piping around the boiler/air vents

tsayles50

Hello all,

I am a new home owner in a 100 year old house with steam heat. We survived the winter with no problems but I want to make some steps make our team heat system more efficient for the next winter. I am almost finished with my second Dan Holohan book, greening steam. The two questions I have at this time are:

1. I have a peerless boiler 63/64. It has 1 riser but looks like it could have a second. Does anyone have experience with this boiler and if it should have two?

2. I found the main air vent, I plan on replacing it before next season, but I also found what I think is a plugged air vent. Reddit forum said they think it is a riser going to a radiator that was removed, now that I know more I am revisiting my previous idea. How do you know if it is a plugged air vent?

-Tim

Jamie Hall

Where is this plug you speak of in relation to the main or mains and the ends of them? A main vent is required on each main, and should be near (but ideally not right at) the end, and after the last radiator takeoff..

ethicalpaul

For your question #1 it depends on the size of the boiler. Do you know the actual model number? It should be something like 63-04 or 63-03. different models have different requirements for not only number of supply risers, but their size.

Or if you can see the BTU or even better Sq. Ft of steam rating, we can probably figure it out.

Post some pictures!

tsayles50

Attached are those pictures.

The plug appears to be on a header near the return piping so I think it should be a main vent. I am talking about where it pops out and says "sx." Let me know your thoughts.

Let me know your thoughts on adding the second riser, it looks like there is piping for it in the boiler itself.

dabrakeman

Do you have one main or two? I.e. does the riser off the header at the boiler split into two mains? Your picture doesn't show. You said you found a main vent therefore I assume it must be on a different main because where that SX is looks like a good place for a main vent on that main. Each main should have a main vent. I am guessing based on the size of the boiler (458sqft steam) that a Gorton #2 on each would be appropriate.

Good main venting, keeping your pressuretrol settings as low as it will go and insulating your pipes (which it appears you have done) will facilitate good efficiency. If you are not having any symptoms of wet steam issues (then I would not think piping in a second riser from the boiler will necessarily pay for itself. Still the installation manual for your boiler (most are available online) would say what should have been done as minimum recommendations.

random12345

https://peerlessboilers.com/products/series-63/

https://peerlessboilers.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/6364_TT8066-R19_IOM_web0522.pdf

Non-pro here. See page 16 in the manual. You have a 63-04.

Looks like that riser should have been a 2.5" instead of 2", and likewise for the header. Equalizer may be too small as well, can't tell from picture. What does the rest of the piping look like above the boiler? From the picture you may have some copper up there, and that's not advisable. How many steam mains do you have? More pictures would be helpful.

random12345

Also have you calculated the EDR of all your radiators?

tsayles50

This is very helpful thank you. I don't see any evidence of wet steam (I think I would expect to see moisture coming out of the air vents?).

The other main vent is right above the second return piping you see in the back of the picture.

My goals this summer are to: replace all the air vents, insulate the piping more efficiently and get a water softener (our town's water is extremely hard). When I read Dan's book and he recommended always using as many risers as possible I started thinking about adding a second riser because we can, thank you for your guidance.

tsayles50

Thank you for the link.

I have not calculated the EDR in the house. We were warm the whole winter and all the radiators heated up fairly quickly so I am just trying to maximize the efficiency this summer.

There is copper. That is on the agenda I am just trying to prioritize. The equalizer does look a touch small, which I would address with a pro when they come in.

Looks like the 1 vs. two risers is depending on the diameters, I definitely need to get that looked at then.

Thank you.

random12345

This is a warning about using copper from a different manual, but the same would apply to you:



As for the EDR calc, it will tell you if your boiler is oversized or not. If you take some pictures of your radiators, we can help with that.

Jamie Hall

tsayles50 said:

This is very helpful thank you. I don't see any evidence of wet steam (I think I would expect to see moisture coming out of the air vents?).

The other main vent is right above the second return piping you see in the back of the picture.

My goals this summer are to: replace all the air vents, insulate the piping more efficiently and get a water softener (our town's water is extremely hard). When I read Dan's book and he recommended always using as many risers as possible I started thinking about adding a second riser because we can, thank you for your guidance.

Do NOT use softened water in your boiler. Just don't. If the water is extremely hard, you may want to fill the boiler with deionized water instead. Softened water will take years off the life of the boiler.

tsayles50

Can you educate me? What I read in Dan Holohans greening steam book said that hard water is not good for the boiler.