Planning on replacing my steam radiators with heat pump and central air, but is it worth it?

Jamie Hall

I've said this before in these pages, but i guess I'll have to say it again. There is a difference between advocacy/salemanship and engineering/craftsmanship. This forum exists -- and, by and large, does very well at the engineering/craftsmanship side of the game. Unfortunately, there are a few folks who are salesmen or advocates, and that is too bad. We should all -- myself certainly included -- be working to help the specific individual in his or her specific situation.

scott w.

I would reexamine the boiler situation with a couple of estimates from known pro's to see what the cost would be to bring it up to current needs. I am sure heat pump technology has improved but my aunt had it in an apartment and I hated it. You really never felt warm and it dried out hour head.

As far as the air conditioning have you investigated a Unico system with small flexible ducting system? Unico was made for retrofitting older homes. I have a 1928 brick Tudor that has hot water heat which I love but had window units for air. I couldn't live with that, it looked awful with window units and who wants to pull all those units out and store them in the fall and install every spring. Had the Unico system installed and was able to work the small flexible ducting from the basement where the air handler was installed to the first floor which was easy. The second floor was a bit more challenging but was able to work a chase with the small flexible ducting to each room on the second floor. Was in the middle of a complete renovation so that made opening a wall or two easy. I needed a chase for a second floor air return. Luckily I had two large closets one on the first floor and one on the second floor that were directly in line with each other so was able to shrink them a bit and made a proper sized chase from the basement to the second floor. Very happy with the high velocity Unico system. Not a fan of mini splits with units on the wall which is not attractive. Several contractors wanted to do that.

You would have to examine your floor plan to see if you could easily install a Unico system. Worth checking out as another option.

If you are really intent on using the basement for a living space, no question, rip everything out and and go with what you had planned.

CKNJ

Also live in NJ (central). My house is an American Foursquare built around 1900 with some insulation upgrades done. The house has steam heat and was retrofitted with central air (air handler in the walk up attic), duct work runs through the walls to the first floor. Cooling worked great but the previous owner had an undersized boiler for heat.

In 2021, EzzyT and Clammy put in my new steam boiler and I could not be happier! First class install and most important i have a balanced heating system where 2nd floor is within 1 degree of 1st floor where the thermostat is located. Even more important is my natural gas usage dropped by 25% (for real).

I feel like I get the best of both worlds and this house has been nice and warm since the boiler installation. Decision is yours, but Just wanted to give you the perspective of someone who has both.

Sal Santamaura

Living for nearly a half century in a part of the country where both hot water and steam heat are virtually nonexistent, I hadn't previously read this thread. For some reason I clicked on it today, so you're all stuck with my "input."
Since my time growing up in the tri-state area involved homes with hot water heat, I can agree completely with those who say that even the best designed and installed scorched air system can't hold a candle in terms of comfort to it. I have no reason to disagree with those here who say the same is true for properly designed, installed and maintained steam heat. Put all that together and it seems the OP really needs answers to the following questions.
If EzzyT and Clammy inspect and "fix" his system so it runs optimally, how long can it be expected to continue functioning that way, with what kind of maintenance at which interval(s)? If EzzyT and Clammy retire, what is the outlook for successor "steam men" to be available in his area? These are critical factors for someone trying to make a decision concerning a system they'd like to continue heating their home for decades. If ongoing expert support is required and likely unavailable, the tradeoff might be to sacrifice comfort for supportability. I don't come down on one side or the other, but strongly suggest that the OP evaluate these things before reaching any conclusion.

JUGHNE

I feel that if Ezzy/Clammy fix this OP's system for optimal performance and he is aware of why they do things, he will be able to maintain the system himself. He sounds like a "hands on" individual.

Such as cleaning pigtails, sight glass, LWCO probes, changing air vents etc.

There is enough info on the internet/Utube to walk thru many tasks.

From reading on this site and another HVAC site it is obvious that not many homeowners are handy.

But worse is the reports of the "expert pro tech" who is lost at troubleshooting and everyone needs a new complete system. Many times a failed 10-20 dollar run cap has commended a system.

That is for simple AC, now think about muli-minisplit heat pumps.
I have put many in and now get the dreaded calls 12-15 years later.
I hate the thought of having to replace a system so early, used to the 20-30 year longevity of older equipment.

Jamie Hall

You have a very good point, @Sal Santamaura -- but it cuts both ways. It is quite true that a steam system does take a tachnician who can actually take the time to understand how steam works -- or, for that matter, hot water -- and those folks are getting to be a bit thin on the ground. On the other hand, for many of the newer and more advanced systems, such as high performance heat pumps (or modern cars!) there's simply no point in doing that; if a circuit board goes down, and they do, or a sealed compressor, you have really no choice but to look at the trouble codes, turn to the client, and say that this one is shot, but I've got a great deal for you on that one.

Sal Santamaura

JUGHNE said:

I feel that if Ezzy/Clammy fix this OP's system for optimal performance and he is aware of why they do things, he will be able to maintain the system himself. He sounds like a "hands on" individual.

Such as cleaning pigtails, sight glass, LWCO probes, changing air vents etc.

There is enough info on the internet/Utube to walk thru many tasks.

From reading on this site and another HVAC site it is obvious that not many homeowners are handy...

That's a good answer, one I had no basis to determine, being completely ignorant about the practicalities of steam heating systems. There were those two thermodynamics classes in the freshman year of my EE curriculum, but that was 1971, and even if I remembered any of it now, I've no interest in giving you guys more fodder for engineer jokes. If your impression of this homeowner's capabilities is accurate, his current heating system has a good future!

Jamie Hall said:

You have a very good point, @Sal Santamaura -- but it cuts both ways. It is quite true that a steam system does take a tachnician who can actually take the time to understand how steam works -- or, for that matter, hot water -- and those folks are getting to be a bit thin on the ground. On the other hand, for many of the newer and more advanced systems, such as high performance heat pumps (or modern cars!) there's simply no point in doing that; if a circuit board goes down, and they do, or a sealed compressor, you have really no choice but to look at the trouble codes, turn to the client, and say that this one is shot, but I've got a great deal for you on that one.

Understood. However, my point was there will be lots of service people around to do that (shrug and sell a replacement PC board, compressor, etc.) in the future, albeit at high cost, but there might not be anyone capable of getting a steam heating system back up and running. Based on @JUGHNE's response, that shouldn't be a problem for the OP. Here's hoping he gets the EzzyT / Clammy treatment and reports back on how improved things are.