Residential home steam heat problem

zimkin

I have always noticed but it seems worse now that part of my home ( built in cast iron steam ) heaters are slow to heat and quick to cool compared to other parts of my home. After doing a little research, hear is what I have. Part of my house from steam the header has about 65' of piping with a Hoffman #75 near the end of the pipe just prior to the condensate return. The problem side has about 44' feet of piping from the same steam header with a Dole No. 5 Main vent near the end of the pipe just prior to the condensate return. The condensate returns tie in together in the basement and return to the boiler. I'm thinking that the Dole #5 is bad and might not be the correct unit that someone installed at some point. My home was built in 1938, I replaced the Hoffman 75 some years back which is what was there prior, it just went bad. Would you recommend I replace the Dole No. 5 with a Hoffman 75? There are 10 built in radiation units on the pipe with the Hoffman 75 and there are 7 built in radiation units on the pipe with the Dole No. 5. Any advise would be greatly appreciated, point of interest my A-3 oil burner is original from when my house was built.

Abracadabra

Use bigmouth vents from Barnes&Jones. The main venting you have is insufficient

Jamie Hall

Indeed. BigMouths -- that Dole is doing you no favours.

I might add that it is likely that your original oil burner there isn't doing you too many favours, either. I hope that you at least have it professionaly cleaned (and the boiler!) and tuned up yearly...

MilanD

In addition to above, if it seems the heat is still bad after the replacement vent is installed, check radiator vents too. Some of them may have gone bad too.

New England SteamWorks

The good news is: Between your boiler, burner, and vents, you have nowhere to go but up (big) efficiency wise, should you be despondent about your current fuel bills.

And, yes, Big Mouths are the way to go.

JUGHNE

Do your 2 condensate return pipes tie together below the water line of the boiler.....that is into a wet return?

Steamhead

Is that boiler an American-Standard A-3? If so, it's not from 1938- those were made in the 1960s and early 1970s. Does it have the original American-Standard burner on it?

zimkin

Thanks for the info, the burner is not original. I thought the boiler was. Boiler replacement is on my agenda. I'm sure I can get a oil fired steam set up that will do better than 75% eff. My house is about 2,000 square ft. Any oil fired steam boiler recommendation would be greatly appreciated and thanks for your help.

Ironman

Burnham's MegaSteam.

zimkin

Here is a picture of the valve

zimkin

The pictures of the valve is leaking, I have re packed two other valves successfully but they were made by a different manufacturer. This valve had a spring in it but it has totally deteriated, I repacked the valve using graphite packing and have successfully slowed it down to a manageable level but without the Constant Spring pressure I know it's only a matter of time. Anyone have an idea about a spring replacement? Easier than a valve replacement. On another note, the group recommended I replace my two main steam valves with a Barne & Jones "Big Mouth", well I did and my radiators are hotter than ever and also faster than ever, thanks for the great advise. My home was built in 1938.

John Mills_5

zimkin said:

I'm sure I can get a oil fired steam set up that will do better than 75% eff.

If that 75% figure is something a tech measured with a combustion analyzer, that would be when the boiler is fully warmed and burning the best it can. It doesn't figure how inefficient the boiler is during warmup, after a burn cycle or standby. An ancient piece of scrap iron could be as low as 55% in "annual" efficiency vs mid to upper 80s for the Megasteam.

zimkin

Thanks John, that just might be my summer project. I really appreciate your input. By the way, my two new Main Steam vents "Big Mouth" by Barnes & Jones is are working great. My radiators have never been as hot as they now get and my heat comes up faster.