Hmm.....Something Doesn't Seem Right Here

New England SteamWorks

KC_Jones

Someone's solution to failed open vents? In all seriousness is there a functional purpose for this, ever?

luketheplumber

"trust me I am a plumber"

JUGHNE

How about basement apartments where the steam mains are, too much noise in the bedrooms?? Tenants complaining??

We would like to hear the rest of the story.

New England SteamWorks

@JUGHNE gets the prize.

What happens when they freeze though, hmm?

JUGHNE

Those look to be small vents. Bigger vents might be quieter.
A soffit built inside around a cluster of air vents with suspended ceiling tiles might muffle the sound and still be accessible. FWIW

luketheplumber

do you have a picture from inside?

ratio

AHA! I see it all now. In the first pic, the rust stain on the wall is not directly underneath the pipe, leading me to deduce that an unscrupulous tenant is coming out in the dead of night to turn the pipe down and allow steam out to heat the ground underneath, thus extending the growing season just enough to ensure an unfair advantage to his (or her!) award-winning roses.

New England SteamWorks

No, I haven't been there yet. But they say when it gets really cold they have no heat.

And, -it's a 2-pipe system. Don't know if the radiators are vented yet, or if it is a trapped system.

Fred

What's even more strange is that those vents all look like they are up towards the ceilings of the first floor apartments. Are they vents on risers?

New England SteamWorks

Hmm. What's really nice is to have @Fred back.

ChrisJ

If your vents are loud, they're too small.
There should never be enough back pressure in a system to create enough velocity through any vent to cause enough noise to be an issue.

Especially main vents.

I could put my main vents right next to my pillow and I'd never be bothered.

gerry gill

i have to admit...i have never seen that done before

JUGHNE

I do agree with you ChrisJ, but some people are sensitive to night sounds.....my wife runs a fan year around just to have a constant white noise at night.
But larger vents cost money.
Probably less money than punching thru the wall 6 times and piping these in.
Also being a 2 pipe system all the venting might be in the boiler room thru a cond pump or dry returns.
It should be an interesting fix.

ChrisJ

JUGHNE said:

I do agree with you ChrisJ, but some people are sensitive to night sounds.....my wife runs a fan year around just to have a constant white noise at night.
But larger vents cost money.
Probably less money than punching thru the wall 6 times and piping these in.
Also being a 2 pipe system all the venting might be in the boiler room thru a cond pump or dry returns.
It should be an interesting fix.

I run a fan at night too.

EBEBRATT-Ed

no matter what it probably has to do with running excessive pressure

SeanBeans

Funny I just saw this today as well, kinda.

Fred

Hey @New England SteamWorks ! Great to be back! I've been busy. I bought some commercial property earlier this year and I am working with a group to build a Co-Op Super market, on that site, in what has historically been a "Food Desert" Our goal is to raise $4 million dollars to fund this project. We now have $3 Million in membership and Corporate donations and, with just a million to go, we are finalizing our design plans with an architect and we plan to break ground in the December timeframe with our Grand Opening in late 2019. The Market will be Member and employee owned. I feel like I can start to get back to some of the things I enjoy, like HH, even though the last mile on that project is likely to be the toughest, we will get there. The property has a 9000 sq.ft. masonry building on a 1.5 acre parcel and while the structural evaluation deemed the property structurally sound, we need about twice that space and rather than add an addition onto it, the team feels like we should start from the ground up and build exactly what we need with more modern amenities, so that building is being scheduled for demo. It's a shame to waste a perfectly good building but it is what it is and that's what a Co-Op is all about; Community decisions

Steamhead

New England SteamWorks said:

No, I haven't been there yet. But they say when it gets really cold they have no heat.

And, -it's a 2-pipe system. Don't know if the radiators are vented yet, or if it is a trapped system.

Betcha it's a Trane system- might be an Orifice type. I don't recall seeing that vent configuration on anything else.