Steam heat efficiency question

Steamhead

No forced-air system will keep you as comfortable as a well-operating steam system.

If you absolutely have to have a/c, use a mini-duct system like the Unico or Space-Pak. You don't need to build all those unsightly bulkheads to enclose the ducts in these systems- usually you can just fish them thru the walls.

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ron dame

Quesation on steam heat efficiency

We may need to replace our old boiler in the future, and with the cost of oil this year, are weighing the options.

Making the assumptions of equal burner efficieny and either a new forced air furnace OR a new steam boiler (for our existing one pipe system) is there a significant difference in total efficieny? Would it be worth the extra cost to convert to forced air?

Thanks!

Thad English

steam is better

I am a homeowner who has taken on restoring an old house, and here is what I have learned about replacing steam with forced air: Forced air will be very expensive to install and won't be as good as steam heat. Ducting will have to be run through the entire house, basically turning the whole place into a construction zone. And then you get into the comfort factor. Steam is a much more even heat and you don't get the drafts associated with forced air. If you are looking at cost relationships, installing a new boiler properly and insulating the steam mains in your basement will be far less than the cost to remove the old steam system and install the new forced air system. I have even heard that a new steam boiler, again properly installed, will cost less to run and heat the place comfortably than a forced air system in the same environment. I can't speak from experience on that one, though. It's just what I heard. The benefit from the forced air is that you can have central A/C for the summers.


Try the find a professional link on this page and talk to the pros who do it for a living though


-Thad

Mike T., Swampeast MO

A well-functioning one-pipe steam system is surprisingly efficient and very comfortable.

Do you and your old house a favor by keeping it! Buy Dan's books on steam (available at this site). Study.

If you're willing and able you may well find that what your system really needs is some LONG avoided maintenance that you can do yourself. At a minimum you'll be armed with the knowledge to choose a good heating firm.

Boilerpro_3

Actually,

> I am a homeowner who has taken on restoring an

> old house, and here is what I have learned about

> replacing steam with forced air: Forced air will

> be very expensive to install and won't be as good

> as steam heat. Ducting will have to be run

> through the entire house, basically turning the

> whole place into a construction zone. And then

> you get into the comfort factor. Steam is a much

> more even heat and you don't get the drafts

> associated with forced air. If you are looking

> at cost relationships, installing a new boiler

> properly and insulating the steam mains in your

> basement will be far less than the cost to remove

> the old steam system and install the new forced

> air system. I have even heard that a new steam

> boiler, again properly installed, will cost less

> to run and heat the place comfortably than a

> forced air system in the same environment. I

> can't speak from experience on that one, though.

> It's just what I heard. The benefit from the

> forced air is that you can have central A/C for

> the summers.

>

> Try the find a professional

> link on this page and talk to the pros who do it

> for a living though

>

> -Thad

Boilerpro_3

Actually,

If you want forced air heat and forced air cooling you should use two separate duct systems. The air flow needs for heating and cooling are completely different, so using one system has always been a bad idea, especially when both are used extensively like most U.S. rust belt cities.

Keep the steam,its simple and efficient in most cases, or at most (and with careful consideration and system inspection) convert it to hot water if you want super high efficiency.


Boilerpro

Dean_7

steam

I am a homeowner who last year restored my steam system by using Dan's books (We Got Steam Heat, The Lost Art of Steam Heating, and EDR (Every Darn Radiator) and the information available here at this site. The end result was a quiet, and efficient system and a natural gas bill 75% lower (last Jan. bill was $225 Feb. was (after the work was done) $57 Mar. Apr. and May were even less.

patrick linhardt

results of renovation

If you could share some of the renovations/repairs made to your system, it could help everyone understand the impact that they have. Congratulations on such an energy savings, we need more stories like this.
Best regards, Pat

Dean_7

Steam renovation

Initially we replaced a 70+ year old boiler that had been coal fired then converted to oil and finally gas over the years with a Burnham Independence (PINPV4) boiler two years ago.Considering that this boiler is 83% efficient compared to and estimated efficiency of about 25% of the old boiler there should have been cost savings after replacement and there were some but not that much. After starting to research steam heat I found this site. I ordered and read Dan's books so I could talk to my heating contractor more knowledgeably and to thouroughly understand my particular system (one pipe steam). What I discovered in the course of this was exactly what one pipe steam systems need to function properly and what was missing from mine. All the main air vents had disappeared over the years (4 total) and had been replaced by plugs. The radiator vents were a mismatched collection that only partially worked, the valves leaked, and all the pipe insullation was gone (probably not so bad since it was most likely asbestos originally). And the pressuretrol was set as high as it would go. I replaced all the main vents, all the radiator vents ( all same manufacture) had the pressuretrol reset to its lowest practical setting, fixed the leaking valves and reinsullated the pipes with fiberglass. This was all done last Jan. Then comes February's gas bill and it was 75% less than January's ($57 vs $225). March's bill was less than February's ($48 vs $57). And then the best thing happened the gas company sent someone out to check out the meter not once but twice.
This was all about understanding how my system was SUPPOSED to work and thats what I learned here. Also I've since replaced the pressuretrol with a vaporstat and the system is running at 8oz.

Mad Dog

You, Dean are what it is all about for us

That's stupedous news. Congrats...the Deadmen are alive and well....mad dog

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