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Re: All Steamed Up, Inc Uses The Force
@Gordo Very nice. Great video. A very nice job.
A thought.......Why not add a union and close nipple on the pig tail under the pressuretroll ? Would make service a lot less of a pain in the butt.
Again. Very nice. Thanks for sharing and hope to see more.
A thought.......Why not add a union and close nipple on the pig tail under the pressuretroll ? Would make service a lot less of a pain in the butt.
Again. Very nice. Thanks for sharing and hope to see more.
Re: Ridgid Propress 320e fitting brand compatibility
Up to 2" the fittings are compatible. 21/2" and up, need to stay with the brands. Ridged jaws to veiga fittings, nipco to nipco.....
Re: Want to Replace Steam Radiators and Pipes with new Steam Wall Radiators
No personal experience, but I've heard good things of New England Steamworks out of Providence I think. I've had Daniel E. Cadotte Plumbing and Heating on the north shore clean my residential steam boiler and liked him. I believe he does installs and repiping too.
Re: Want to Replace Steam Radiators and Pipes with new Steam Wall Radiators
Agree, @New England SteamWorks is your man! He may tell you to save some money and not replace the existing radiators because, there may be are other issues that keep them from putting out heat. Whatever it is, he can fix it.
Re: Want to Replace Steam Radiators and Pipes with new Steam Wall Radiators
@New England SteamWorks was at my place on Wednesday. Can't say enough good things about their work. I recommend them to all my neighboring condo associations. My system has never worked better.
Re: Contractor working on steam boiler sudden water overflow?
A leak above the water line can be unnoticeable because the steam goes out of the flue and up the chimney.
Re: Heat Loss Calculations
You can compare the heatloss from the SlantFin app, and see how close they are.
If you change the radiators for smaller ones, that will make your present boiler oversized, and less efficient. There could be some practical problems in replacing radiators, such as needing new inlet valves.—NBC
If you change the radiators for smaller ones, that will make your present boiler oversized, and less efficient. There could be some practical problems in replacing radiators, such as needing new inlet valves.—NBC
Re: Heat Loss Calculations
Hi again everyone,The load calc is an educated guess really, based on some assumptions as far as building construction and most importantly infiltration, how much leakage around the windows and structure. Assumptions on how the home or rooms are used, doors opening and closing, internal gains form lighting and appliances, etc. Most believe there is some fudge factor built into the programs also, maybe 10%?
So I used this heat loss calculator, https://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/HeatLossOld/HeatLoss.htm
and this R value calculator for the walls
https://ekotrope.com/r-value-calculator/
I have balloon framed house with an EIFS exterior (which includes a layer of styrofoam) and mineral wool on the inside. To be conservative, I gave the assembly an R-value of 7.
To give an example, I have a bedroom with two exterior walls, 1 window, 1 sliding door, and the dimensions are about 14 x 16. It is on the second floor of a three-story house. I come up with 209 sqft of wall, 11 sqft of window, 32 sqft of door, and the calculator says the heat loss is 4460 BTU/hr. This seems to be plenty, as the room currently has a 4 foot section of fin tube, which I estimate to put out 4000 BTU, and the room heats just fine. So, that just confirms my R-value is on the conservative side.
1. Does that sound right to you? I read somewhere that a rule of thumb is the square footage x 40, which gives me 8960. Is it possible I am off by a factor of two, or is it just the difference between rule of thumb and actually calculating it out?
2. If I go through the house and replace some radiators with smaller ones based on the heat loss calculation, will that mess up the balancing for the old radiators that stay? Will I need to replace the air vents with different sizes to keep everything balanced? (I have one-pipe steam, BTW) My gut says no, but I wanted to check.
Thanks in advance, you guys are awesome.
~Jackie
The best indication of the actual load may be the current heat emitter. If these maintain all the rooms at the temperature you desire, stick with them or emitters of the same output.
Re: Heat Loss Calculations
"I read somewhere that a rule of thumb is the square footage x 40"
This is an old school rule of thumb, and you know what.....you will NEVER under size an emitter or boiler if you use it
Your 4k sounds pretty reasonable to me.
This is an old school rule of thumb, and you know what.....you will NEVER under size an emitter or boiler if you use it
Your 4k sounds pretty reasonable to me.
Re: Steam boiler gauge correct? Seeking advice to optimize performance and eradicate water hammer
@ethicalpaul I saw your wet steam video. Hoping I don't have that same kind of issue.
It's not actually too horrible of a situation, and probably fixable for not much cost or effort if you do. Your piping is way better than mine and I have mine a lot better now. Even when mine was throwing all that water into the main, I had no spitting vents, nor any other noticeable problem, due to good main venting which you should also check into if you haven't. Contrary to popular belief, steam heat is VERY forgiving and it usually takes several bad things stacked up to result in poor performance.
So I tried the wire test suggested earlier by Paul, and disconnected one wire from the pressuretrol, and tried to run heat, but the boiler wouldn't kick on, so that eliminates a bad pressuretrol or it not being wired correctly.
It does look good for the wiring, that's great! But the only full test for the ptrol is to get your pressure high enough to trigger it. It may still not be activating on pressure, but it being a new one I think the odds of that are slim. A new gauge should help you get to the truth. You're going to get a 0-3psi one I hope, to test with at least temporarily, then code dictates you have to have a 0-30 one on there. You can mount both if you feel like it.