My steam heating bill is too high!

Michael B.

Hello,

I have a large 3 floor, 6,500 sq. ft. brick colonial in Westchester, New York, built in 1913.

I recently purchased the home, and previous owners had made significant changes to the home's heating system.

The home is now heated with 2 gas boilers feeding a combination of steam radiators and ducted blown air.

I see from the markings on the wood floors in all rooms that there are signs where radiators once stood and were removed.

Currently the steam heating only remains in the bedrooms on the 2nd and 3rd floors, and in the coldest winter months I have NO problem with the amount of heat the steam system generates, and I love the steam heat it delivers.

The problem is my heating bills. Sometimes they reach $2,500 per month, and I think it may have something to do with the way the system is now configured. It seems like the radiators that were removed were just disconnected and the feed pipes were capped, but there was never a modification to the feed system to accommodate the fewer remaining units.

Firstly, the 80 or so feet of old 3.5" exposed piping in the basement that supplies heat to the upper floors is not insulated. Apparently asbestos insulation was removed at some point and new insulation was never added. The basement is very warm in the winter, so even someone like me that knows nothing about steam heat should draw the conclusion that insulating these exposed pipes would likely save me money. Is this correct, or, would the savings here just be minimal? There is also what appears to be a series of 2.5" return pipes that also runs the length of the basement, and back to the boiler. Should these be insulated too?

Second, if there were originally 30 or so steam radiators in the house, and now there are only 15, shouldn't the steam pipes that feed the remaining units from the boiler have been modified in some way or made smaller to balance correctly with the fewer number of units the system now serves? Right now the Weil-McClain (EG-65-SPDN) boiler is relatively new (within 5 years) and has a new looking 3.5" pipe coming up out of it. This connects to what clearly seems to be the original series of 6" lengths, elbows and fittings for about 15 feet, and then to the 80 or so feet of 3.5" pipe that runs the length of the basement and feeds the upper floors. Again, I'm only a novice, but it seems like an awful lot of gas needs to be consumed to get the steam up to these few units through these large feeds.

Is there a recommendation you can make as to whether or not changes in the piping sizes could somehow yield a savings in this situation?

Finally, is there a REPUTABLE and qualified specialist that you can recommend in the Westchester area to help me with any modifications you may recommend?

Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Michael B

Unknown

this might be relevant

http://www.heatinghelp.com/newsletter.cfm?Id=130

masterplumb

Westchester

Where in Westchester are you? The first thing that must be done is to insulate those pipes asap. We are located in Lowere Westchester County. Chris

masterplumb

Westchester

Where in Westchester are you? The first thing that must be done is to insulate those pipes asap. We are located in Lowere Westchester County. Chris

clammy

big house

insulate all your supply pipes go to the find a contractor and find one also when you have a large house ya get a large fuel bill re sizing your supply main would probaly make that fuel bill look like nothing sorry to seem to be sounding off but i hear that alot from peolpe with large houses but that,s the price ya pay by any chance did this home use to have oil as a fuel and why 2 steam boiler and what type of system you really should contact a pro to go over your system plus last winter was the first real cold one we have had in a while that would explain the high fuel usage good luck

Eric

Infiltration

You mentioned most of the house is air heated by steam.
Where are your return air ducts connected. My guess is by adding ventilation they significantly increased the infiltration (the amound of air leaking into space) with forced air. How many fireplaces do you have?

Insulating pipes will help but are you really loosing any heat from uninsulated pipes? As long are they are inside the house the heat is going into the house. You may have an unpleasant freezing condition (your plumbing) if you insulate pipe and remove all the heat from your crawlspace.

In addition your house is about 3 times as big as normal or at least mine. In addition you probably have a poor R value and high infiltration, Unless significant upgrades to windows and exterior were done.

james_6

Your problem is Convection

Go to the attic, seal up any holes in the attic floor and around pipes. Insulate your hot water pipes in the basement, seal your windows with plastic. Good luck