Bed and Bath sweltering, other rooms ok

janepassage

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I could not find the thread - sorry!



Newly purchased old house, lovely single pipe steam heat. No problems except uneven heat.



The entire first floor is comfortable (therm set at 68) Second floor bedroom and bath are uncomfortably hot (vents set at 1) child's room cool, but comfortable. We also have a third bedroom we never use in the winter so simply shut the valve off and keep the door closed.



What to do? We replaced all the vents last year. Ive resorted to shutting the valves off in the hot rooms as a desperate measure (much to husbands dismay) as this is supposedly a no-no. Then turning em on when cold...



Is it ok to just shut off valves where its too hot and use the natural rise of heat to make it warm? seems like such a waste of heat to open a window...



if not, what should we do?

Thanks a million!

BobC

What vent? TRV?

What make and model are the vents on the radiators in the overheated rooms/



Turning a radiator valve off is generally not a great idea; it might well be 80 years old and they sometimes close but will not reopen. Then you have to replace the radiator valve which is a very unpleasant job.



If dialing the venting does not work it may indicate the radiator is too large for the room. Before considering radiator swapping you might want to think about adding a TRV to those radiators, that will shut the flow of steam to those radiators off when a preset temperature has been reached. They screw into the vent hole and then you screw a straight air vent (can't use angle air vent) into the TRV.



Assuming the resit of the system is working well TRV's may be the easiest solution. You have to make sure you get the right kind of TRV, different models work with different kinds of steam systems. Also you have to buy the TRV, the actuator and the straight air valves separately; they cost about $100 for the set. Go to http://www.pexsupply.com/Danfoss-013G8250-Direct-Mount-Operator-5558000-p and click on the manual tab for the information sheet on this.



I'm sure other who are more experienced with these will chime in to give you more information.



Bob

nicholas bonham-carter

uneven steam heat

don't shut off the inlet valves, but rather turn the air vent on the radiator upside down to shut off the heat to a radiator or two.  be careful not to turn them in the same direction each time or the will unscrew completely.

look at the steam supply pipes in the basement, and see if there are any main vents on the dry returns next to the boiler. if the main vents are not working or not of adequate capacity, the air will not be able to escape ahead  of the steam as it fills the pipes. radiator vents cannot do this job, and should be sized as small as possible, to enable the main vents to fill all the pipes first before the steam rises into the radiators.. sometimes if the boiler pressure is set too high, the main vents will be prevented from working. unfortunately, the regulation 0-30 psi gauge is useless for this diagnosis, and a more accurate low pressure gauge is needed[gaugestore.com 0-3 psi]. check the vents first, and post some pictures of your boiler, and piping, with radiators and valves.

you would benefit from having one of the good steam books from the shop here, such as "the lost art of steam heating" when you get everything working as it once did when first installed, you will love your system!--nbc

Rod

TRVs

Hi- TRVS (Thermostatic Radiator Valves) are great for controlling over heating. I use them in my upstairs bedrooms to keep the rooms from getting too hot. I also use them to shut down some of the rooms in the house I'm not using. When it's really cold I'm a bit cautious about completely turning off the heat in the rooms as I don't want the plaster or pipes in the wall to freeze. I just turn the TRVs to the minimum setting which is 42 degrees.

There are several models of TRV for different type of HW and steam systems. You want to get the model that is especially built for 1 pipe steam.  I've attached a pdf on TRVs with some links that`might be of help.

- Rod

Steamhead

Another thing that can cause this

is if someone removed radiators from the first floor. Are there any capped tees or pipes in the basement?