How Size Air Vents For Steam?

Tom_22

How do you size the air vents you put on steam radiators for residential two story buildings. Talking about small to medium size radiators here and for a system that has the mains vented.

How about put the biggest vents on all the radiators that work without causing hammer? Check if all the radiators get hot about the same time, and if they are, your good to go.

What do you think about the sizing guidelines at http://www.kingsolar.com/catalog/mfg/maidomist/ventsizing.htm It seems to me that following those guidelines you might be unnecessarily holding back steam.

I usually use the Maid O Mist 5s and 6s. Does anybody use a C or a D on radiators in the 20 to 40 EDR range. By the way, how do you like Maid O Mist air vents?

TomBk

chuck_6

Tom:
You need to size the vents according to how far the radiators are from the boiler. I would highly recommend Gorton vents. Call Gorton at (908) 276-1323 and ask for Ken Kunz. He is terrific and can tell you which number or letter vents go on which radiator.

DanHolohan

However,

if you use main vents, which you should, you would size the vents based on the size of the radiator, regardless of where they are in the building. The goal is to get all the radiators hot, all the way across, on the coldest day of the year, and within a certain time (your choice). I cover this at length in the Dead Men Steam School videos