Best Of

Speaking as someone who went out specifically looking for a house with cast iron radiators because I like them, I'd say keep the steam and get rid of the wife.

😉

Steam and HW are only a fraction of the systems installed. Hot air is the king in most of the country whether we like it or not.

Nothing wrong with hot air if it done right unfortunately it seldom is. Hot air will be unsatisfactory in some buildings like masonary construction. Low ceilings with overhead supplies are a problem occupants can feel air movement. And overhead heat supply is never good.

Most jobs have undersized ductwork that can't be balanced

In michigan even in old houses steam or hot water aren't common, there is some but most were gravity warm air.

Most suburban folks live in newer houses — many of them less than 30 years old — where everything was done to go cheap. And forced air is cheap to install in a new build (not as a retrofit). Most people living in denser cities on the east coast have steam, because their buildings are mostly pre-WWII or even earlier, and are much more compact and forced air was almost unheard of (gravity air, yes, but only for the very high end mansions).. Most rural homes will be steam or hot water.

But… the ones who squeak and the ones who post are the suburban ones, so there is an illusion that "almost no one has it in their own home".

good flucking luck!