kicking the city steam habit

dee davis

Hello Folks,



I’m a lady that has only known the joys and convenience of being on Indianapolis City Steam.

So I was very saddened and upset when I was informed that my local steam/gas utility was shutting down the line to my house.

I am now doing my homework and trying to find the most reputable companies to get price quotes for a boiler.

I have no experience with boilers or their maintenance but am doing what I can to inform myself.

Here’s my questions to you folks...



What type of questions should I be asking mechanical companies?



What are the best brands of boilers for residential applications?



Thanks for your time,



Deedee Davis

nicholas bonham-carter

Boiler homework

The first thing to do is to look for a real steam man for the installation. Try the find a contractor button above here, or go to your local plumbing /heating supply house, and ask an older counterman who is good with steam.

Even before the steam guru arrives, do a search here for EDR, which is the heat radiation capacity of radiators, and boilers. As the new boiler must be matched to the total radiation (EDR), the radiators must be measured and compared on a chart to determine what the value is. Finally all the radiator values must be added up for the total. Boilers are not only sized in BTU, but also in square feet of EDR. Soon you'll be doing it for your friends who are in the same boat. The important thing is to avoid having a boiler which is too small or large for your radiation.

Is this 1-pipe, or 2-pipe steam?

Do a search on the internet of various brands (Peerless, Weil McClain , Burnham, etc,) to see if there is a stocking distributor in your town. The distributor may have some names as well.

Make sure you have adequate Main vents on the system to let the air out!--NBC

dee davis

Re: Boiler Homework

Thank you for your advice. I will read very thoroughly on equivalent direct radiation.

I have a two pipe system.

RobG

We Got Steam Heat

In addition to what NBC said you should check out the shop section at the top of the page. The "We Got Steam Heat" book is an excellent resource for a homeowner who is new to the steam world. It is fun and greatly informative. Once you are done absorbing it you can re-sell it to your neighbors who are in the same predicament as you



Rob

dee davis

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion, Rob! Just got a used copy off of amazon.

Greybeard

District Heat-Don't Give Up

Consider yourself lucky to have had district heat.  Where it is available, it is generally for large buildings, not private houses.   There are exceptions: Iceland comes to mind.



I would not, however, give in so easily.  Your steam company (Citizens Thermal) is owned by the City of Indianapolis, so you should call your representative in City government to complain about the threatened loss of service.  I just read Citizens Thermal's tariffs.  They list several reason's for which the company can discontinue service.  Not among them is the company simply not wanting to do business with you.  By the way, Citizens is regulated as a public utility by the state of Indiana, so you may have some recourse there.  So before you spend several thousand dollars on a steam boiler, you may want to get together with you neighbors to lobby City Hall to maintain your steam service.



I'd appreciate seeing some pictures of how the steam distribution is set-up in your basement.  I'm also curious about the cost of heating a house with district heat.  Good luck.

Steamhead

Indianapolis

is known for its government trying to privatize everything it possibly can. This may be another privatization attempt.

John Mills_5

I didn't know

Citizens Thermal had homes on the line. They seem to have about every major building downtown on it!



We usually refer people to Baker Mechanical (formerly Baker Boiler) for a big steam job or repair. So far no complaints from the customers we referred.

dee davis

system photo

Here's how my system looks. 6 zones- one you can't see up top. Small radiator on the bottom right is not connected.