Whole new heating system to house built in early 1900's

JordanO

Hi, new to the site here. My wife and I are going to begin a restoration of an old two story brick house in Colorado (3,000 square feet). It was built in the early 1900's.
The previous owner at one point quite some time ago replaced the heating system with forced air. My wife and I are not fans at all of this... we prefer the comfort and ambiance of old cast iron heaters. Further, the previous owner, in order to fit in the ducts, installed a drop ceiling that will have to go immediately.
With all of this said, we had to install a hot water heating system in our previous home. We converted old steam radiators to be able to handle this (we had to add a few as well). The system works awesome, the guys who put it in did a great job, and we are very happy with it. The only problem is that it cost a fortune! I believe near $25,000. The boiler itself was close to $10,000.
I don't have room in the budget to spend that on heating for this next house. Any recommendations for a very affordable hot water system with old radiators? I don't plan on completely gutting the house, however, I can tear open a few walls if needed.
Thanks,
Jordan

nicholas bonham-carter

First thing to do is to use the SlantFin program from their website to calculate the heatloss for the house on a room by oom basis. This will tell you the BTU requirements for each room.
Second job is to get an idea of the sizes of radiators which will radiate that amount of heat. Make sure that any used radiators you buy have a top and bottom connection. Some steam only rads only have the bottom connection, and cannot be purged of air. The museum here has some radiator sizing charts (choose hot water, not steam values).
Most likely a hot water system will be your best choice, piped in flexible oxygen barrier pex tubing. This tubing, probably about 3/4 inch size (depending on the BTU's it must carry) can be snaked up through walls to some degree, if it is well supported.
Depending on the fuels available to you, you can now select the boiler, whose capacity must be equal to the heatloss, with some extra for any excessive domestic hot water use.
There are some excellent books available from the shop here on hydronics.
When you are finished with all the planning, procuring, and installation, that cost of professional installation will become more understandable!--NBC

JordanO

Thanks for the response.
Lets say I'm able to get everything designed, get the radiators appropriately sized for every room, and can get the PEX run. Basically, down to choosing a heat source. I've read in several places that people opt out of expensive boilers and instead install large tankless water heaters in a closed loop system. I understand that I need to find one capable of heating the water to 180 degrees, and the BTU output most be sufficient. But is this a legitimate option? Or do I need to stick with a more traditional boiler?
Jordan

Paul Pollets

Only a boiler can develop temperatures of 180 without premature failure. Tankless water heaters are a very poor choice. While budget may determine your choices, a system design of 140 for heat emitters allows use of a mod-con and maximum efficiency.

Paul48

Let's put things in perspective......How much will you lay out for a new vehicle? They are money pits, we all know that. On a house of that age, you might have to replace the roof. Rip two layers of asphalt shingles and one wood shingle. Re-sheet the roof. How much do you figure that would cost? It'll keep ya dry, but not cozy or comfortable. The heating system is the "bones" of the house. It's worth every penny of a high percentage of the total cost of the home. I come home, dirty and sore, after work. So, I understand money concerns. Keep the future in mind when designing now. Even if you have to cheap-out on the boiler for now, if the emitters are designed correctly, you will be all set to put a mod/con in, in the future.

JStar

Three words: Two pipe steam.

JordanO

Thanks again for the comments. Can you explain two pipe steam... with vacuum? What are the advantages of having steam over hot water? Are the upfront costs comparable? I am open to steam...

Paul Pollets

I'd doubt there are many residential steam experts in Colorado. Id call Heatmeister or Mark Eatherton for a consult.

ChrisJ

I vote for steam as well.

What are the benefits?
No bleeding
No pumps
Less mass
Lower pressure means less chances of leaks and because it's not full of water it won't flood the place if it does leak.

Don_197

Not to mention it is VERY easy to design one that will run without power.........millivolt system.......generates the half volt dc it needs to run all by its little ole lonesome.........you'll be the talk of the town!

GW

Don, where does one acquire a milli volt steam boiler?