Steam Heat

Matt_13

I just purchased a vacation home in Utah, and it has an old, coal-fired steam heat system. It works great, but it made me curious about how the whole steam heat thing works. I have a few questions:

1. What are the ways you can fire the boiler? I saw some pictures posted on "The Wall" that had a unit that looks similar to a natural gas furnace. Is that the whole boiler? Would it be worth it to change from a coal fired boiler to natural gas?

2. What is the difference between a one-pipe and two-pipe system? (OK, quit laughing, I know one has one pipe, and one two pipes, but why, and how do I tell what I have?)

3. What kind of maintenance costs can I expect? My natural gas furnace at home is pretty much maintenance free, and I'm not sure what I need to do for my steam system.

Thanks for any info and help...

Ray Landry

1 pipe vs. 2 pipe

Look at your radiatiors. If only one pipe goes in, you have one pipe steam. Two pipes means you have two pipes. The big difference is that one pipe is a counter flow system, having the steam and condensate travel in opposite directions down the same pipe. Two pipe is a parralell flow system, and has seperate piping for the steam and water.

Unknown

This book is a great place to start

http://www.heatinghelp.com/shopcart/product.cfm?category=2-109

You'll find all that and more in here.

Noel

Ray Landry

Maintanance

The water level in your boiler should be checked weekly, especially considering it's age. It could have little leaks that you don't even know about because the escaping steam is exiting via the chimney. Always maintain your water line in the middle of the glass guage when the boiler isn't hot. When it is hot expect it to drop to the bottom of the guage. Check for surging, which is the jumping up and down of the water line in the guage. I think rule of thumb is any surging over an inch means the water has impurities and needs to be cleaned. Call a pro as it requires some know how and shouldn't be a do it yourself adventure. If you have one pipe steam, air vents may need changing if radiators aren't heating.. b4 you buy new ones try soaking them in vinager for a few hours to clean them. If you have two pipe steam steam traps need to be checked for proper function. Main steam vents (Vents on the piping in your basement) may also need to be changed.

Boiler controls: Have your Low water cutoff (s) inspected, these are crucial because they will save the boiler in the event of running out of water via leakage. Also have your pressuretrol checked and set.

Lots of interesting steam facts in the 'hot tech topics' section under the title 'A Steam Heating Primer' Hope this helps