Steam Heat and Thermostat Location

jaymust8483

Hello All,

I am a novice to heating, and especially steam heat, but wanted to get some opinions on my issue. I live in a 1200sq ft cape which is heated by a 1 pipe steam boiler located centrally in my basement. On my first floor the living room and kitchen are both centrally located and get good heat during cold days. We have two bedrooms on the 1st floor however which are further away from the boiler and while the radiators get hot, the rooms seem to never heat up. Same goes for our bedroom on the second floor. Our thermostat is located on the first floor on an interior wall, but its so centrally located that its almost right above the boiler. I am thinking that since the thermostat is so close to the boiler, its getting heated the quickest and then shutting down the boiler which in turn is not heating our bedrooms properly.

Is it worth moving the thermostat to another area on the 1st floor, or potentially the 2nd floor? Or will that cause issues and really get the 1st floor super hot? I also see there are wifi thermostats with room sensors, could that be a better option? Really looking for any kind of guidance on this. Thank you!

EdTheHeaterMan

At some point in the past, that thermostat location was probably working perfectly. What has changed since that time and now? Maintenance issues most likely. Since Air and Steam don't mix like oil and water don't mix, the longer the radiators have air in them, the longer they will stay cold.

Now think of this... if the vent at the end of the main has failed in the closed position, the only way for the air to get out of the main pipe is at the radiator vent. Since those problem rooms are most likely at the end of the main, it takes more time for the little radiator vent to move all that main pipe air, plus the radiator air to vent. Eventually the radiator gets hot. But the radiator close to the boiler gets steam earlier in the cycle and gets hot sooner. Since they are hotter for longer that room gets hotter. Eventually the thermostat gets satisfied and shuts off the burner, and the boiler stops producing steam. At that point in time, the closer radiators have been running for 90% of the burner on time, but the further radiators may have only heated for 50% of the time. There is your imbalance.

To fix this, look for a larger main vent at the end of the main in the basement. Depending on your design there may be 2 main vents, but you probably have only one. From a cold start, see how long it takes to get hot at the last radiator on the main pipe. The faster the main gets hot, the better. The main vent(s) are designed to vent lots of air from the main so the radiators all get hot at the same time.

If the main vent is not the problem, then the radiator vents in the close rooms may be venting too quickly. You will want to get vents on those radiators that let the air out slower. You will also want to purchase a book from the bookstore about your system. https://www.heatinghelp.com/store/detail/we-got-steam-heat-a-homeowners-guide-to-peaceful-coexistence