Steam Main and pipe Insulation

Jeff_53

Was is typical for the dead men to insulate steam risers that run through the walls leading to the radiators in a one pipe system? I can feel the heat from the pipes in my walls and I wonder if the steam to the radiators is giving up some of its latent heat before it gets to the rads?

Any thoughts?

Thanks

gerry gill

they were usually

insulated..perhaps the asbestos fell off over the years..and yup, your lossing latent heat.

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Foreman

insulated risers

In my house (built 1870's) my risers were installed after house was built. No Boilers back then. My risers are exposed on interior side of wall.
Always thought it was ugly, but guess they are accessible to insulate!

Bob W._3

My risers are all exposed. Always figured it came with the system. First house had the same thing. Apparently we were behind the times around here.:)

Jeff_53

Thanks for your responses. I ask the question because a closet in our house has a steam pipe that runs under the floor. When the bioler runs, the closet floor gets quite warm. Being the curious soul that I am,
I took up a portion of the floor and discovered there is a fairly large 'chamber; under the closet floor which houses a steam riser. I can see the pipe and it appears as though there was some kind of insulating material that has fallen off.

I'm wondering if I should blow in some insulation to fill the 'chamber' and allow the heat to get to the radiator instead of the closet floor? And, what type of insulating material would be appropriate?

Thanks, as always.

Foreman

Not sure about what kinda of insulation....blown in, would be messy, probably cant get to the pipe, eh? I found voids and pockets in my house, floor joists on top of ceiling joists, they just did that 100 yrs ago, dunno why.
I did find 3/8 gas line in those areas that was added for lighting at some time after the house was built.

Jeff_53

I drilled a couple of 1" holes in the sub floor so I think I could get some kind of blown insulation through these openings. Is there any danger with conventinal blown insulation having physical contact with a hot steam pipe?

shawn_11

Take this with a grain of salt--I'm not a contractor

But I did just insulate my steam risers two weeks ago. I'm sure it will save energy, and for the first time since owning the house, I have decent heat on the third floor. I used preformed 1 inch thick fiberglass insulation. it was a jacket that goes around the pipe, and has reflective kraft face that probably helps a lot. It comes in 3 foot lengths, and is designed for this kind of thing. So, no concerns about contact problems, and maybe better insulating than blown insulation. It's also easy to put on, so you might avoid hiring someone. I had very few places where the pipe was hidden in a wall, but where it does happen, you can put a hole in the wall, slide in a few feet of the insulation, stick it on the pipe, and repeat until the pipe is insulated. (This might not be worth it if all your pipes are stuck in the wall, i don't know.) Also, in my place, a day's worth of insulating pipes made a weeks worth of balancing and re-venting radiators... Conversely, blown-in might not expose you to asbestos.