Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.
Best Of
Re: Oldest steam boiler still in use
I was asked to look at a boiler and make a replacement recommendation. What I found was a 95 year old American Radiator Ideal 2098 series 5K cast iron, originally coal fired converted to oil fired beauty still in use.I can't even begin to tell you how many of this very boiler that I replaced in Hudson County, NJ. It was always an adventure as well as a sooty mess. Thankfully, we were able to provide the homeowner the proper service and size the replacement boiler with something MUCH smaller and certainly more efficient. It has been many years since I have seen one. Thanks for the memories!!
This monster is over 5’ tall and the size of a small SUV. (Note the size of the oil burner in the bottom of the photo.). Thankfully the domestic hot water side arm heater had been capped off.
Re: Oldest steam boiler still in use
Mr. Scott Fewer, are those fire tube or water tube?
I have seen these brick vaulting boilers and wondered what the bricks do.
Are they holding in the gases or just insulation?
Having worked on some baby Kewanee boilers and ridden the Amtrak thru Kewanee Ill. enroute to Chicago I get nostalgic as we pass thru that city.
It has said that Amtrak takes you thru the back yards and down the alleys of America.
I have seen these brick vaulting boilers and wondered what the bricks do.
Are they holding in the gases or just insulation?
Having worked on some baby Kewanee boilers and ridden the Amtrak thru Kewanee Ill. enroute to Chicago I get nostalgic as we pass thru that city.
It has said that Amtrak takes you thru the back yards and down the alleys of America.
JUGHNE
2
Re: Oldest steam boiler still in use
Attending NEFI School in the 1950's, the Smith-Mills Rep boasted they had the oldest operational boiler in the country. A Mills Steam Boiler installed in a Cotton Mill in 1835 had been recently refitted. It had been fired with peat, cotton waste, corn stover, coal, wood and oil in it's lifetime, and was still going.
Have wondered since if it has yet survived? Would make a good story .....
Have wondered since if it has yet survived? Would make a good story .....
Re: Just to stir the pot...
Its no secret that the hydronic and radiant industry in the US has been declining. For years now. Mini splits have had a lot to do with that trend.
Heat pumps, air to water and water to water have the potential to save or possibly grow the hydronics industry.
With hydronics in the heat pump picture you can glue, solder, weld, press, groove, thread to your hearts content
So the trade stays in the game.
In new construction HP are certainly possible with the key being low loads and low water temperature distribution. As demonstrated in this upstate NY home recently built.
We will cover this more with some actual examples in next months Coffee with Caleffi it is such a hot topic.
Heat pumps, air to water and water to water have the potential to save or possibly grow the hydronics industry.
With hydronics in the heat pump picture you can glue, solder, weld, press, groove, thread to your hearts content
So the trade stays in the game.In new construction HP are certainly possible with the key being low loads and low water temperature distribution. As demonstrated in this upstate NY home recently built.
We will cover this more with some actual examples in next months Coffee with Caleffi it is such a hot topic.
hot_rod
2
Warren Webster 712 hb, lb & rb rebuild
Hey all, this was the apt bldg we were going to orifice but now the owner is not going for a full remodel, ie new windows, wall insulation etc. I checked the output on radiators and they are not quite big enough to derate them to 70% of edr so no go.
1st, anyone have any input on what the hb, lb & rb denote or is it inconsequential.
2nd, What are all your preferences, replace element with Barnes & Jones replacement elements or go Tunstall capsules?? Per Barnes & Jones, no new cap. remove orifice.
Thanks in advance,
Tim
1st, anyone have any input on what the hb, lb & rb denote or is it inconsequential.
2nd, What are all your preferences, replace element with Barnes & Jones replacement elements or go Tunstall capsules?? Per Barnes & Jones, no new cap. remove orifice.
Thanks in advance,
Tim
Re: Just to stir the pot...
Heres my take for WIW if anybody care about my take:
Water source heat pumps in any climate:
I would say they have a really good chance of heating a building except if the ground water temp is too low in an extreme location.
Air -Air:
Not going to make it. It will always require supplemental heat of some kind. Their efficiency goes down the colder it gets. Maybe ok to heat an interior space with little heat loss but I am considering only complete buildings here.
Insulation of the building only affects the size of the unit installed and does not determine if an air-air heat pump will heat the building to 70 degrees in a cold climate.
Water source heat pumps in any climate:
I would say they have a really good chance of heating a building except if the ground water temp is too low in an extreme location.
Air -Air:
Not going to make it. It will always require supplemental heat of some kind. Their efficiency goes down the colder it gets. Maybe ok to heat an interior space with little heat loss but I am considering only complete buildings here.
Insulation of the building only affects the size of the unit installed and does not determine if an air-air heat pump will heat the building to 70 degrees in a cold climate.
Re: Just to stir the pot...
The horse and carriage was replaced -- eventually -- by the automobile, because the automobile was accessible to more people and was desirable to them. Nobody mandated the replacement from Olympus (or Washington or Albany or Sacramento or wherever). There's a difference.
Re: DEAD WRONG
Ann Arbor I think has a process to line in place the clay main sewers to prevent having to replace most of them. Roots will get in the joints but unless it is a huge tree they can be cleaned out without destroying the pipe. Some probably has to do with the skill of the person operating the auger too. Getting rid of the tree gets rid of the roots. If clay is bedded properly and trees are avoided it lasts a very long time. I suspect corners were cut in packing and sealing the joints in a lot of installations which caused leaks and attracted roots.
mattmia2
1
[Price drop] Runtal UF-6 48" radiator in eastern MA
I have a runtal hydronic baseboard radiator/wall panel that we purchased in 2021 for a remodel and ultimately ended up not using. Still new in the box.
Length is 4 feet, height is 18 inches.
Price is $400. Location is in Metrowest Massachusetts. Local pickup strongly preferred, it is quite heavy.
https://runtalnorthamerica.com/product/hydronic-wall-panels/
Note the picture is of a shorter version.
Length is 4 feet, height is 18 inches.
Price is $400. Location is in Metrowest Massachusetts. Local pickup strongly preferred, it is quite heavy.
https://runtalnorthamerica.com/product/hydronic-wall-panels/
Note the picture is of a shorter version.
