steam heat and hot water

Steamhead (in transit)

better have a pro check it out. DIY here can be dangerous.

I'd still consider using steam up there. You can often find used radiators at good prices, and most steam mains and boilers are oversized so they can probably handle the load. Check out the sizing tables in Dan's "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" to be sure.

I've done this in several houses, and it's easier than it looks.

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tosto

lack of domestic hot water

I have a single pipe system with a peerless oil burner. I recently renovated the upstairs of my cape and removed two steam radiators and caped off the pipes. Shortly after I noticed that the shower took a long time for the water to get hot whereas in the past we never had trouble with hot water. Are these related or just a coincidence? We are also planning to replace the radiators I removed on the second floor with hot water baseboard and keep the steam heat downstairs, is there any problem with this idea before we go any further with the plumbing.
Thanks for your time and input,
Guy

Steamhead (in transit)

Probably aren't related

unless the boiler also provides the hot faucet water. But even if it does, it should still be hot enough to heat the water.

Instead of going to all the trouble of running baseboard up there, why not use thermostatic valves on the radiators?

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Guy_6

limit

It may just be the low limit setting on the boiler. Previously, with the additional radiation attached, the boiler had to run longer in order to satisfy the heat. That would overlap the DHW load and give sufficient hot water. Now , the boiler is running less. In addition, the incoming domestic water is colder. That's about the only correlation that I can make.

tosto

new observation

If I turn the thermostat up to keep the boiler running I get hot water. Could it be the aquastat and is there an easy way to check it.Also, is there any problem with the fact that I capped off two risers to the 2nd floor? Should they be vented? Can they block steam? Or create a vacuum?
The reason I am going with baseboard is that I added 2 rooms and a bath. The additional pipe and radiators and possible boiler replacement seemed too much.
Thanks again,
Guy