Steam or Hot Water

Brian_78

I just purchased my first house, a 1929 beauty with two pipe radiators throughout the house. I am having touble with most of the radiators on the second and third floors (and one on the first) not heating up at all. I'm not even sure if they are steam or water radiators. Is there a simply way to tell what type of system is in my house? The radiators have a small vent halfway up on the inlet side of each radiator but I havn't heard them hissing or anything. This makes me believe they might be water filled? Can this be correct?

Jim Pompetti

Try

a picture.

Unknown

A picture would help

Yes- Please post a picture of one of your radiators which will help identify your system.

Brian_78

Some Pictures

Here are some pictures of my system. One of the trap and a pic of the vent. The writting on the vent says its a number 40...but again I dont hear any hissing from it.

Steamhead

That's a Vapor system

which was the Cadillac of heating in its day and is still one of the best. It's a form of ultra-low-pressure 2-pipe steam.



That air vent should not be there. The air vents thru the trap and out a vent in the basement- or at least it should.



Where are you located? Have you tried the Find a Professional page of this site?

Unknown

A vapor system!

Hi - You're really lucky in having a vapor system.  As Steamhead ,who is one of the most experienced steam pros on this board, mentioned, they are the Cadillac of the steam systems.



As the improper positioning of the vent would indicate,  someone in the past who didn't really understand steam systems has worked on it. This is pretty typical of what happens to older steam systems. There has usually been a lack of maintenance (steam systems don't require much) and what work that has been done is by some one who didn't really understand steam systems. Fortunately getting these systems operating properly isn't all that hard. As was mentioned you might want to tell us where you live and/or look in "Find a Professional" at the top of this page.  There are a lot of steam specialists who monitor this board and there maybe one close to you. What you need is a steam pro to look at your system and let you know what needs to be done.



Another thing you may want to do is get some books on steam heating written by Dan Holohan. They are available on this board. The first one I'd get is called "We Got Steam Heat !" It's written for the homeowner with a steam system. It's easy reading, humorous, and in a few evenings you'll know much more about your system. Here is a link to it:

http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Books/5/61/We-Got-Steam-Heat-A-Homeowners-Guide-to-Peaceful-Coexistence



The other book that is a big help is "The Lost Art of Steam Heating"

http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Books/5/68/Lost-Art-Of-Steam-Heating

This book is a good one to read after "We Got Steam Heat".  It goes into more detail about the design and function of steam systems. It's more detailed but is easy to understand by the average homeowner. Lots of pictures diagrams and illustration. It discusses the different types of steam systems including vapor systems like yours.

I was in a similar situation as you with a steam system I knew nothing about and these books were really a great help.



You might also want to post some more pictures of your steam system.  Pictures of your boiler and the piping around it would be very helpful. Located somewhere on your system near`the boiler or on the piping in your basement, should be vents similar what was installed on your radiator, pictures of them and any other odd contraption installed on your steam piping would be helpful too.



Once you figure out your system and get it straightened out, you'll be very happy with it.  Steam heating is a very comfortable and economical system to have and you have a vapor system which is the best of these.

- Rod

Jamie Hall

As a start

do get Dan's books -- they are gold mines of information, all of it helpful, all of it written in such a way as to be actually understandable and useful.



In the meantime, you do have the bones of a Cadillac there, and it shouldn't be all that hard (or expensive!) to get it running right again.  It's mostly a matter of figuring out how it was intended to work in the first place, and restoring it to that condition.  As Steamhead (who's really top notch) noted, those vents on the radiators don't belong.  At all.  However, figuring out why someone decided they were needed is another matter.  From the picture, it would appear that the radiator outlets have traps -- fortunately, these are easy to fix and replacement parts are easily available.  It may be that the vents were put on because the traps had failed shut; it happens.  Also, as Rod noted, there should be a vent or vents on the return line or lines near the boiler -- and possibly (but not always) on the ends of the steam mains in the basement.  These may have been removed -- or may be broken.  If so, they may need replacing (again, not expensive and easy to do usually).  More pictures!



What sort of controls are on the boiler?  That can make a difference, too -- too high a pressure is really bad on these systems, but is all too common.  And that can be really easy to fix (just turn a screw...)



Last comment: between the books, and a pro if there is one in your area, and your patience, and this Wall, you can have the best heating system in the world!

Brian_78

Some more Pictures

I've attached some more pictures of my system below. I found a Hoffman Condensate Unit in the basement that was actually turned off. I have not turned it back on yet in fear of not knowing what it will do? There is a picture of the Hoffman Unit and two unknown units mounted on the walls just before the return lines meet the Condensate Unit.  

I also tried shutting off some of my radiators throughout the house (at least the ones that still have working valves) thinking I could force heat to the radiators upstairs that aren't working. Nothing changed. Then I tried turning my thermostat way up and found that all the radiators do work, and work well. But once I turned the thermostat back down to a normal temperature they stopped working again.

I'm located in Syracuse, NY. It would be great if i could get somebody out here to look at my system and hopefully fix it.

Brian_78

Looking for a Professional

I'm looking for a professional in the Syracuse, NY area. I need someone to come take a look at my system for a general checkup and get my all my radiators back up and running. Anyone know anybody around here?

Thanks.