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harper
harper Member Posts: 9
in Strictly Steam
This is my dilema;

I have an old house with an existing 2 pipe steam system, 1 zone ,fueled by oil. I am considering switching to a Laars Mascot HT 330  with outdoor sensor system with 3-4 zones using forced hot water, fueled by gas. I have the old fashion radiators and will not consider changing them. What do you think? Also, I need to add a couple of larger radiators in one of my rooms and the question is does it matter if the water goes in the bottom of the radiator and comes out the other side via bottom? My plumber is telling me he prefers the water goes in the radiator via the top and out the bottom. Does it matter?

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  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited March 2010
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    Converting Steam to Hot Water

    You really need to do your homework before thinking about converting a steam system to hot water. Here's a link that might be of help to you: http://www.heatinghelp.com/article/11/Hot-Tech-Tips/152/Converting-from-steam-to-hot-water-heat

    My plumber tried to convince me to convert my steam system over several years ago and I'm very glad I didn't do it. I now think the main reason he was pushing for the conversion was that he just didn't really understand steam and neither did I at that time.



    You're lucky in that you have a two pipe steam steam which is the ultimate in steam systems. If I were you I'd take a serious look at just bringing my steam system up to date. You'd end up with a very comfortable and economic system for a lot less money.

    Dan Holohan has just published a great new book on how to do this. Here a link to it:

    http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Books/5/158/Greening-Steam-br-How-to-Bring-19th-Century-Heating-Systems-into-the-21st-Century-i-and-save-lots-of-green-i



    There was also a recent link on high efficiency gas steam boilers that might be of interest to you. http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/130105/Who-has-the-best-residential-gas-steam-boiler

    As for other resources that might be of help, you might want to take a look in "Find a Professional" at the top of this page. Scroll past the zip code section down to the "States" and look there for a pro located near you. (the zip code section has new software and is a bit "buggy") There are some very good heating professionals listed there who are experts in both steam and hot water who could look at your system and who tell you how practical it was to convert your system.

    - Rod
  • nicholas bonham-carter
    nicholas bonham-carter Member Posts: 8,578
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    keep the steam

    you are much better off with steam, if you are going to use your present radiators. they may not react at all well to having their pressure raised from ounces to 15 psi. of course if you were going to install new radiators along with new piping, then there would be less likelihood of catastrophe.

    what problems were you having which made you think of switching to hot water? what ever those problems were, they can be solved. "the lost art of steam heating" [available from the shop] would be a good source of information for you to have. if the only reason was the switch to gas, there are several good options for steam boilers as well..--nbc
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