Need Radiator/Convector Carpentry Ideas

New England SteamWorks

I have a customer with steam heat on the 1st floor, and electric baseboard on the 2nd. This spring they'd like to convert the 2nd floor to steam for obvious reasons.

Oddly, one of the rooms has a piece of 1" black pipe running from it down to the basement. I am not quite sure it was intended for steam because the depth in the basement is a few inches too much to allow for pitch back to the main, but I can't guess at it's purpose otherwise. There's no plugged Tee on the original main either.

Anyway, the room in question has a built in wall cabinet with drawers and such on top of the pipe (see picture). The 3 drawers will obviously have to come out, but I am a little worried about the radiator being buried back in there and not heating the bedroom. One thought is to just put canning over the opening. The second thought is to only have openings at the top and bottom in an attempt to get some convection/air flowing out into the room. Thoughts?




You can just see the stubbed up pipe underneath...

Danny Scully

Is it just this 1 room getting a steam rad? What’s to the right of the dresser, a bench?

Steamhead

First question- is the pipe big enough to supply enough steam to heat the room?

If so- any reason you can't go horizontal under the drawers and put the rad under the window?

Fred

Are those ceramic tiles under that cabinet? Maybe the location where an old gas fireplace use to be? Any signs of brick on the sides or back that might indicate a chimney was removed?
I'd be inclined to remove the cabinet in total and install a free standing radiator.

New England SteamWorks

The tiles are linoleum, the 1" pipe will handle things. They like the built in. If I went horizontal to the window bench I'd loose that bottom drawer, and the drawers under the windows too.

Danny Scully

So what are you proposing exactly?

New England SteamWorks

I am proposing @Danny Scully that you super-smart guys weigh in on how to best attach a radiator to that pipe and heat the room!

Fred

How about taking that pipe straight up @New England SteamWorks and adding some radiation on top of those three drawers with maybe some decorative cover over it. If need be, a radiator fan in there to move the air?

New England SteamWorks

That's an interesting idea @Fred. See, I knew you guys were smart. Keep 'em coming!

Danny Scully

Well I’m confused, are you more concerned with keeping the drawers or installing a radiator? That’s what i meant. Did you have an idea that saved the drawers and you were just wondering how the grilles should be situated? I would extend the runout to the right under the window and install a cast iron convector. You’d lose whatever draw is under the window, but you could still keep the face of the draw where the runout begins and use it as an access panel.

New England SteamWorks

No, they're not concerned about loosing those 3 drawers.

Danny Scully

So you don’t like my convector idea? Go with your idea then: remove the cabinets, install free standing rad, utilize cover techniques found in EDR.

the_donut

How’s wall space? Would a princess unit work?

New England SteamWorks

What's a Princess unit? And yes @Danny Scully I do like your idea. But it does seem like a little more work...

Chris_L

Put the radiator on (e.g., http://www.steamradiators.com/orderingpages/charlestonpro.html) or recessed in the wall where the person is standing in the photo. Then the cabinet can stay. (Just make sure there is clearance for the drawers to open.)

SuperJ

Is there such thing as a steam radiant ceiling panel?

Fred

SuperJ said:

Is there such thing as a steam radiant ceiling panel?

It would be a wall hung unit, mounted on the ceiling, with enough pitch to allow condensate to drain.

the_donut

Princess on page 71. A tube style wall mount. Lots of these around my neck of the woods. Got a building where 10 of these aren’t in use.

KC_Jones

Ok, how competent is the carpenter that would do the work?

I say keep everything.

Go under the window with some kind of convector or even a small rad.

Shorten the drawer depth to allow clearance for whatever you put in there. Cut out the baseboard trim to allow for an air intake. Possibly add some sheet metal to create a duct of sorts. then add slots or a grille in the top of that window seat.

They lose some drawer space, but the impact should be minimal. The whole idea depends on the skill set of the people involved.

ratio

KC_Jones said:

The whole idea depends on the skill set of the people involved.

QFT

New England SteamWorks

It's in!

AMservices

Nice! Will there be something covering the opening or does it stay as is?
What do you estimate the BTU output of the radiator is, when you factor the cabinet design and the color?

RomanP

You can even make cuts on the top and install nice looking registers. I’d warn your customer that heat from seam radiator can warp the cabinet though

RomanP

Kinda like these left bottom by staircase