boiler water treatment

johnnyge

I want to clean my boiler to get ready for the new heating season that is just around the corner. My steam boiler is about 7 years old. Every year I drain the dirty water until i get clear water and keep the sight glass with clean water level without sludge. I was reading in another post to add chemical to clean the boiler out of rust and maintain a good PH. My questions, For a residential steam boiler 140000 btu's in a single home It is necesary add chemical to the water? if the answer is yes from where do I put the chemical in. I was thinking of removing one of the main vents in the return pipe to pour the chemial in. Is that the way to do it?

Adding chemical will help heating the system faster and save energy? Please advise.  I am a home owner hook on steam system.

Thank you

Unknown

Steam Boiler Water

Generally the consensus seems to be NOT to add anything to your boiler's water. You might want to read the installation manual for your boiler and see what the recommendations of the boiler manufacturer`are in this area. If you don't have the manual these can usually be downloaded from the manufacturer's website.



 That said there are different additives available for steam boilers but they are usually only used to address specific problems.  Rhomar

 http://www.rhomarwater.com/heating-systems/steam-boiler/

has some good products in this field though it sounds as though your boiler water` is pretty good just as it is.



 I don't know how familiar you are with "Skimming" but to get maximum efficiency out of a steam boiler you must know how to "Skim" it properly. Use the Search function on this site as there are a lot of old posts and articles on "Skimming". Another thing is that it is very important to fire up your boiler and bring it to a boil after you have added "new " fresh water. This is to remove the excess oxygen which, if it is allowed to remain, will cause corrosion inside your boiler.



If you don't have them yet I would highly recommend you get  Dan's books on steam heating.  I'm a homeowner like yourself and these books have paid for themselves many times over.    I bought  "The Steamy Deal" package



http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Super-Deals/14/129/A-Steamy-Deal



which includes 3 of Dan's books.  Read "We Got Steam Heat!" first before "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" as it gives you a good introduction to your system and the function of its parts.  "The Lost Art.." then adds to that. The books are easy reading and entertaining and with good explanations and knowledge about steam heating systems. Using what I learned I've cut my fuel bills 25 % plus now have a fully functional comfortable steam system. 

- Rod