Steam or hot water boiler?

seniorB648

I’m a small contractor in Maryland, not a lot of boiler experience. Looked at replacement of older gas boiler “Bryant” model #234-5PW input BTU is 160,000. Not sure if this is a steam or hot water system, how would I tell? Thank you!

Danny Scully

In all honesty @seniorB648, if you can’t tell, you shouldn’t be replacing. I don’t mean to be rude or discourage you from asking questions, but at the same time there is a decent amount of knowledge required to properly replace a boiler. If you can’t tell the difference between steam and hot water, there is lot more for you to learn before doing boiler replacements. Post some pictures though if you’d like and we can at least tell you what it is.

Big Ed_4

A steam boiler would have a gauge glass assembly to show you the water level . Glass tube

Steamhead

Where in MD?

seniorB648

@mr. Scully, with all due respect I certainly have enough experience to replace a boiler it’s not rocket science, only piping. Been in this trade 35 plus years mainly on the plumbing side although I have installed many hot water boilers commercial and residential. @Big Ed there was no sight glass on this unit it’s a two pipe system without separate zones and one circulator pump. Thank you for your help. @ Steamhead this job is in Catonsville just outside of Baltimore, single family house. Thank you!

Steamhead

Was this one of the houses that got flooded recently?

seniorB648

Yes basement had 2.5’ of water in it.

Danny Scully

You’re right it’s not rocket science, it’s harder @seniorB648. Good luck.

Grallert

It's really important to know what it is you're replacing before you replace it. That's step #1

Steamhead

seniorB648 said:

it’s not rocket science, only piping.

How about the combustion test?

STEAM DOCTOR

-Combustion test.
-Piping.There is a lot more to piping then just connecting the pipes. Pipe size, pipe and component orientation etc. Proper piping materials
- Boiler sizing.
-Proper circulator selection.
ETC ETC ETC

Steve Minnich

There’s companies in my area that have been installing boilers for 30-40 years and still doing them wrong.

Solid_Fuel_Man

> @Stephen Minnich said:
> There’s companies in my area that have been installing boilers for 30-40 years and still doing them wrong.

Couldn't agree more!

mikeg2015

seniorB648 said:

@mr. Scully, with all due respect I certainly have enough experience to replace a boiler it’s not rocket science, only piping. Been in this trade 35 plus years mainly on the plumbing side although I have installed many hot water boilers commercial and residential. @Big Ed there was no sight glass on this unit it’s a two pipe system without separate zones and one circulator pump. Thank you for your help. @ Steamhead this job is in Catonsville just outside of Baltimore, single family house. Thank you!

So you did notice it had a circulator, but you still weren't sure it was hot water or steam.

Odds are good the boiler is grossly oversized... especially since it's Maryland, not Maine. I'll bet it's at least This is you one opportunity for the next 40 years to fix it AND save money on boiler cost and efficiency.

I'd first use your heating bills to determine your heat loss (more accurate than trying to calculate real insulation values). Go up 1 size from there. Now add up the EDR of your radiators. Determine the EDR for 160F water. (This will guarantee and EWT >150F without needing a protection loop). Add 15% pickup factor for insulated pipes, 30% if in a crawlspace or with uninsulated header.

Use the larger of the two.

FYI - my 3200sqft brick Victorian in cold Iowa, if I had hot water instead of steam, would only need a 150,000 BUT input boiler. With steam, I need 200k, to better match radiators and larger pickup factor. Only about a 4-5% difference in efficiency however, steam boiler will just run shorter cycles and lose more heat to the basement... 1/3 of that becomes radiant floor heat for the 1st floor.