100 Year Old Cost Question

96ijg

I've had this house for about 2 years now, and still haven't really figured out how to operate it the most efficiently.

My question is mostly around energy usage and cost. I have a gas steam heat system using radiators throughout the house. It's a little loud, but for the most part does a good job keeping the house warm. We don't need the radiators during the day, so I set it quite low. At night we turn them on, but obviously takes a while to get to temp.

My question is, which saves me more money:
1. Turning it on less (letting it to 65, and then bringing it up to 69 at night)
2. Keeping it running less (letting it drop to 67, and then bringing it up at night to 69)

I guess it revolves around, does a steam heat system cost more money getting up to temp or running for a longer time.

Thanks for any help!

ChrisJ

96ijg said:

I've had this house for about 2 years now, and still haven't really figured out how to operate it the most efficiently.

My question is mostly around energy usage and cost. I have a gas steam heat system using radiators throughout the house. It's a little loud, but for the most part does a good job keeping the house warm. We don't need the radiators during the day, so I set it quite low. At night we turn them on, but obviously takes a while to get to temp.

My question is, which saves me more money:
1. Turning it on less (letting it to 65, and then bringing it up to 69 at night)
2. Keeping it running less (letting it drop to 67, and then bringing it up at night to 69)

I guess it revolves around, does a steam heat system cost more money getting up to temp or running for a longer time.

Thanks for any help!

Just leave it set in one spot.
The most efficient setting is off, so just set it so you're comfortable and forget efficiency.

The system shouldn't be loud, in fact, it shouldn't even be audiable.
Please share some pictures of your boiler and the piping around it, as well as a few of the radiators. Maybe we can help get things working better.

mattmia2

The problems that make it noisy tend to be the things that kill your efficiency.

Larry Weingarten

Hi @96ijg , What saves you the most money is whatever keeps the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures the lowest. Higher differences force more heat to escape the the great outdoors. Still, keeping the system running well helps, the noise suggests problems with the pitch of pipes or venting. Tuning the boiler so combustion efficiency is as good as you can make it would help. When the boiler cools down, where is that heat going? If it's largely staying inside the shell of the house, than it's not much of a burden on the bill. Still, it's best for equipment to run for longer periods rather than to cycle on and off a lot.
I'd look at tuning the boiler and quieting the system, but then look at the house and see where you can slow the heat leaks.

Yours, Larry