Best Of

Steam heat w baseboard convector is a slippy slope as it really isn’t the best choice and usually there’s always some splitting at some point in time . As for other suggestion that insulation doesn’t matter well after close to 40 years doing this I tend to completely disagree but then I do this for a living so by all means listen to another home owner who does not do this for a living Diy ? If you want the truth then look for some one who is versed in steam heating this may or may not be a plumber . Baseboard convector are not the ideal convector for steam a free standing radiator will operate far better . Personally I don’t even entertain the talk of installing copper ,steel or cast iron baseboard for steam it works but usually always like crap and over time you will replace more air vents ona baseboard convector of any type in comparison to a free standing radiator . Talk of converting to another type of system like hot air is usually after all said and done never comes close to the heat a properly installed steam system deliveries and comfort plus generally a hot air system will always cost more to operate then a properly installed and operation steam system plus less moving parts and less air movement and nothing can delivery as many Btu for the given space required . As I tell customers if you want a hands off system then steam is not for you ,if you do not want to check your water level and want everything automatic then steam is not for you if you want a automatic feeder then you at a mim you be will notified by said automatic feeder when it time to replace your boiler cause it will be flashing which means ureuka I need a new boiler because I’ve taken on 1500 gallons of water in year cheerio to auto feeders lol . Steam system require at a mim a person to first off properly clean the boiler and to cycle the boiler for a complete heating cycle then while durning and after the thermostat is satisfied walk the basement and check all piping and main vent then proceed to get every supply valve and radiator vents for no n functioning vents and lanky supply valve, yeah it takes time and you pay but unless your there a few hours it’s half baked attempt . There a whole bunch of other things that should happen upon a maintaince visit like pull the sight glass **** ,low water cut off probe ,pull burners and clean chk for any roll out flame impingement and flood block and check for leaks ,flush and wand and fast skim ,flush wet returns this is a quick list and this is never done by most on a yearly maintenance visit for a few hundred it’s a 1/2 day mim for a complete real maintance other wise it’s a flash in a pan and if its 199 .00 job your just paying for some one to go threw the motions. Real maintaince is not cheap or fast and usually difficult to get correctly done when price and getting an bargain is top priority . Take non of this as a insult it’s just the truth by some one who does this work to eat so believe what you want pay who you wish but don’t be angry by what you receive and ps anyone who shows up to ur home wearing sneakers to work should be kindly shown the door there just sneaker wearing tool bags real men don’t wear sneakers to work they wear work boots steel tips and are usually not choir boys if your looking for that ina steam mech good luck that train does not exists for real knuckle dragging pipe spinning steam guys and usually completely political incorrect lol throw backs . That’s that’s
I know this to be a noble truth because it deal w it all the time . lol
The sweeten of a cheaper price is often forgotten after the bitterness of poor quality
Peace and good luck clammy

I only think he was a bit of a con man by saying that you could try a single one of his vents to experience the benefits of vacuum.

oh and he was a minor con man if he said you could save 25% with a vacuum system.

But if he believed those things himself I would just say he was mistaken 

If you don't let air back into even one radiator in a one pipe system it will in fact stay warmer longer than all the others. It has no choice. Please think about this. The steam is collapsing in that radiator dropping the pressure fast, faster than it is dropping in the main. There is still steam in the main feeding it. Steam will continue to flow from the main into it. All the other radiators also are condensing and dropping their pressure. However, all those voids will be filled by air from their rooms, not steam from the main, because the room has the highest pressure and will be the supply. In the case of the radiator with the vacuum vent the highest pressure is still the main. Hoffman is correct, you can see the effect this way.

People really can't seem to grasp what a big deal this is when every radiator in the system is doing it. They apparently can't appreciate the difference between running radiators that stop getting steam from the mains INSTANTLY when the boiler goes off vs radiators that NEVER stop getting steam from the mains. They also can't appreciate how fast the boiler starts steaming again when the header pressure is even 2-3 psi below atmospheric and how fast it returns to the radiators on the next burn. Several burn minutes are saved each and every cycle.