Set Back or Steam Heat

Pete123

Does it make sense to set back a steam heat system? I set back to 60 degrees at about 10 pm, and for the system to be at 70 degrees when I go downstairs at 7 am. This is also partially due to the fact that it gets too hot upstairs if we don't set back.



But, in general, does this type of set back save money? Or have any other positive or negative affects on the sytem? THX!

BobC

Setback

Most find deep setbacks cause trouble with little or no savings. If your going to setback by more than a few degrees you might try staging the recovery so the system only has to recover a few degrees at a time.



Might be worth your while to fix whatever is causing the upstairs to overheat and thus make yourself more comfortable and save some fuel.



Bob

Jamie Hall

There has been

over the years a remarkable number of threads on setbacks; it seems to be one of those topics that just won't go away.  Probably because there also seems to be a fairly wide range of opinions!



A sort of general consensus emerges, though: for steam radiator systems (and also for gravity hot water and radiant) any setback of more than three to five degrees, on a daily basis, is not likely to save much money, and may actually cost money.  My own feeling on the subject -- which is quite empirical, there being too many variables -- is that if the system takes more than 45 minutes to recover, the setback is too big.



Bob's suggestion of a staged recovery has some merit, if a larger setback seems warranted for some reason, although even there...

nicholas bonham-carter

Fix the problems

If the upstairs heats at a different rate to the downstairs, then there is a problem with the balance of the system. If you get that balancing problem fixed, then both floors will have steam at the same time. Main venting is likely the problem here.

Once that is done, you will find it better to keep a lower constant setting on the thermostat all the time.--NBC

ChrisJ

setback

As others have said you need to fix your balancing problem beforw worrying about a setback.  My system if set to maintain 70F will maintain that in every room in the house on both floors.  I do a 3 degree recovery as I like to sleep in a colder house and have trouble keeping my bedroom cooler then other rooms not to mention the wife would complain about it being too cold during the day even if I could.



I'm using a Honeywell VisionPro 8110 thermostat and as of last week have been messing around with tricking it a little in the morning.  Nitetime temp is 67F and I have it go to 69F at 6:15AM using its intelligent recovery thing.  Then I have it go to 70F at 6:45AM.  So far, as I expected when it switches from 69 to 70 at 6:45AM the burner doesn't even turn back on because the house is already 70-71 due to slight overshoot.  I'm doing this trick to reduce overshoot and it seems ot be working.  I'm going to continue to watch it as the week gets colder.  I'm not doing a staged recovery as Bobc mentioned as I do not need to, I'm just tired of the house ending up at 72-73F.



As others have said some steam systems cannot tolerate a setback and it ends up costing more money.  It all depends on the system and how its tuned and from your description your system is in need of a lot of help.





Can you post pictures of your boiler piping, main vents and radiator vents?  It would also help if you could list what actual vents are in use and we can try to help you straighten it out.