Renter with 1 pipe steam heat has many questions

Russell Berryman

Hi. I'm a renter with 1 pipe steam heat. I'm having overheating problems in the bedrooms and underheating problems in the main (living, kitchen & bath) rooms. I want to reduce the amount of heat in the bedrooms and have it come out in the main rooms. Can I do this by adjusting the valve on the radiator? If not, what else can be done to adjust the heating?

Thanks in advance.

Russell

Steamhead

The radiator shutoff valve

must be kept fully open or fully closed, or water will back up in the radiator and cause banging.

If you have adjustable radiator air vents, you could try turning down the ones in the bedrooms or turning up the other ones.

The best bet would be for your landlord to call a steam-oriented contractor to look it over. Try the "Find a Professional" page of this site.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Russell Berryman

Ok, so the valves must be kept full open. How do I adjust the air vents?

Steamhead

If they are adjustable

you will find a graduated dial either at the bottom of the vent, or forming part of the top of the vent. It depends on who made the vent.

If you're not sure, post the makes and models of the vents and we'll tell you what you have.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

ross

steam heat control

Unfortunately, there's not a lot of control to be had with one pipe steam radiators - they're either on or off. My mom's place has 2 rads upstairs and 2 downstairs. Most of the time she just has one of the downstairs ones on to heat the house, two when it gets real cold. I think Dan refers to the "double-hung thermostats" in these systems (windows)!