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I think we'll just agree to disagree on that one. But then again, Chicago isn't Jersey.

I started to write a longish commentary on this — that is, some of the considerations for sub atmospheric steam systems — but rapidly realised that it was getting long — even for me!

While there are indeed some advantages to operating a steam system at such pressures, there are also some major problems associated with it. Most of them revolve around establishing the initial pressures required and then maintaining them while at the same time preventing loss of refrigerant (water) and preventing the entrance of non-condensibles (air). This is no mean feat even for conventional heat pump systems (heat pumps, air conditioners, refrigerators, what have you) which operate well above atmospheric pressure.

On balance, the complexities which are added would not outweigh the advantages to be gained.

However, that is not to say that a small efficiency gain could be made in one of two ways is systems were designed to operate part of the time at subatmospheric pressures. One would be to have the boiler operating at condensing temperatures for some or all of the time after the initial firing in a cycle. I haven't worked out whether the cycle would need to be long enough to entirely fill the system with steam, however. If that were true, there would be no real advantage. The other is that forcing the system to drop subatmospheric at the end of a cycle would enable transferring the residual heat in the boiler to the target space. This second can be done in any two pipe steam system which is piped using crossover traps and a single main vent by the simple expedient of making the main vent (or vents) Hoffman #76 vents — which are still made. Some folks have also suggested accomplishing the same objective by placing a low cracking pressure check valve before a regular vent (the cracking pressure, however, has to be very low). Either of these methods will work. There is a question of is it worth it, monetarily? Both #76 vents and low cracking pressure checks do not come cheap, so one needs to look at how much energy can be recovered this way. In the days of large high mass boilers, and particularly in the days of coal fires, which don't just turn off, the answer was —-a significant amount, with the result that such systems, while not common, weren't that unusual. Today, however, the amount of heat stored in a modern boiler is, in relation to the overall system, almost trivial.

Are you sure it happens exactly in the middle of the night? And what time is that anyway? 12:00 midnight? I don't go to bed until 11:00 PM sometimes. If I wake up at 7:00AM would the middle of the night still be midnight, or would it be 3:00AM? So please be clear on your query!

Thank You

EdTheHeaterMan.

SERIOUSLY Though.

I have noticed that some chimney down draft conditions can blow out a pilot. I had one customer with a standing pilot in a 200 year old home where the heater vented into an old unlined chimney. Upgraded the boiler to a spark ignition system but the water heater pilot would blow out occasionally. They were too old to go outside to light the pilot and had to call their 68 year old son to come and light the pilot. Also could not afford a proper chimney liner either. Only bandaid I could see for them was a CyclePilot that would keep sparking whenever the pilot would blow out. If the pilot relit within the 30 to 60 second window before the thermocouple dropped out, then the problem was solved. Every once in a while the weather was so windy that the pilot did not relight in time. But it was easier to relight with the sparker clicking away.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/Robertshaw-785-001-24-120-VAC-Automatic-Pilot-Relight-Kit?_br_psugg_q=pilot+relight

That's called a pipe radiator. It's missing the top, which is a cast-iron grille. Did you happen to get the name that appears on the base? I can't make it out…………………..

Looks like some flavor of a Bundy radiator although the catalog link seems to be missing:

Somehow I'm not that surprised… fixing a leaking valve stem can be really easy, or mildly difficult depending on how badly the valve is worn. The first thing to try is to get a good crescent wrench or regular wrench which fits the packing nut on the valve. That's the hex nut closest to the handle — the very "top" of the valve — and try tightening it. This is not a band-aid — this is what a plumber would do. If that doesn't work — don't be a gorilla — then you'll have to renew the packing. That's easy, too, but not as easy. Unscrew that packing nut completely (you will want the boiler off!) and remove the old packing which will be soft and torn up and between the shaft and the valve body itself. Get some new packing from the hardware store and carefully wrap it into that space between the shaft and the valve body and sort of push it home. Bring it almost level with the top of the valve body. Screw the packing nut back on and tighten it down… should do it. Be brave!

Note that many times the old packing contains asbestos so you want to keep it damp and contain it if it is white and fluffy or has white bits in graphite.