efficient steam

Campo

My friend has been threatening to rip out the 2-pipe with airvent system in one of his rental properties. I have personally worked on this system when I lived in the building. I added lots of venting, insulation, low water cut off, cleaned the system and made it work great. Now with the rising gas prices he wants to eliminate it and have electric that each of the 5 tenants control. There is some wisdom in this because a tenant will complain non stop if he does not pay for the heat, but will galdly freeze himself if he has to pay. Furthermore, this large building cost $7500 to heat last year and will likely cost $1100 this year.

Are there any better control systems that could improve the system's efficiency? I have heard terms like outdoor reset, cycle timer, multiple indoor thermistors... and am wondering if these would make any significant improvement over the on/off thermostat he now has.

Thanks,

Campo

Steamhead (in transit)

Thermostatic Radiator Valves

which replace the air vents on the rads, coupled with an outdoor-reset/timer control should work fine. This gives the tenants control over the heat in their apartments while the main control establishes the "ceiling".

It is to your friend's advantage to provide and control the heat. If a tenant leaves or the electricity is cut off for non-payment, the heat will still be on and the pipes should not freeze. We all know how much damage frozen pipes can cause......

Campo

reset/timer

Yes. I can convince him to install TRV's on many of the radiators (especially the ones that overheat). Who makes a good and affordable thermostat with a reset and timer. Will this also come with one or more indor temp. sensors? How do you set the cycle timer?

Thanks,

Dave