One-Pipe Steam Heat Radiator Air Vent Help

chuck_6

Dan:

I'm a homeowner as well (1-pipe steam) and I would only recommend that you use Gorton air vents. Speak to Ken Kunz at Gorton. His phone number is (908) 276-1323. He can walk you through venting and where you can get Gorton vents. A few extra dollars in good quality vents can take you a long way. For rooms close to the thermostat you want vents with a small opening and as you get further away, you want more open vents.

Speak to Ken. He is terrific. Also talk to him about main vents. Those are just as important as the radiator vents.

Dan Russo

One-pipe Steam Heat Radiator Air Vent Help Request

Please excuse my beginners jargon...I have never dealt with a steam home heating sytem as a homeowner before. I just moved into a 1920's home with a steam heating sytem. Can someone provide me with information on the chrome air vents attached to each radiator. Are they supposeed to be screwed all the way tight(if so some are facing sideways or towards the ground)? Some of the radiators heat-up only when the air vent is removed. Do I need to replace these air vents, and where can I buy such an air vent? I once saw an adjustable air vent on an home improvement show that allowed the operator to control each individual radiator much like manual thermostat. i.e. if a room gets too hot then you can turn that radiator down. Where can I get such a thing. Please advise and Thank-you.

michael_15

Some basics

The vents generally need to point upwards to work. Their purpose is to let air out of the radiators so that the radiators can fill with steam and get hot. Mechanically, an air vent is likely to get stopped up if upside-down due to a floating pin in the vent.

If the radiators don't heat unless the vents are removed completely, then they're probably clogged. You can try to fix them (boil them in some water with a dash of vinegar), or just replace them. You can buy some lower-quality vents at Home Depot, but would need to go online or to a supply store to get good ones.

There are adjustable versions around, but they're not really designed to be adjusted regularly and treated like thermostats -- I suppose they can be, but that's sort of a pain to be reaching for your radiator valve all the time. You'd be more interested in "Thermostatic Radiator Valves," which will do what you're thinking. They're often just referred to as "TRVs." Adjustable radiator vents are really designed for balancing your system -- that is, bigger ones make the radiator heat faster, and you tend to want all of the radiators in your home to heat at the same time.

If you're new to steam heat, it's probably worthwhile to buy the "We got Steam Heat!" book from this website. It's really quite good for homeowners. It will also give you some tips on identifying good professionals (part of which is getting ones from this website, which is a good bet) to look over your system (not a bad idea given that the previous homeowners left the system sitting around with broken and/or upside-down air vents!).

-Michael

Dale

Venting

Well, welcome to steam. I would go over to the left in Books and more and buy "we got steam heat" then the "Lost art..." book if you like tech reading and want to learn more. As to your question the vents you mentioned are for the rad only. To have a chance to work they must point up. There is a gravity "float" inside that closes the pointed end when steam hits it. If the paint is off the little top hole, the vent should work if the rad heats with the vent removed buy a new vent, any good hardware store will have them, I see the Dole brand most often. A few steam 101's quick, your MAIN FOCUS now should be SAFETY the operation stuff can follow. You need to know that you have a low water cut off that's wired in to shut off the burner is the water is too low. YOU need to test this to see if it works. I would find a pro to look at the boiler and explain the water level and gauge glass and how to check and flush the low water cut off. Also, on the rads the inlet valve to them is opened fully and left open, the vent controls the rad. You can purchase variable rad vents but the fixed ones work fine, the main vents are more important. The other 101 tip is to keep the boiler pressure below 2 pounds. Good luck, steam can be made to work safely and quietly.

Mike Cascio

Venting

Hi,

Contrary to what gorton says on their website, the vents should be sized to size of the radiator and its runout. In a properly working steam system, steam will arrive at all for the radiators at about the same time. Therefore all of the radiators should be vented accrodingly to the size and not the location. Also check to see that there are main vents on the system, and that they are sized properly. If there not, someone will steer you in the right direction.

Best of luck,
Michael J. Cascio

Anthony Menafro

Air vents

I agree that size does matter but I also feel that location can play a part as well. Make sure to stay away from adjustable vents and go with fixed sizes. Gorton has 5 different sizes for air elimination