How do I keep the water level in my sight glass at the reccomend level?

NowAndThen

The water in my sight glass is above the minimum, but a few inches off of the recommended, and while I've done a manual water feed a couple of times now the level just dips back to where it was when I check on it the next day.

I have a steam boiler and I am trying to improve its efficiency to keep costs down this winter and I read that having too low of a water level is inefficient. Tips for this or any other type of efficiency would be greatly appreciated. I am currently considering insulating the basement pipes(old insulation had to be removed due to asbestos), putting reflective foil behind the radiators and installing varivalve adjustable steam caps mostly for balancing.

Thanks for the help!

Jamie Hall

Somewhere you have a leak... and I'm going to make a wild guess that it may be in a wet return, with the Hartford Loop holding the water level at the low elevation you see. But that's a wild guess. Look around -- it may not be obvious. If it's steam, it may not even be visible.