steam heat and baseboards

Tim Carlson

with steamhead. The one pipe Baserays I've seen are nothing but slow heating, gurgling, banging nusainces(sp) if over about four feet long.

The two pipe idea might work well on a longer one, but you will still need the air vent, and typically you can't install or remove the air vent without pulling the end of the baseboard away form the wall, or notching the sheetrock.

Tim

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jim_11

steam heat and baseboards

i have a one pipe steam system, and on the first floor of my house the only option i have is to use cast iron baseboards. how can i hook them up so they will work properly? is there a maximum length they should be? will i ever get them to heat all the way across?

Steamhead

Depending on their length

you may want to hook them up as two-pipe air-vent units. Run the return line from each baseboard BELOW the boiler's waterline before joining them together or piping them into a return line. This will keep steam from rushing thru one baseboard and thru the return line into another baseboard.

If you don't have access to a wet (below the waterline) return, you can pipe a U-shaped water seal in each return line.


Most CIBB I've seen is only tapped for 3/4-inch pipe. Don't use lengths any longer than this pipe size can handle.

Details on baseboard hookups and pipe sizings are in Dan's "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" available on the Books and More page of this site.


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