Hot water baseboard system tapped off of steam system boiler

lbeachmike

Hey guys -

I'm not sure whether this should be posted in the steam forum or otherwise.

This boiler primarily powers a steam system. But it also was setup to feed a baseboard hot water system in a living room with about 30-35 linear feet of baseboard.

This has been inoperable since I purchased the house, but the tenant did not use it. The living room is right over where the boilers are and stays quite warm.

With a new tenant coming in, I would like to fix it, but because it's never worked I want to make sure that it makes sense to fix.

Is anybody able to tell me if the below configuration should be a workable system if the corroded parts are replaced?

Thanks!

Mike

EBEBRATT-Ed

Looks like it was installed ok. But your water feeder PRV etc need replacement. Do those Hot water pipes go down through the basement floor?

Also there must be a heat exchanger there. Is it on the other side of the boiler. Looks like it needs some work. Can't see enough need more pictures

JUGHNE

Show where the copper pipes connected to the pumps are connected to the steam boiler, and any devises in between.
It looks like you have 2 circuits for hot water there, do you have 2 thermostats somewhere besides the steam heat tstat?

EBEBRATT-Ed

Since the HW loop has an expansion tank and water make up there has to be a HX somewhere

Jamie Hall

Just as a bottom line -- assuming there are no leaks elsewhere in the system, yes it can be made to work -- but you have some fixing and some replacement to do.

lbeachmike

JUGHNE said:

Show where the copper pipes connected to the pumps are connected to the steam boiler, and any devises in between.
It looks like you have 2 circuits for hot water there, do you have 2 thermostats somewhere besides the steam heat tstat?

Oops - sorry - I wasn't very clear on the point you mention. There are actually TWO baseboard heating systems. One is in the basement (same level as this equipment) and one is the living room I mentioned, which is immediately above the ceiling here.

I don't seem to have a photo with the needed angle on hand. Though the major question was an architectural one - to simply understand if this is a feasible setup - having the same boiler powering a steam system and concurrently a couple of baseboard systems.

I appreciate all of the responses here, which make me confident to move forward with the repair. It looks like these parts are not especially expensive, so I guess the bulk of the repair cost will be labor cost.

lbeachmike

EBEBRATT-Ed said:

Looks like it was installed ok. But your water feeder PRV etc need replacement. Do those Hot water pipes go down through the basement floor?

Also there must be a heat exchanger there. Is it on the other side of the boiler. Looks like it needs some work. Can't see enough need more pictures

If you tell me what the heat exchanger looks like, I could get better photos.

The hot water pipes do not go down through the floor. Will try to get better photos.

So the parts needing replacement are the water feeder and the PRV?

kenlmad

Check this good reference from this site: https://heatinghelp.com/systems-help-center/how-to-run-a-hot-water-zone-off-a-steam-boiler

lbeachmike

kenlmad said:

Check this good reference from this site: https://heatinghelp.com/systems-help-center/how-to-run-a-hot-water-zone-off-a-steam-boiler

Cool - I'll check it out! Thanks.