No main vent

Jason Lambrou

I can't find the main vent in my mother's house, and it looks most of the houses on the block don't have it either.What are my options? The poor lady's heating bills are going thru the roof. Thanks

Terry St.James_2

More info needed

What kind of system is it? Is it an older one or fairly new.

David Efflandt

If 1-pipe steam

If single-pipe steam, make sure that the existing radiator vents are working (not plugged) until you can get a professional opinion. And make sure that pressuretrol is set as low as it goes (0.5 psi cut-in and 1 psi rise to cut-out). Be aware that plugged or faulty gauge may not be accurate. Many vents may not work properly if pressure remains above 1.5 psi. Higher pressure will NOT give her more heat. If you are not mechanically inclined, it would be best not to touch anything until you can get professional help.

My system does not have main vents (yet), but the way it is piped, a "D" size vent on downstairs rad, tee'd off of longest leg, releases air fast. So steam can shoot straight through to upstairs rad and everything is balanced. It just could be more efficient with main vents.

A 2-pipe or vapor system would be different. "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" book you can order here would help you understand how steam systems work.

Jason Lambrou

It is one pipe system with a gas fired boiler, The boiler was upgraded about 4 years ago.These people that installed
it didn't put any insulation on the main steam pipes coming out of the boiler, I can believe these people were licensed plumbers from NY.They even busted the pressure gauge , I can't even tell how much pressure the boiler
pumps out.

Jason Lambrou

You say size "D" on first floor, what about the second floor? You can't imagine how many plumbers have been to
this house over the last 40 years and each time it is 100 bucks

Jason Lambrou

size \"D\"

You say size "D" on first floor, what about the second floor? You can't imagine how many plumbers have been to
this house over the last 40 years and each time it is 100 bucks I got Dan's "we got steam" it has helped me a lot.
One more question do NYC licensed plumebrs have to be qualified on steam heating systems?

Steamhead

I've seen that

The "D" vent made by Gorton or Maid-o-Mist is a really big radiator vent. I've actually used it as a main vent on small systems where there was no room for a #1 main vent. The problem with using this vent on a radiator to vent a main is that the room where the D vent is always overheats.

With a properly sized vent on the main, each radiator vent only has to handle the air in the radiator and the pipe connecting the radiator to the main, and can be sized to this amount of air. When this is done on all radiators, the system should go into balance.

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