Steam radiators

Venkaji

Thanks for response. I am not in the apartment right now but I am sure it is one pipe. It used to work fine before the repairs. It looks like they set the temperature low or something. I am not sure how often the boiler is coming on but I notice steam coming every few hours.

Venkaji

Old Radiators

I own a apt in one of Boston old Brownstone Buildings.The heat is provided by condo assn through a common boiler. I have old cast steam radiators in the unit. Last week they performed some repairs on boiler and since then the heating in my unit reduced considerabley and is irregular at times. I complained to the assn and they say it could be problem with my unit and the boiler and all is fine.There is no thermostat in the unit.

How do i get any metrics on the heat or steam coming into my apartments?
How do we determine where the problem lies?

Thanks in Advance

Is there anyting I can measure in the room

Kool Rod

As each type of steam steam works differently, we first of all need to determine what type of steam system you have. Is it a one pipe or two pipe system? You can determine that by how many pipes lead to each radiator. 1 pipe = a one pipe system, 2 pipes = a two pipe system.
A few more questions- Do your radiators heat at all? Did they heat properly before the work was done on the system? How often per hour does the boiler come on and produce steam?

- Rod

Kool Rod

Since you're in an apartment I'm afraid you don't have much control over the steam system other than a few items on the system in your apartment.

The following is based on your system being one pipe steam.
Probably the best thing to do is first discuss the flow of steam to your apartment. When the thermostat sends a signal to the boiler that it requires heat, the burner on the boiler turns on and heats the water in the boiler which produces steam. Under a very slight pressure, usually less than 2 PSI, this seems than travels out of the boiler and into the steam mains. The steam mains are the supply pipes to the apartments. There maybe several of these, one for each wing or floor that supply the apartments in that area.

Initially the mains are filled with air and so when the steam starts to push its way into the mains the air must have a means to exit the pipe so that steam can displace it.
This is done with a Main Vent at the end of the main usually past where the last radiator is attached. This is a special vent that lets the air escape but closes when steam reaches it so the steam stays in the pipe.

Branched off each steam main are lateral pipes which go to each individual radiators in the apartments. After the mains are filled with steam, the steam then trys to push its way into each individual radiator. As there is air in the radiator the steam can't get into the radiator unless the radiator is vented to allow the air to escape. This is the function of the round / conical attachment on opposite side of the radiator from where the pipe is attached. It works just like a Main Vent in that it allows the air to escape but closes when steam reaches it and that keeps the steam in the radiator.

What you need to check in your apartment-

1.The Valve(tap) on the pipe going into each radiator needs to be Fully open or Fully closed -preferably Fully Open. This valve has no effect on regulating the heating. Having it half way open can cause big problems (noise - water hammer) and usually no heat! (There are ways to control heat with TRVs ,which are a special type of radiator vent but I won't go into that here)

2. Each Radiator needs to be sloped toward the pipe end of the radiator. This allows the water in the radiator to drain back to the boiler.

3. You need to check and see if the radiator vents are working. They should make a "hiss" when the boiler first starts making steam. Don't use your hand to check this as you may get a shot of steam that could burn you! These valves need to be occasionally replaced as over time they can get plugged up/go bad. This is likely to happen after some work is done on the boiler as this can disturb dirt/rust in the pipes which can then plug the small orifices in the vents, both main and radiator

You might want to check with the people who live on either side of you and see if their apartment heating has changed as this would indicate that there maybe problems with the Main Vent on the (Main) supply line to your apartments. If they aren't experiencing any change it would then suggest that the vents on your radiator need to be looked at.

No maintenance on the system can be done by the individual apartment resident as they don't have control of the heating system. As 212 + degree steam can give you a very nasty burn,the steam must be turned off and the system reasonably cool to work on it /change vents etc. and since the association has control of this it would seem that it would be their responsibility to fix your problem.

I probably should just have stated that right at the beginning of this post but it seemed to me that you needed a little more information on steam to back up your arguments.

- Rod