Bundt Elite

AshevilleTom

Thank you for creating this forum. I know what effort goes into these projects, and I appreciate the effort



I am a homeowner, not a professional. I did buy the book The Lost Art of Steam on the recontamination of a friend, and it is an invaluable resource.



We have decided to turn our single pipe steam system back on after 14 years of hibernation. I hired a Tech I trust to come by and survey the system, and he thinks that my old Burnham boiler still works.



The boiler is extremely large, a great cast iron elephant six or seven feet long, four feet high and three feet wide. It was coal, converted to gas with some kind of box type flame thrower that I did see fire once. It just looks horribly inefficient, and I wonder how it can work efficiently with an on/off burner when it was designed to be stoked with coal.



We have a total of 19 radiators, by my calculation 948.5 square feet. Using the 1.5 pickup factor that gives a DOE MBH of over 342,000? is that right?



I have attached a chart of our Radiators. I used the values for Sq Feet found in the Bundt Catalog for the Bundts, and TLAOSH values on page 71 and 72 for the balance of the radiators.



What would you all recommend for replacement boiler size? Or other options?



Thank you in advance, and if any of you have questions about VW busses, come on over and we will help - <a href="http://www.fullmoonbusclub.com/">www.fullmoonbusclub.com</a>.



Tom

Steamhead

Bundt is a new one on me

sure you don't mean Bundy? Post some pics so we can see what you have.



Normally you don't need to add anything to the radiation count when sizing a boiler. The pickup factor is already built into the boiler's Net rating. The exception is when a lot of radiators have been removed, or there is a lot of bare pipe that cannot be insulated.



Is this the Asheville in North Carolina?

AshevilleTom

Bundy Elite

Thank you,



It is the Asheville in NC.



I attached a picture from the Catalog of the radiators in our house. Everyone comments on them. My wife wants the steam heat and I want learn as much as I can about this stuff so I can avoid blowing my own house up and joining the Dead Men.



Tom

Steamhead

You've come to the right place

and, if you need some more eyes on this system, let me know. Consulting is a growing part of our business.



Those look like standard column rads (with Bundy's take on how they should look) and I'm curious to see if they have the same ratings as other standard units. You could use the chart on pages 71-72 of Lost Art to compare them.



Also, how about some pics of the boiler area? And are there any vents at the ends of the steam mains?