General Steam Heat optimization

smokeythebear

First time posting, go easy on me!



My oil bill has been around $7,500 for the past few years, and that seems really high considering the house is only about 1,500 sqft. I'm looking for ways to make the system more efficient, and to try and save some money. My oil company installed a new motor and fan after Hurricane Sandy (about 6 inches of water in the basement). There hasn't been much service done other than that.



Here are the facts:



The house was built in 1925, but has had a few reconfigurations which may be affecting the heat calculations. It is a two family home with steam heat (single zone, single pipe), and a thermostat on the first floor. There is a thermostat on the second floor, rigged up to a switch by the boiler that allows me to choose which thermostat calls for heat. I think this was a science project by the previous homeowner. The boiler is a Burnham, about 8 years old (pictures to follow).



On the first floor, there is a traditional radiator in each bedroom, and two in the main living room. No radiator in the kitchen or in the dining room. new sheetrock was put over the ceiling and walls at some point, and a few of the entranceways have been widened. Insulation was blown 15 years ago, and has settled. The windows are poor quality vinyl, about 10 years old. This floor heats up well, and stays warm. No major drafts.



The second floor was newly renovated. Each room has a steam baseboard. The layout has been reconfigured to be a more open floorplan. Spray foam insulation, brand new energy efficient windows and new insulation in the attic. This floor can get warm, but it takes a very long time. It's about 5-10 degrees cooler than the first floor at any time.



The boiler kicks on fairly often, two to three times an hour. Lots and lots of exhaust coming out the chimney.



I've considered switching to gas, but i've heard mixed reviews about using gas for steam heat (mainly that gas burns at a lower temperature, so the return on investment for the switch is therefore higher). I've considered switching to forced water base board, but the cost seems too high.



I plan on owning the house for 3-5 more years.



I'll get some pictures of the boiler and the system tomorrow. Any specific requests (name plate, wide shot, close ups of any connections, etc)?



Sorry this post is such a wall of text...I wanted to be thorough!

Jamie Hall

Two things stand out...

although there is a third.



The first is "lots and lots of exhaust"... Ah... not good.  Is there any way to measure how much water the boiler is using?  It shouldn't use much -- some systems run as little as a gallon a year.  Lots and lots of exhaust sounds dismayingly like a leaking boiler.  Is this white smoke?



The second is the mix of cast iron radiators and baseboard.  Baseboard does not deliver anything like as much heat as cast iron radiators do, for a variety of reasons.  Did anyone do a heat loss calculation for the renovated second floor, to find out if there is enough radiation?  Better yet, to find out if the amount of radiation related to the heat loss is similar to the amount of radiation to the heat loss on the first floor?  If there is amount of radiation is smaller relative to the load -- more closely matched -- on the second floor, it just won't produce the heat needed since the first floor -- with an excess, perhaps of radiation -- heats up much faster and has the thermostat.



The third more minor thing is that the boiler comes on two or three times and hour.  Most steam systems work best if the thermostat is set up to come on once per hour, more or less (this is an adjustment in the thermostat).  You had an odd situation, though, with that baseboard -- which cools down much more rapidly than cast iron, and so might work better on two cycles per hour.



Then of course there are details... like the venting on the baseboards as related to the regular radiators, and the main venting, and insulating all the steam mains... and...



I might add that natural gas is just as good a fuel for steam as oil is -- and is usually less expensive (if you have access to it, of course!).



But the first big question is that lots and lots of exhaust.  Let's hear more about that.

Bob Gagnon plumbing and heating

Shut The Boiler Off

With the electric switch, then overfill the boiler. a little ways past the top of the sight glass, check back in an hour or so, and if you have water at the base, it's leaking. Boilers often leak at the waterline. The bills seem very high, I would guess that you either have a leak of an extremely bad install, it is a good idea to change over to gas.



Thanks, Bob Gagnon