Should radiators fill fully with steam

jp741

  First off I want to <strong>thank you</strong> for all the help you have provided so far.  I have a single pipe steam and thanks to your advice, it was determined that a single vent on the main line wasn't enough.....so we added 3 Gorton #1, there wasn't clearance for a #2.  The main is heating faster now and all the radiators are finally getting heat (even the ones at the end of the line),  My question is some of the smaller rads 2' H x 2' W (5 or 6 rungs) heat fully while  the larger 3.5 H x 2'W ( 7 or  8 rungs) usually just heat 3/4 of the way.....is this normal?  Should they fill totally with steam?   We don't have the vents fully open on the larger rads. as they are at the beginning of the line and we are trying to balance the steam distribution.  Should we add more vents to the main?  It is much faster but I read somewhere the main should clear in 2 minutes? (that ain't happening)

Jamie Hall

Sometimes...

don't you love answers like that?  But the thing is, it depends.  Really on two things: how fast does the radiator vent (or, if someone's reading this with a two pipe or vapour system, how open the valve or orifice is) and how long the system runs.  I suspect that you may find on really cold days that the big radiators may heat all the way across, while they don't on warmer days when the boiler doesn't run as long.



There is nothing necessarily wrong with a radiator that doesn't heat all the way across -- provided that the space it is heating is warm enough.  If it isn't, well... allow it to vent faster (you may sometimes have to reduce the venting on the faster radiators to get things balanced -- it's trial and error).



It would be nice if all our mains vented clear and got hot in two minutes.  Depending on how long they are, though, and how big the main vents are, it just might not happen.  Two of the ones in the building I supervise are about 75 feet long, and I'm delighted that they get hot at the end in 5 minutes -- so there you are.

crash2009

bathrooms and bedrooms toasty warm

All the rads don't have to fill completely.  What's is important, is the room comfortable enough for you?  I keep the bathrooms and bedrooms toasty warm for dressing and undressing and the rest of the house not warm at all.  The radiators are set to reflect your preferences, thats all.