Single pipe steam, house insulation

Brad White_185

is keeping you up at night... :)

You are correct in "the right way" to go about your project- minimize heat loss, correct the radiator sizing and size boiler accordingly. Few actually do the second step but bravo if you do. Absent doing the second, you have to skip the third and size based on connected radiation as you know.

I would not change the piping to reduced radiators. No harm in that and chances are you would not reduce the radiator to a point that the connecting piping would make a difference. I mean, if you have a 1-1/4" pipe and you can get away with a 1", why? Leave it. Lower pressure required at an academic level.

That said, uninsulated piping of <i>any</i> size will exacerbate any pinging or banging or short cycling you may already have. Stripping piping will create it. Insulate all piping regardless of size- that is where the benefit lies.

The difference in heat loss between one size of pipe and one size smaller, especially if both are insulated, is too small to go to the trouble of thinking about it, let alone to change it.

steve_173

To add another wrinkle to my project I am considering adding insulation to my 1920s home. If I do this what should I think about in regard to the steam heat. As far as I know the right way to do this would be to recalculate the needed heat, resize the radiators, and then size the proper boiler system.

For smaller radiators, do you need to change any piping?

What happens if you leave the larger heating system in with the insulation? Short cycles? Less efficiency? Anything else?

steve_173

I plan to reinsulate all the stripped pipe. I am leaning toward the Hot Surface Coating instead of fiberglass.

If the heat is left as is, with better insulation will the cycles just be shorter or will or be too hot? How much is one loosing in fuel/system cost by running too big a system versus the costs to reduce the system? Can one even get the radiator sections apart or do you need all new radiators? What can be done with convectors?