best thermostat?

jimmythegreek

I have a commercial steam system, weil mclain 400k btu 1 pipe.  Its an old hotel now a bunch of studio rooms.  Have about 40 rads and alot of piping.  System is getting poorer each year as far a heating goes, boiler is ab out 10yrs old.  This is an excellent site, getting ready for an overhaul of the vents and misc. boiler parts.  What I need is the best steam tsat for this application.  Single zone for the whole system, tstat is in my office, no drafts and a good spot it seems.  Just trying to get something simple with the proper adjustments for steam tweaking.  thanks

Jamie Hall

I'm about

two thirds your size, but a vapour system.  I have had very good results from a single Honeywell CT8602.  You can go fancier, and other folks have other preferences, but that works for me...

04090

more

I tried a thermostat like that to replace an old Honeywell mercury setback from the 60's. The classic model everyone had. Still using it.



System is a Burnham V907 using 4.0 GPH. Could never get a comfortable setting that'd allow the burner some rest time between cycles with the electronic one. Tried the various settings for different types of heating systems, but none allowed a large enough temperature spread between when it was satisfied and called for heat again. Do you recall settings in the setup menu? I'd be willing to try it again.



Is there an electronic thermostat that'll allow a wide spread in temperature?

nicholas bonham-carter

thermostat problem

the honeywell visionpro is what i am using, with a remote sensor in one of the colder rooms upstairs. the setting is for 1 cycle per hour, which is the setting for steam heat.

i suspect the system getting "poorer each year" is not necessarily due to the thermostat exclusively.

i am glad that you are getting ready to overhaul the venting, which as we all know should include the main vents first. in a large system such as yours, the main vents are doing all the work of letting the air out to enable steam to come in to the rads. if they are not up to their job, the gas company has do the job of pushing the air out through the radiator vents, and for their effort, they will charge a pretty penny!!!.

another thing you may want to check during this work, if you are interested in economy of operation, is pressure. keep it down, and verify the pressure with a good low-pressure gauge [gaugestore.com 0-3 psi]. a vaporstat would probably pay for itself in a few weeks in your situation.

these tips and many others can be found in "the lost art of steam heating", available here.--nbc

nicholas bonham-carter

visionpro on sale

on sale here-nbc

http://www.pexsupply.com/Honeywell-TH8110U1003-VisionPro-Thermostat-1-Heat-1-Cool-3909000-p?cmpid=emm20101215_3

jimmythegreek

agreed

I'm going to order the book.  Been doing alot of research.  Im a contractor and bought this building as an investment.  needed a redo and is very valuable, got it for a steal.  anyway Im familiar with basic gas and oil but nothing on steam.  I had a roll out problem with flames comin out the front and after tearing the boiler apart 4 of the 8 cavity sections were plugged shut like on an oil setup.  this weil mclain is 400k+ btus NATURAL GAS not oil!  so now im redoing everything vents and all and fixed some leaks in the mains and some bad piping etc.  Im makin much better heat and steam than last year (second winter in there) and I owe it all to this site.  I have about 200' of 6" main on two loops off the boiler on each side and from what I'm reading I'm gonna need an antler setup with a whole lotta vents.  I replaced the 2 that were on here the other day with maid o mists that my local shop had cause I saw the originals painted shut when they sprayed the basement.  I see a diff already.  I need a good basic tstat non programmable with heat only and Im about to change all the vents.  thanx for the info and this site

nicholas bonham-carter

fixing the vents

order plenty of gorton #2's, and you will see a difference in your low pressure gauge readings [order one of those as well!] why pay the gas company to pump the air out so the steam can come in?

keep your pressure low for economy.--nbc