Dead Men Tales: Does It Pay To Fix Steam Traps?

HeatingHelp

Does It Pay To Fix Steam Traps?

It pays to fix old steam traps, but probably not in the way you think. In this episode, Dan Holohan shares how experts in the 1970s speculated on how quickly steam-trap repair would pay back, but missed an important factor.

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EBEBRATT-Ed

Any system with a condensate or boiler feed pump will waste stem out the vent. And if your venting steam, your venting water & adding make up water which means you will need a new boiler sooner than later

dopey27177

Very interesting tale, it has more truth to it than some people will comprehend.
Here is a story that is true, during the month of February 1999 I inspected a building in Great, Neck Queens (Wychwood Manor).


The building had 518, 1-1/4" steel fin tube convectors in steel cabinets. Of the 120 apartments in this building 15 apartments heated between 80 and 90 degrees 32 apartments heated to the high 70s to 80s while the rest of the building heated to 65 to 70 degrees.

Furniture in many apartments had to relocated, cabinet covers removed and repainted.

The cost of 518 convector steam traps and 20 F&T traps was $70,000.00

The total estimated cost of the job was $44,000. A provision was put into the contract, if the contractor went under the the budget on labor he could keep 50% off the time saved as a bonus, if he went over the budget the coop would pay an extra $75% of labor cost to the contractor.

The labor cost actually was $27,195.00. A difference of $3805.00. Fifty percent of that money was given to the workers as a bonus for completing the job under the budget.

I promised the coop board payback due fuel savings in 5 years.

For the first heating year 18,000 gallons of oil was saved At 1.20 per gallon for a total of $21,600. the steam trap replacement would be paid for in 3 1/2 winters.

I am not an engineer but many of my consulting jobs were referrals from Dan and he never got a complaint from my customers.

Jake

DanHolohan

It always felt great to recommend you, Jake. Everyone was always pleased.

Mike_SteamEfficiency

So is there any way to estimate savings? Would the max savings be calculated from the steam loss based on the orifice size of the condensate return tank vent? There must also be other losses as well.

JUGHNE

The condensate return tank vent pipe should be full size up above the boiler water line.
No orifice in the vent. It should never pass steam. Just air...you should not lose any steam out of the system.

If it passes steam then you have traps allowing steam into the return.

Dan Nibbelink

I have a hundred year old house with two pipe steam heat and ten radiators. How do I know if a steam trap is working properly? In the past I used an infrared thermometer to measure the pipes on either side of the trap. If there was a significant difference I call it good. If they were the same I would check several time because I may have measured at a time when it was venting. Is this valid? Is there a better way?

DanHolohan

That's the best way with a house, Dan. You should see at least a 10-degree difference from supply to return on the trap. If you had traps in a big building, I'd suggest a trap-testing station. Thanks so much for taking the time to listen to my tale.

wam525

We have Brunel traps, which have no moving parts, just a fixed separator to keep the water and air separate. The only way these can fail, is when there is gunk in the place where the water is supposed to go and blocks the water flow. I had to clean one to fix it.