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Dead Men Tales: Mistakes Were Made

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HeatingHelp
HeatingHelp Administrator Posts: 637
edited December 2022 in THE MAIN WALL


Mistakes Were Made

In this episode, Dan Holohan tells a story that has affected many homeowners since the 1970s and why you should always question whether that boiler feed pump should be there.

Listen and subscribe here.

Roohollah

Comments

  • cubbydog
    cubbydog Member Posts: 42
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    Dan should rename this (steam tales). Most of the heating help is about steam. I only know of one steam system in town.
    Is steam going to make a come back? I think not!
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 5,835
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    cubbydog said:
    Is steam going to make a come back? I think not!
    Make a comeback? It never left. It may not be common in your neck of the woods, but they're extremely abundant in cold climate and high density areas. And from what I'm told, it's arguably the most comfortable and reliable source of heat there is. There's plenty of other categories for you to browse as well. 
    VegasEdTheHeaterMan
  • SgtMaj
    SgtMaj Member Posts: 76
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    Steam and hot water are still King of heating. I’m saddened when I drive by a house and see contractors removing radiators for noisy hot air.
    VegasEdTheHeaterManPC7060
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,835
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    SgtMaj said:

    Steam and hot water are still King of heating. I’m saddened when I drive by a house and see contractors removing radiators for noisy hot air.

    If I see this, I think "You can't fix stupid"!
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    EdTheHeaterMan
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,526
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    @cubbydog, where is your town?
    Retired and loving it.
  • jumper
    jumper Member Posts: 2,248
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    Just guessing. Pumps were installed with steam boilers because plumbers were used to pumps included with HHW boilers? And bigger steam heated buildings had pumps although that was not such a good set up for owners.
  • EricPeterson
    EricPeterson Member Posts: 215
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    Steamhead said:

    SgtMaj said:

    Steam and hot water are still King of heating. I’m saddened when I drive by a house and see contractors removing radiators for noisy hot air.

    If I see this, I think "You can't fix stupid"!
    I live in a neighborhood of old houses. When my new neighbor to the north put on an addition, they gutted the heating system. I acquired 40 feet of 7" Burnham BaseRay along with three compact free standing radiators just for the asking, wheeling them all over with a dolly.
    The BaseRay heats two bedrooms in the addition we put on our house, and one of the radiators heats a bathroom. Sweet.

    Their loss, my gain.

    Eric Peterson
    reggi
  • SteamCrazy
    SteamCrazy Member Posts: 100
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    Thank you Dan
  • PC7060
    PC7060 Member Posts: 1,159
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    SgtMaj said:
    Steam and hot water are still King of heating. I’m saddened when I drive by a house and see contractors removing radiators for noisy hot air.
    But it’s cheap. And quality always seems to get sacrificed for cheap if the customer doesn’t understand. 
  • Gsmith
    Gsmith Member Posts: 431
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    Low first cost is always attractive. I have steam heat in my house, the piping, radiators and most of the system is 96 years old, the boiler (3rd in the house's history) is 40 years old this year. My son has a house that is on its second heat pump in 7 years, though the duct system is older and still in good shape. If you just look at the economics I probably have the better deal, but you have to have the $'s or be able to borrow the dollars to get the more expensive longer lasting system. My son does get air conditioning with his system which I don't.

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