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Hi- Need Help Selecting Valves and Main Vent to Balance Heating System

in Gas Heating
Hi everyone,
I recently moved into a 3 story brick home with gas-fueled steam heat. I'm having major issues in balancing the heat between floors (3rd floor won't heat enough, 1st floor is so hot I had to close the heat valves entirely... 2nd floor has the thermostat and is just right) In addition my first heating bill seems really high, so I suspect some work is in order. I know these are never perfect, but I'm assuming there is some valve work to do, and I need help selecting properly please!
The house is 22 x 44 feet, and has one main running from the rear to front in the basement in the center of the building. There are verticals in the front, center and another in the rear to go up to the second and 3rd floors. I've made a full diagram below including pipe diameters and approximate distances. Radiators appear original from the 1961 construction and are the smaller fin type. Seems to be only one main vent. No clue if there are others on the 3rd floor because they would be in a wall I'd like to avoid opening if I can!
All radiators are ~40" except for the bathrooms which are ~20" and the Entry hall at 35"
Can anyone help me select a main vent and valves? The top floor is all gorton "D" except for a 5 in the bathroom (center of building), which Gorton tells me is ideal. But the first and second floors are a mix of brands and models and I'd like to replace everything for proper balance. Ideally I can use gorton on the radiators as that seems the easiest system to understand and select, but I can use whatever works best for the main vent in the basement.
THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!
Diagram attached/below:

I recently moved into a 3 story brick home with gas-fueled steam heat. I'm having major issues in balancing the heat between floors (3rd floor won't heat enough, 1st floor is so hot I had to close the heat valves entirely... 2nd floor has the thermostat and is just right) In addition my first heating bill seems really high, so I suspect some work is in order. I know these are never perfect, but I'm assuming there is some valve work to do, and I need help selecting properly please!
The house is 22 x 44 feet, and has one main running from the rear to front in the basement in the center of the building. There are verticals in the front, center and another in the rear to go up to the second and 3rd floors. I've made a full diagram below including pipe diameters and approximate distances. Radiators appear original from the 1961 construction and are the smaller fin type. Seems to be only one main vent. No clue if there are others on the 3rd floor because they would be in a wall I'd like to avoid opening if I can!

All radiators are ~40" except for the bathrooms which are ~20" and the Entry hall at 35"
Can anyone help me select a main vent and valves? The top floor is all gorton "D" except for a 5 in the bathroom (center of building), which Gorton tells me is ideal. But the first and second floors are a mix of brands and models and I'd like to replace everything for proper balance. Ideally I can use gorton on the radiators as that seems the easiest system to understand and select, but I can use whatever works best for the main vent in the basement.
THANK YOU SO MUCH IN ADVANCE!
Diagram attached/below:

