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The Importance of Insulation in Steam Heating Systems

HeatingHelp
HeatingHelp Administrator Posts: 680
edited January 2022 in THE MAIN WALL
The Importance of Insulation in Steam Heating Systems

In this excerpt from his Dead Men’s Steam School seminar, Dan Holohan talks about why it pays to insulate all steam pipes - even the return lines!

Read the full story here

LS123

Comments

  • Voyager
    Voyager Member Posts: 402
    The danger of asbestos has been greatly exaggerated and the safety of fiberglass has also been exaggerated. Take proper precautions working with either.
    MikeL_2
  • Dan Nibbelink
    Dan Nibbelink Member Posts: 17
    My house has a 100 year old two pipes steam system. The asbestos on the pipes is in good condition (actually excellent condition for its age). I have thought about adding a layer of fiberglass insulation to encapsulate the asbestos and add insulation to improve the efficiency of the system. Assuming I did the installation myself do you have an idea of the ROI. I took some temperature measurement after the boiler had shut off and the radiators were hot. I measured the room temperature in the basement and crawl space where the pipes are at ~60 F. The supply pipe was ~90 F. I then looked at material costs - pretty expensive, and I did not find the "snap-on" insulation in the larger sizes that I need, meaning that I would have to do a spiral wrap. Another though is to wrap with "duct" tape to encapsulate the asbestos, but that would add negligible R value. Suggestions?
  • Voyager
    Voyager Member Posts: 402
    If the asbestos is in good condition and not falling off, I suspect the ROI is small. And the most dangerous thing to do with asbestos is to mess with it. I’d leave well enough alone until it gets bad enough to be worth removing.

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