Converting steam boiler to baseboard boiler

Sil7

We have a house with a 2 year old steam heat boiler and 90 year old radiators and piping. We would like to keep the boiler and replace all the piping and radiators with baseboards.  So can I convert the boiler and hook it up to a baseboard radiator system. HOw complex is it?  I have a plumber that says that he can't do it. 

nicholas bonham-carter

conversion to baseboards.

keep the radiators, as they work best with steam. baseboards lack the thermal mass to keep the heat radiating.--nbc

Mark N

Converting

Are you looking to convert your system from steam to a hot water system using baseboards? A steam boiler can be converted to be a hot water boiler. Why would you want to do this?

Henry

Two pipe system

If it is a two pipe system with steam traps on the rads, GO FOR IT!  Welcome to energy efficiency at 94% plus and not around 65%! We have done a good number of conversions from steam to hot water mod-con! The rads are oversized due to >influenza>! The boilers are also over sized! We have reduced cont=consumption of 4500M3 to under 1800M3 of natural gas! On our last conversion, we had only one riser fail in a 40 unit luxiry unit! Steam is to be used for production and NOT for energy eficient heating! I dare anyone to prove me and the industry wrong! Vacuum systems were a try to reduce energy consumption but are no match for mod-con! I welcome ANY math that can prove me wrong!

Steamhead

Every "study" we've seen on the subject

has compared a steam system on the verge of total failure to a brand-new hot-water system. This is not, never has been and never will be a valid comparison. The only thing it's good for is pushing people to do work that is not needed to reduce their fuel consumption.



Another unanswered question is how long these mod-cons will last, since building owners who would neglect a steam system will certainly do the same with their mod-cons. This magnifies the problem since a mod-con needs more maintenance than the usual atmospheric or power-burner gas boiler. I seem to remember ME skipped maintenance on his mod-con to see what would happen, and the efficiency dropped alarmingly- and BTW, how would that affect the usual PVC venting?



Henry, if you want to keep saying this, YOU need to come up with the numbers. We want to see a comparison of a steam system in peak condition up against hot-water in peak condition. So far, we have not been able to locate any such comparison. YOU are taking the position, so YOU support it- if you can.

nicholas bonham-carter

an interesting experiment

if you use the same boiler, and convert the system to hot water, you will have an over-sized boiler, with under-sized radiators. the boiler will be more likely to short-cycle.

is your aim greater efficiency, and comfort? then balance the system.

if the aim is more floor space by removing the radiators and substituting the baseboards, then use a different hot water boiler, which will be sized properly for the heat-loss of the house.--nbc

Jamie Hall

right on,

good buddy...



I'd love to see the numbers on this, and also the numbers (although we don't talk price here) on cost/benefit ratio and time to recovery of capital investment...

jumper

did it long ago

Several projects converting steam to hot water. Actually repurposed boiler a couple of times. There's nothing wrong with an oversized boiler, it's the burner that must be down sized. These projects always end up being very expensive. You end up replacing just about everything.



Being retired I have time to think about those projects and I consider them a failure. It would have been much more practical to improve the original steam heating system. There's an article on this site about what was done at Peter Stuyvesant Village in NYC. I don't have numbers but theoretically it takes less work to move heat with condensing vapor than by pumping hot water. And it's work that costs money, not heat.

Steamhead

I've made the same challenge

to several others over the years... haven't had an answer yet, except for one guy who told me to get in touch with someone else for the numbers.... (sound of very loud buzzer)....WRONG ANSWER! I think I might still have that thread bookmarked >:-)



If you've noticed, pretty much everyone on this board refrains from publishing savings figures unless there is proper documentation. That is the only sound basis of reporting fuel savings, and it breaks down like this:



1. Condition of existing system and problems/failure points (what you found when you got there for the first time);



2. Repairs and upgrades you made;



3. Results (better comfort, fuel savings adjusted for degree-days).



#1 is where a lot of "studies" disqualify themselves. I remember digging thru one alleged "study" to find the briefest mention of the fact that the steam boilers were being controlled manually- the entire control system had failed. Yet the piece was written as a generalization of steam systems. I can only conclude that it was written as a mod-con sales effort, not an actual scientific work. Not surprising, eh?

Xray

Been there, done that

I once did that on a 2-story home.  Sized the baseboard properly, zoned each floor, added an indirect water heater and converted nthe boiler.  Did it back in 1998 and the old boiler is still kicking.  Not as efficient as a condensing boiler, but a heck of a lot less maintenance-intensive.

Steamhead

And what was your #1?

1. Condition of existing system and problems/failure points



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