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Comments
Pipe sizes are measured by the inside diameter.
So could your 2 1/2" be the outside diameter?
The 1 3/4" would probably be 1 1/4" inside.
And would there be 45-50' of main pipe from the boiler to the vent?
The vent is a 1" fitting, which on a 90 degree elbow down to the return line.
I never knew pipe was measured by interior! (which makes sense and also explains why the exteriors were not exact on my dial caliper...)
Lastly, you are correct- 45-50 feet of main from boiler to the vent
I need to sort an adapter from the 1 inch pipe to the 3/4 inch valve fitting, so fingers crossed it all fits the clearance with that beam above...
From there, how would I research the valves themselves? Although i have the feeling based on research and what you gents are saying that the vent might fix everything...
As far as balancing the radiator vents, after fixing the main venting, see how the system works. If you need to balance some radiators, consider using either the Vent-Rite #1, Hoffman #1A or Maid-O-Mist vents in rooms that may still get too warm. Those are very good variable vents that you can adjust the amount of venting and experiment with rather than buying the fixed capacity vents.
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England.
Hoffman Equipped System (all original except boiler), Weil-Mclain 580, 2.75 gph Carlin, Vapourstat 0.5 -- 6.0 ounces per square inch
This protects it from water hammer.
Just be sure the horizontal nipple will drain back into the main.
The slope of the main is enough if you swing your first 90 back towards the main (parallel with main).
Also, any boiler piping pictures...…..
Also- a better-safe-than-sorry question: are these joints best handles with teflon, plumbing dope, or something else? (I'm guessing the latter?)
This forum has already been a lifesaver- a great community!
Also- I've been told I should shim the return line off the floor just a bit to avoid rust or water damage. Would you guys recommend composite (https://www.amazon.com/Nelson-WC8-32-15-50/dp/B000DEN2Z8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1544456659&sr=8-3&keywords=composite+shims), wood or plastic shims for this? Plastic makes the most sense but I worry about the heat transfer/resistance.
However if you change that piping in the future, I would lay 2" thick bricks under the piping. Gives clearance for pipe wrenching and a broom for cleaning. (you can kick the bricks around for through cleaning if you wish.) Also takes the bumps of fittings out of the pipe run, raises the drain valves up for hose connections, etc.
EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202744301871904.1073741828.1330391881&type=1&l=c34ad6ee78
I'm not sure you will need the bushing. I think the 45 will screw right into the pipe.
I looked at Gorton, MaidOMist, Vent Rite#1 and Varivalves. Trying to keep it simple, the Vent Rite#1 can go from about a #5 down to shut off, so it covers the radiators that need the least venting.
The Varivalves go from about a #5 to more than a Gorton #1 (main vent); lots of venting. Even if the adjusting slide is set at CLOSED the valve still vents at a #5.
Once I learned that, I put in all MoMs and changed orifices to balance. Even with that, I have several radiators that a #4 vents too much and changed to Vent Rite #1s so I could reduce the venting. I have one Varivalve on the radiator in the coldest room (I bought a wireless thermostat and put it in that room).
Don't get hung up too much on using the same manufacturer. You need the proper venting capability.
Tweaking the individual radiator vents comes after the mains are set properly. That comes first.
If you want to follow my journey, check out Converted two family, and overventing.
Good luck.
In short, the old vent wouldn't budge- even with a breaker bar. In the end a plumber friend came over and managed to break the valve then cut out the threads. So at least that is finally off.
I then had a chat for the second time- both him and the plumbing supply co said the big mouth is a steam trap for a 2 pipe system, and that it would not work. Our compromise for tonight was he popped in a replacement that looks like the old vent and I can at least easily replace that with the big mouth.
So the first question- for a single pipe system is this big mouth the correct part? I'm not second guessing you guys, but I found no info on their website and didn't want to get this wrong.
Second question- assuming the puny replacement valve we just put in is still a step forward/if the old one was perhaps broken, how should the system be reacting? Higher temps on all floors? More equal temps front to rear of house? Less gas consumption? I figure I might as well judge progress in baby steps....
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Trust that it is a vent and that it will do an excellent job for you.
As par as whatever "puny" vent he put on that main as a temp fix, it probably won't do anything to improve your system. With the Big Mouth, steam will move more quickly through the mains which means it will get to the radiator faster, which means you should get heat to the radiator/rooms where you want it and where it will do its job sooner, which means it should satisfy the thermostat sooner thereby saving fuel. The boiler won't spend time trying to push air out of the mains. As a result, system pressure should improve because of shorter heat cycles. Once that is on, you may have to rebalance the radiator vents to even the steam distribution but put that vent on first and see what rooms you may need to adjust radiator venting.
https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/156043/f-t-trap-on-one-pipe#latest
The thread shows the idea being proposed, the manufacturer development and some testing results. It’s a main vent, the people you are dealing with need to keep up with current events.
EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Boiler Control
Boiler pictures updated 2/21/15
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10202744301871904.1073741828.1330391881&type=1&l=c34ad6ee78
Fred- thanks for the excellent description. The bill was actually my original concern, as it was about $100 more than my next door neighbor last month with an identical house, heating system, and he has ancient windows- mine are brand new...
I'll let this settle in and keep recording temps, then on to valves... I"ll report back once I have some readings in case anyone is interested. Thanks for all of your help!
Because that location is right at the turn down to the wet return, and cause steam and condensate will get pushed into that corner, and that vent,
I think you should consider doing the job one more time, using the 45s you had in the sample pictures, and even adding a short nipple between the 45s, to get the BM a bit away from that corner location.
This will be better for that vent.
As it is now you may experience some condensate spitting from the vent at times before the vent closes tight.
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England.
Hoffman Equipped System (all original except boiler), Weil-Mclain 580, 2.75 gph Carlin, Vapourstat 0.5 -- 6.0 ounces per square inch
Initial feedback seems to be the vent isn't doing much in terms of temperature, but that was expected as you all point out above. In terms of heat range, F-R looses a few degrees, but going floors 1 up to 3 are an issue, varying ~6 degrees per floor)
In the meanwhile I'm reading and learning about balancing the radiator valves themselves. The Gill & Pajek article is proving very interesting. I have late fin-type radiators in the place, which was a surprise when I bought them. (image below from when I was doing paint work on the interior)
The next problem is getting heat to rise. The hottest room in the house (my bedroom) is first floor and a mere ~3 feet off the boiler main. And it is 78 degrees in there. The coldest room is on the 3rd floor (front or rear about equal) and they are running 65-66 degrees. 2nd floor has thermostat in the center away from the radiators and is perfect (71 degrees, a bit warm but I needed to get the 3rd floor liveable) for that reason I guess.
I'm hoping the vertical mains dont have some sort of venting to address? They are hidden in the walls (1 front, 1 rear) so I have no idea. Regardless I will try to calculate my first floor vent needs and post for sanity checking tonight. An update to follow in a few hours!
Getting back to the radiators, I have a sample calculation below if anyone would be kind enough to sanity check for me:
Bathroom 1st Floor:
8 Feet of ~1 1/2" OD runner pipe. Assuming ID of 1 1/4"
Radiator capacity of .01602 (32" of 3/4" ID pipe on fin radiator)
8ft x .010 pipe volume/SF = .08 + .01602 = .09602.
.09602/3 (3 minutes from the Gill/Pajek article) = .032 venting rate. Then apply this figure to the boiler pressure and pick the right valve. Does that math seem accurate?
you look set to 2 or 3 # there, dial it down to 0.5
then inside, check the diferential , the white wheel, it should be set to 1.
I might add that you want to vent radiators slowly and balance the steam between all the radiators. I prefer the adjustable radiator vents like the Vent-Rite #1, the Hoffman #1A or the Maid-O-Mist. They allow you to change venting speeds custom to each radiator without buying a lot of different ones and then finding that half of them are too slow or too fast, relative to the other radiators in the house or for the comfort level you want in each room. One Note, Hoffmans seem to click when they open and close. Vent-Rites are the better choice for quietness.
The Vent-Rite 1 is exactly what I need for the first floor (I think the Hoffman 1B could work but they are $$ and the noise will generate complaints), but vent-rite I doesn't make a straight/vertical connection. Would I be crazy to find then use a few 90 degree fittings to connect them?
Once those are in I can hopefully have the overheating on the first floor settled, then sort the 3rd floor (assuming the changes on the first floor don't help fix the 3rd floor problem)
I owe you one for all the help!
Some images of 24 hours progress. Boiler now cutting out at ~1.5PSI!