is it worth changing steam heat

nycpa

I have a one pipe steam heating. Is it worth it to ch ange to change to water heating? Should i change to baseboard or use existing radiators. What do you guys think.

Mark_125

Unlikely to be worth it

Hi nycpa,

Just a homeowner here, not a pro, but I think you'll find most people here will say it won't be worth it. You don't know what condition your radiators and piping are in - given that hot water runs at much higher pressures than steam, your existing piping might not be up to the task.

There is no reason that a properly balanced and configured steam system running at low pressures with plenty of venting cannot be the best heating system you ever had.

-Mark

JStar

Steam

In one word...no.



In many words...it'll never be worth the investment. Steam can be as efficient or more efficient than hot water. Are you having any problems with the system that has led to the option of ripping it out?



The only change I would ever make is to convert the 1-pipe system to 2-pipe. You have a lot more flexibility with 2-pipe that can yield some incredible system efficiency.

Jamie Hall

Joe's absolutely right

In one word, no.



In addition to the problems already noted I might add...



you might, just possibly, be able to use your existing radiators -- but it would take a good deal of work on each one, with no guarantee at all that the work would result in a usable radiator.



With the existing radiators, unless you have added a good bit of insulation you would probably be under radiated; hot water produces a lot less heat than steam for a given radiator size.



To convert you would have to run all new return piping -- and would be wise to run all new supply piping.  That's a lot of pipe and disturbance.



Balanced against that -- why?  Granted that you can get slightly better apparent efficiency out of a perfectly designed and maintained mod/con hot water system, would it be worth the investment?  Probably not; note "slightly" and "perfectly" in the above sentence.



Invest your effort into bringing your steam system up to snuff, if you have problems.

nycpa

no problems yet

I asked cause my boiler is 30 years old might have to change so why not get a modern system. I feel like steam specialist plumbers are dying out and steam boiler selections arent plenty. My system seemd fine, no leaks, house is warm, gas bill isnt too bad but why not get an experts opinion. Once in a while i get water hammer and banging pipes but its only on cold days and infrequent, one bathroom radiator takes a while to heat up but i guess i can make the vent hole bigger.

Jamie Hall

Permit me to comment

on your concerns, which I can understand.



First, good steam men and women aren't really dying out -- there are a good many of them around, and they many of them are training up even younger people to carry on.  Granted, one does have to look around or bit -- there are, understandably, many more plumbers and forced air folks out there than steam guys and gals.  For what it's worth, finding really good hot water heat guys and gals is almost as hard; the stuff looks easy, but it isn't.



Second, there is a very good, and remarkably wide, selection of modern steam boilers available.  In many ways, it is actually easier to set them up for best efficiency than it is to set up a mod/con -- and they use minimal electricity (just the burner) to operate, in contrast to either forced air (that fan!) or hot water (those pumps...).



So do not be concerned...



On a 30 year old system, it may be possible to improve its operation considerably with  relatively minor tweaks.  Hang around The Wall for a while, or better yet get yourself one or more of the excellent books offered on this site to understand more about how your system operates.

ChicagoCooperator

Has anybody here ever successfully

Has anybody here (really, this should be a separate, hypothetical thread) ever converted a one pipe system to hydronic using the European injection valves (can't remember the correct name)?