaced with a gas burner In a 3 story row building.  What i have noticed that on the top floor in the bathroom i hear the air escaping from the # D air valve, and hear the steam rising, however the radiator does not get warm. It seems that the Thermostat that's located on the second floor reaches it temperature before the steam can rise into that radiator, can you help me with this? Also my living room radiator on the top floor does not get hot all the way, just seems to get hot half way?  I keep the thermostat set at 73 degrees, but when i bump it up to 78 (just to see what happens) Then all the radiators on the top floor get hot. 

 Thank you for your time  Brooklyn

Comments

  • slow top floor

    make sure that your main vents [not rad vents] are capacious+1, and check the anticipation on your thermostat.--nbc
  • Big-Al_2
    Big-Al_2 Member Posts: 263
    edited December 2010
    Slow Vent Near the Stat

    What kind of vent is on the radiator near the thermostat?  Maybe  #5 or even a #4 on that radiator will help.  Sometimes it's not enough to vent the cold radiators faster . . . You might need to vent the hot ones slower. 



    You might try a #4 Jacobus Maid-O-Mist vent first.  It will have a removable orifice that can be easily unscrewed and drilled out a little bigger if you discover it's actually too slow.  



    And, yes, good main venting makes a big difference.
  • jpf321
    jpf321 Member Posts: 1,568
    as Al said...

    try to throttle the rads that effect the t-stat a bit until you find a happy medium. I am in the process of playing around with TRVs so that rooms max-out and drop out of the load equation once they are to temp. Which means that I have throttled my near-t-stat rads way down. 
    1-pipe Homeowner - Queens, NYC

    NEW: SlantFin Intrepid TR-30 + Tankless + Riello 40-F5 @ 0.85gph | OLD: Fitzgibbons 402 boiler + Beckett "SR" Oil Gun @ 1.75gph

    installed: 0-20oz/si gauge | vaporstat | hour-meter | gortons on all rads | 1pc G#2 + 1pc G#1 on each of 2 mains

    Connected EDR load: 371 sf venting load: 2.95cfm vent capacity: 4.62cfm
    my NEW system pics | my OLD system pics
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    Why

    do you have such a big vent on that radiator? Do other radiators have the same vents on them?



    Look at the ends of your steam mains. Are there vents installed there?
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • steam secrets

    bad main vents=bad heat. do the mains first, and wait until you have got that right before spending any money on the radiator vents. the radiator vents are just not able to handle the system air removal needs, so spending money on them first is usually wasted.--nbc
  • Big-Al_2
    Big-Al_2 Member Posts: 263
    edited December 2010
    Affects all the radiators

    Putting slower vents on the hot radiators doesn't just slow those ones down . . . it can speed up the other ones as a side effect.  (The steam has to go someplace.)
  • JohnNY
    JohnNY Member Posts: 3,226
    Boiler too small?

    Was a proper Manual J, or EDR calculation done to size the replacement boiler?

    I'd be happy to come take a look if you're within my service area in Brooklyn. Please use the Find a Contractor feature at the top of the page or click the link below to learn more about my company.
    Contact John "JohnNY" Cataneo, NYC Master Plumber, Lic 1784
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