big residential steam boilers

steve_6

you like a nice quiet atmospheric burner with basicly no moving parts

steve_6

big residential steam boilers

Anyone have any preferences .Have a new steam job with 1700 sq, ft. of radiation. We've only done one other job this big and used a Dunkirk D-247. Anyone had any experience with any other boilers this size and type. Looking at a Burnham 5 Series and a Peerless 211A also. Looking for ease of set up and how well things fit together as well as how well it performs. Thanks for your input!!!! Steve

flange

i do mostly commercial, but i do have one account that is a big old mansion built in 1923. it is a two pipe steam system, the boiler is a weil mclein, gross input about 880,000 btu. it is a duel fuel burner controlled by inputs from five pnuematic stats, that go to a load analyzer. each room in the house also has its own pnuematic stat for local control. boiler has been in for about six years now and the only problem i ever have is diaphragms on the valves.

TGO_7

steam boiler

You may want to look at the Smith 19. I have used these boilers for large residential steam, they assemble easily and produce clean dry steam. The boiler uses an oval connection for the top nipple connection between sections. This combined with wide sections gives you a large steam chest much like the older boilers designed for steam. Attached is a photo of a Smith used to replace a turn of the century coal boiler on a Bromell system. The house has steam at all radiators in under 40 minutes and the fuel bill dropped by 45%.

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Steamhead

TGO

that is one beautiful installation!



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TGO_7

Thanks Steamhead

It's a shame that the home had been partly converted to hot water. The owners were told that steam heat could never be balanced and hot water baseboard was the only way to heat. Several problem areas had already been converted and the old radiators were long gone. The new boiler and some TLC of the old valves an Bromell ellbows brought the system back to it's original performance. Congrats on your article - I'll have to see if the newstand carries FHB magazine.

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steve_6

boilers

Have you had any problems with wet base boilers in steam applications?

Steamhead

Wet-base is the way to go

since the firebox is completely surrounded by water. This leads to higher efficiency thru better heat transfer.

Note that in residential sizes, you generally only find the wet-base design in oil-fired boilers. Gas-fired ones are usually dry-base, with the burners positioned under the sections.

If the bottom of a dry-base boiler accumulates dirt, it can seriously reduce the amount of heat transferred to the water. In extreme cases the boiler may crack. The water side of a boiler must be kept clean for this reason.



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steve_6

wet base

I understand you get better heat transfer with a wet base boiler. But what about sludge and sediment build up in the lower end of that wet base boiler?

Mad Dog

Nice drop header Tom

I believe we met at the Burnham seminar a few weeks ago..Mad dog

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Steamhead

That will also affect heat transfer

but not as much as in a dry-base unit- unless it builds up enough to cover the sides of the firebox! In my experience, this will cause gurgling and popping long before it gets to that level. If a boiler gurgles and pops, CLEAN IT!

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