adding baseboard water to a steam system

keith_A

I have a problem and question. I recently lost 2 radiators on the second floor (steam riser was hidden in a old window weight sash box and had to be cut and capped, long story I wont bore you with the details). I have plaster/lathe walls, had a plumber over he said the least destructive way to get something back in the walls to get heat back to the 2nd floor from the basement would be to add a hot water heater to my boiler ( peerless series ec/ect model # EC/ECT-03-W/S). Think he said he could pressurize the hot water heater with the boiler and make the whole second floor a separate zone leaving the 1st floor as steam heat and 2nd floor as water baseboard heat. Is this a good idea or should I have the walls broken out and new risers added to the main to reconnect the 2 radiators I lost. Although those radiators cant be in the same spot anymore and wont be under windows, Thanks for any feedback in advance

JStar

Steam/hot water

Yes, it can be done, but how will it affect the steam system? Once you remove radiators, the existing boiler might be 2x oversized. The hot water zone cannot account for more than 20-30% of the boiler size, and does not get counted in the total size of the boiler.



I would stick with steam if at all possible.

keith_A

thanks for the quick reply

thanks for the reply Joe. I would rather keep the steam, the issue is really cosmetic, breaking the walls won't be so simple either, Plaster walls and multiple piece crown molding that 2 plumbers have already said they wouldn't touch. They think I should do exposed pipes and box them in, The reason I lost the riser is a 10 foot wide arched window in the front of the house naturally the old steam pipe was smack in the middle of the old bank of windows. Would it be smarter then to run the water baseboard only to replace those 2 radiators and leave the other 2 rooms on the second floor remain on the steam system

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Running

A condensate loop of the bottom of a steam boiler, a condensate loop, is the best way to go. Your system will be more efficient with two zones, You can run the steam downstairs only when you need it, and run the upstairs baseboard only when your sleeping.



Thanks, Bob Gagnon