Adding Radiators a possibility?

cnjamros

Hi everyone. Been working on balancing a system in a house we purchased in NJ in June. Pretty well done with that (for now) in the main areas of the house.

But there's an ADDITION, that we've been heating with mini-splits and/or electric radiators because those rooms aren't included in the main heating system. It's KILLING me to use this much electricity to heat these rooms, when we've got a perfectly good steam plant already running in the basement. We should only be hemorrhaging electricity in summer a/c season, not year round!

It looks like, when this addition was put in, some radiators were removed from the system... victims of the open-concept kitchen, etc.

I've done some calculations to see if, with my current boiler, adding rads back in is a possibility... or if this boiler was sized with the CURRENT load in mind. But with something this big, I don't trust my own eye...

I've attached a couple reference images and was wondering if some of y'all could take a glance and see if it's worth pursuing this with my steam contractor of choice at some point... or if it's just a pipe dream.

The blue areas are the areas I'm considering heating... 3 new radiators in all.

Thanks!

ethicalpaul

Your boiler IDR is 392sf, and your total radiation (before the additions?) is 272sf, right? Then you are going to be all set! (do you know the sizes of the radiators you are going to add yet? It almost doesn't matter, you have plenty of excess capacity)

I was going to just say "you are all set" even before looking at your numbers because everyone's boiler is oversized, and even the ones that aren't have enough extra in their gross to net sizing calculation. Your system will probably run better after you add these radiators (provided they are piped correctly )

And congratulations, you have put more thought into this than many people had put into their last boiler replacements!

Jamie Hall

I'm not going to add it up (my eyes aren't good enough to read the print!) -- I'm sure you can. Add up the EDR of the current radiators plus the new ones. Compare that with the EDR rating of the boiler. If they are reasonably close, you're good to go, though piping may get interesting. You seem to have spent a good bit of time on volumes of pipes and things, which is completely irrelevant to whether the boiler can handle the radiation, although it may give you a starting point for venting.

mikeg2015

Could also add a bronze circulator and put in a hot water zone and use fin tube. Considering some radiant floor heat as well (would need a mixing valve) or an entry way and kitchen floor (above boiler so already has radiant heat) to for up some wall space and more comfy tile floor.

Steamhead

Talk to @Dave0176 or @EzzyT - they service NJ and are excellent steam guys.

Dave0176

The boiler is definitely oversized for your current situation. Adding radiation will definitely help. Take pic of the boiler piping so we can see how it’s piped.

clammy

Just in case your out of ezzy and Dave area I’m in north jersey and recently listed after many year s posting here and spinning wrenches . I’m under R A Calmbacher LLC Peace and good luck clammy