Steam to HW conversion

kjb0710

Hi All - My husband and I are considering a conversion of our oil fired

steam furnace with a gas system using hot water and baseboard. We have

a two story house with a finished attic that is currently unheated.

The first and second floor are heated with steam radiators.







Pros (in my mind):



- regaining space taken up by the radiators



- 3 zone system with heat in the attic space







Cons



- cost. This will cost more than double that of a simple gas

conversion using the existing steam radiators (we already have gas in

the house)



- aesthetics. I'm not in love with the look of baseboard units and they'll run along every exterior wall



- disruption to the household. A lot more work involved and we'll need to repair a lot of walls and hardwood floor boards when the radiators are removed







Can anyone offer insight on such a conversion? This is a 1932

colonial of about 2100 s.f. including the attic space. Its now well

insulated thanks to new windows and blown in insulation in the walls.

Are there factors that I haven't considered? I would appreciate any

and all help with this decision. Thank you!

Jamie Hall

You're right...

the main factor is cost.  I would be surprised if the cost of ripping out the steam system and going with all new hot water were only twice the cost of a completely new boiler on the existing steam system -- but I could be wrong on that.



A couple of thoughts come to mind.  The first is, do you really need a new boiler, or can your existing steam boiler be converted to gas?  Some can.  If you post the make and model of your existing boiler on this site, one of our experts will be able to tell you right away whether such a conversion is possible.  Of course, it could be that your existing boiler is old enough to be worth replacing anyway -- we can probably make some suggestions on that, too.



Second, with the general tightening up of the house it is very likely that you have more radiation than you need.  It would be possible to control a portion of the existing radiation with thermostatic valves or vents (depends on the type of steam system) and have enough capacity to add steam heat to the third floor, also with thermostatic valves.  What one does there is control with boiler with a regular thermostat located in the area you want warmest -- typically the living room or dining room -- and control the bedrooms or the whole second floor with thermostatic valves or vents.  Works just fine.  One can actually get control of individual rooms that way.  Another possibility there -- particularly if you did replace the boiler -- would be to have a hot water loop off the steam boiler for the third floor alone.  That's quite doable.



The rest of your pros and cons look as though you've thought about this, so I'll stop here.

kjb0710

Thank you

for your feedback.   I should have mentioned that the existing steam boiler was installed in 2004 (before we bought the house).   My husband has explored the possibility of just converting the existing burner to gas and hasn't been able to find anyone who would do it.   I believe the current system is Utica.   It works fine although not as efficient as he would like (I think its around 75%?)   I hate to replace a system that's not really all that old but I do want to convert to gas.    I'm having a hard time justifying the additional cost of going with hot water/baseboard.  

LarryC

Any there any existing heating issues?

If there are existing problems with heating system, it is most likely that it would be easier and cheaper to fix them instead of replacing the entire heating system. 



Typical problems like banging pipes or radiators, hissing radiator vents, extreme temperature swings and various water leaks are USUALLY easily repaired by a knowledgeable steam person or even a handy home owner.



The owner of this site has a series of books written for non technical people that explain the basics of steam systems.  The cost of the books will probably save you more in one service call by weeding out the contractors who do not understand steam systems.



There is also a search function on this website that will you to search for a professional in your geographic area.



When was the boiler last serviced?  is the water in the sight glass clear?  When was the low water cut out last blown down and tested?  If you do not know, I would recommend getting a steam heat professional in there soon.



Good Luck.

Rod

Steam to HW

As a suggestion you might want to post this question also in the Gas Heating section of the Wall.. Get the model number of your Utica boiler from the placard on the boiler and post a question like: "Can a Utica model # xxxxxxx be converted to natural gas? "

A steam boiler built in 2004 should be far more efficient than 75% so you might want to have a steam pro check it out for you.  Also if you not familar with steam heating there are several good books available in the Shop section at the top of this page. I would recommend "We Got Steam Heat!"

http://www.heatinghelp.com/products/Steam-Heating-Books/25/61/We-Got-Steam-Heat-A-Homeowners-Guide-to-Peaceful-Coexistence

It's written for homeownesr new to steam and is easy humorous reading . After several nights of reading you will find yourself lightyears ahead in your knowledge of your steam system.

You might also want to take a look in the :"Find a Contractor" section to see if there is a steam pro near you.  Scroll past the zipcode section and use the "States" is it is more accurate. You might also want to post your questions on the Strictly Steam part of the Wall as the steam guys hang out there and with the cost of fuel oil a lot of them have converted over to gas so they maybe able to give you some advice.

- Rod

Jamie Hall

Efficiency

a 2004 Utica -- regardless of the model -- should be considerably over 75% -- more like 80 to 85% -- if it's properly tuned up.  Even if you can't find a steam guy a really good oil burner man with the proper tools and instruments and equipment should be able to get it running better than that.  There's a good deal to getting a really good adjustment, though -- it simply can't be done by eye -- and it takes some skill.



I might add here that overall heating system efficiency is one of those topics -- perhaps rather like horsepower for cars -- on which there is a lot of noise and not a whole lot of useful information.  It is one thing to claim a beautiful new mod-con hot water boiler has "an efficiency of 95%" -- which might be tested under ideal factory conditions, and include only the combustion efficiency -- and getting anywhere near that figure on a day to day, normal use installation.  An absolute flat out maximum efficiency, over a year and taking into account electricity use and all might approach 90%, although I'd bet more like 87% -- for a full dress mod-con with all the bells and whistles; a properly adjusted steam boiler could easily approach 85% with no more than a properly set up heating system (vents, traps, etc. and the right pressure settings).  A two percent difference in efficiency isn't much.



On finding a pro -- they do seem to be a bit thin on the ground in the upstate New York area, for some reason.  You can split the effort, though, into two parts: a good steam guy (and the folks here on the Wall can help a lot there) and a good oil burner guy or gas conversion guy.  They are available -- but distinguishing between a good salesman and a good technician can be a bit tricky.

BobC

look before you leap

I have a 1150 sq foot house that is one block away from the Atlantic ocean south of Boston. I heat it with a 16 year old oil fired Burnham V75steam boiler. When it was new I was burning 7-800 gallons of oil a year (domestic hot water is by gas). Over the years I've tightened the house up and made improvements to the heating system that have driven the oil consumption down to 300 gallons (2010-11 season). I am retired now and i don't mind wearing a sweatshirt while reading or watching TV so i keep the thermostat at 64 during the day and 60 at night.



I reduced the pressure down to 12 oz and down-fired the oversized boiler by 25-30%. I increased the venting on the steam mains and insulated all the piping in the cellar. When that boiler dies I'll replace it with a gas fired system but until then I'll make do with what I have.



Steam can be pretty efficient, take a long hard look before committing to tearing it all out. Buy the books as Rod suggested and post some pictures of your boiler and the pipes that go to and from it so we can see what your dealing with. The "Lost Art of Steam Heating" book has paid for itself 20X over.



Bob