old boiler as humidifier

davis4459

I'm renovating a house that has a steam boiler in the basement (2003 Weil McLean; 104 BTU); but the radiators have been removed.  I installed a new high efficiency gas forced air furnace/AC with new duct work for the 1200 sq ft house. 



After the contractor mentioned that a steam humidifier is the best type, I thought "I've got plenty of steam potential sitting in the basement." 



Is it crazy to consider using the old boiler as a gigantic humidifier?  It is fully functional with an automatic water feed valve (VXT 24) and a low water shut off gadget.  I was thinking about a steam injection device which are a bit expensive.



Or as an alternate, using the entire basement as a huge moist air plenum and venting the air into the house above. 



My wife says that I Jerry rig most everything  ....  but I hate to junk a perfectly good piece of equipment.

Jamie Hall

well...

it would work.  Rather better than you might want it to.  If it really is 104,000 BTU/hr, that represents an awful lot of steam -- a couple of orders of magnitude more than you could possibly need.



Your contractor is right -- steam humidifiers are the best -- but you probably would only need 10 to 20 gallons of water per day, and there are other, better ways to do that.



What happened to the radiators?  And why, if I may ask, was the steam system abandoned in the first place?

davis4459

agonized

I had intended to keep the boiler and buy a few radiators where missing; and, use the system as a back up for two dual mini split systems.  The house is essentially four rooms.   The mini splits were very expensive and the boiler turned out to be a bit more management intensive that I expected for a rental with tenants.



The boiler is still in place and functional; just no vertical chase pipes.  I hate to abandon the boiler and was looking for alternate uses, thus the humidifier idea.    I considered those thin, flat radiators that are common in  The Netherlands (Europe, too, I guess); but the cost for an investment deal was too much.



So, the gigantic humidifier would work, but I guess it would be difficult to control the steam/humidity with such a intense source.  

nicholas bonham-carter

Humidifier from old boiler

The amount of steam generated would be much too much.

Too bad the radiators are not still there, as the cost of heating the house would have been much less costly than forced air. Of course the old steam system would have needed some repairs, but would still have been a better solution than most cheap modern replacements.--NBC

Mark Eatherton

Invitation for black mold....

You would be raising the humidity so high that any spot that is slightly cool would cause a potential for mold growth due to the condensing steam vapors.



Not recommended. Could result in the house having to be torn down, and your insurance most probably excludes mold coverages.



ME

davis4459

mold risk

ME  I wondered about the risk of mold with my goofy idea.  I guess the Direct Injection Steam Humidifier for forced air systems are tuned to the system's capacity ... much smaller steam demand.



Can you think of any clever ways to use my 104 BTU boiler?  To heat the basement; pipes only;  What happens when there are too few radiators in a steam system? 



Dave

ChrisJ

steam

Too little radiation = constantly shutting off due to pressure which is terrible on effieincy.



Someone on here was using a steam boiler to steam seafood, I think it was lobster?  That seems pretty creative.

davis4459

lobsters

yes, what an image .... my basement filled with lobsters.  With 104K BTU i guess I could cook about 100 lobsters at a time.    ... flown in from Maine, of course