Will larger air valves make my unit warmer?

miker1754

This is my first winter living with steam heat in a large 1918 building with 14 units. I am on the top floor furthest from the boiler and pretty uncomfortable as my unit is only ever 62 degrees.

I've looked at the Honeywell programmable thermostat that is down in the boiler room and it is set to 72 degrees and drops a few degrees overnight and during the day. There appears to be a Honeywell brand box in the second floor hallway right next to a wall mounted thermometer that shows that it stays around 70 degrees there. I assume that box is communicating with the basement thermostat but I'm not entirely certain.

The guy in our building in charge of the boiler has said that in order to get my unit warmer I should remove all radiator covers (three of our five radiators have them). He said the other options are replacing the air valves or turning up the building thermostat if everybody is chilly (it doesn't sound like they are). I looked at the valve size on the radiators that don't have covers and one is a size D, and one is a size 6. They look fairly new but who knows with stainless steel.

My question is how I can make my unit a bit more comfortable? Would removing those covers really make that much of a difference? Would replacing the air valves with larger ones draw more steam to my radiators as I am at the end of the line?

I appreciate any and all advice.

vaporvac

It all depends on the design of your rad cover. If typical, you could be seeing up to a 30% decrease in output. the colour of your rads can also affect this with the metallic paints losing the most.

nicholas bonham-carter

That sensor would do a better job if it were mounted inside your apartment.
Why is the super telling you what to do instead of taking care of it himself. He is exposing you to the risk of severe steam burns, by suggesting you start changing the vents, and the boiler starts.--NBC

miker1754

@vaporvac Do those reflectors I've seen people put behind radiators work at all? If I ran one up behind the radiator and have it curve forward away from the wall and attach to the front of the rads cover lid, would that help redirect airflow?

The paint on the rads under the cover are white but flaking really badly, the exposed rads are black.

miker1754

@nicholas bonham-carter I should mention there is only the one sensor in the second floor hallway and I am up on the third floor. I would love if it was in my apartment.

He's not exactly the super as everybody in the building owns their units. He just has the most experience with steam boilers so all heating questions are directed to him.

It's a fairly open building so if I was going to change any vents I could turn off the boiler and close the valve at the radiator first. Otherwise I could hire somebody to come do it but I didn't know if switching to larger air valves would have any affect anyway.

vaporvac

The reflectors work GREAT, but probably not in a typical enclosure.Someone posted a flor pic a few years ago and the difference was substantial. I pushed me to do it to do the rest of my rads attaching it to the wall. Matte black is the best colour for rads followed by brown and white... all matte. there area couple of great articles dealing with these issues in the library on this site. Although removing them may prove easiest, you might be able to modify your enclosures to BOOST the heat, I also did that with a couple of mine and notices a substantial difference.

Abracadabra

Main venting may need to be improved. Adding D vents to all your radiators might help as well. More information and pictures of the near boiler piping along with pressuretrol settings and cycle behavior of the boiler is needed.