steam to hot water conversion

sclubb

i am a homowner with a 1926 house and a 1946 gas- fired steam boiler firing a 2-pipe steam system for a 3200 sq foot house that works well, but needs new steam traps and seems to be very inefficient. I want to update the boiler, and fix the broken traps, but the contractor would prefer to change the steam system to hot water with a circulator pump on the"push side" and add zone valves in the future. He will install a new steam boiler if i ask (and he says he has read Dan's books and knows how to do it right), but he believes a hot water system is much more efficient and will save me money and be low maintence. Well, my questions are 1) will my fuel use really decrease to justify the extra 1-2000$ in cost of hot water over steam 2)is steam heat a dinosaur that no one will know how to service 5 years from now 3)what boilers do you recommend...he likes Utica 4) if i use hot water, shouldnt the circulator be on the return side to protect it from the heat, and arent separate circulators for each zone much better than zone valves?


thank you

Unknown

You have some very valid concerns

I'm sure that he has your best interests in mind. He sounds very thorough. I think that you would be comfortable with a change to hot water, I think the ongoing trap maintenance can be expensive, in comparison to the maintenance of a hot water system. I think the zone controls at each radiator is a very comfortable system, and if you were to zone with circulators, a new pair of pipes would need to be run for each one. Not really an affordable option, if the goal is to retain the radiators and not tear up the house. One pump on the supply is good.

In the early days of heating, pump seals were soft and temperature affected them, they would wear out and leak. New pumps have ceramic seal surfaces, like the stuff on the space shuttle. Temperature no longer makes a difference.

I think he has some good ideas. And I usually try to talk people into keeping the steam, it costs less than converting, and retains the old integrity of the house. Steam heat will be around for quite a while, so service people will still be needed. I'm sure one is near you. It sounds like your guy is one.

I thought I'd be trying to talk you out of it. Only you can decide if lower fuel costs and all of the work involved is worth it. You have two good options. Even if they are opposite each other.

Noel

Steamhead

The \"inefficiency\" you refer to

is probably the result of the old boiler and the bad traps. If that were my house I'd fix the steam system and install a new boiler. I have a feeling you may have an old Vapor system. These were top-of-the-line in their day, very efficient. They are still some of the better systems out there, and they will never freeze up the way a hot-water system will if the power goes out. You can zone steam radiators too, just like hot-water ones. Do you see any maker's names on your system that may help us identify it?

Noel is right in that a conversion can work well. However, there are a bunch of "gotchas" that may appear on a job like this. I can think of no better article on the subject than one right here on this site. Copy and paste the following link into your browser to get there:

http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=22

There's no better heating site than this one.

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

Dale

How long do you plan

to stay in the house? What to you is a reasonable payback interval? What is more accurate temp. control worth? There is always a fuel saving going from steam, sometimes 10 percent sometimes 50 percent. I have been in many houses that were converted and not one customer wish they still had steam. If you have natural gas available you can get 90% effeciency, unlimited hot water and controls that follow outside temp for further comfort. You can also put some radiant floor heat into the downstairs room if you have an open basement ceiling. If you use the basement alot you can heat it affordably. If I was going to move in 5 years or less I would fix the steam.