Combining two rooms. Radiator questions.

JWells

I am located in Knightdale, North Carolina. I have one-pipe steam system in an older house. I am removing a wall and combining two rooms, each of which has a radiator at present. I have some questions. As you will see, I don't know a lot about steam heating.

1. For room layout reasons, I would like to end up with just one radiator after the renovation. Will the heat output of that one radiator need to be roughly equal to the output of the two original radiators? (The size of the combined room will be 24' X 12' X 10' ceilings. The original rooms are 12' X 12'.)

2. I have thought about replacing the two cast iron radiators in these rooms with a single modern, European-style, hangs-on-the-wall unit? Are there any serious downsides to doing this?

3. No recommendations for my town and the surrounding towns came up on the "Find A Contractor" page. Do you have anyone to recommend in the Piedmont North Carolina area? I have someone I have used for repairs but this project is a bit beyond what he is comfortable doing.

Thanks.

Jay Wells

Jamie Hall

Question 1 -- yes, more or less. Your best bet will be to find one bigger radiator -- but that may be easier said than done in your area.

Question 2 -- the European style hands on the wall units are not really meant for steam. You might be able to persuade it to work, but...

And an in between comment here: the output of a steam radiator is very closely related the effective area of the surface of the radiator, called "EDR".

Question 3 -- Hmm... that could be a real problem. Farthest south I've seen on the Wall is the Richmond, VA area. Your best bet may be to buy and study and learn Dan's book "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" from either the store on the Wall above or Amazon -- and then find a good plumber type who is willing to learn and get them to learn the book, too, and go from there.

And ask us plenty of questions!