Steam radiators not fully hot

Joe_48

Anthony I am in the same boat. I went through this disaster last week. In my case I never had air vents when I needed them. I would recommend getting the adjustable air vents because in my case my downstairs (where the thermostat is) was getting warm and the upstairs would freeze. I had adjustable vents installed and opened the ones upstairs to the highest setting and had the downstairs set to almost closed. Now we are feeling much warmer throughout the house. Something else that you may want to know... the guy I had put the air vents in had them for $30/each. I went to Home Depot and got ones for $6. They are both adjustable. The only difference is that his has a dial to adjust and I have to use a screwdriver. I did buy one of his to see if there was a difference but as of now, there is no difference. I guess the test will be to see how long they last. Hope you get things figured out. I'm glad I'm not the only one out there with the same problems :)

Anthony_9

Only half the raditors are getting hot and no steam exits-vents

I recently converted my heating system from Oil to Gas (steam). The plumber installed a Burhman boiler. Here is the problem, the radiators only get half hot. I had the boiler on for 3 hours last night and the half closest to the valve is very hot, the second half closest to the vent is warm. The bottom of the radiator is cold. When I take the vents off, no steam comes out of the vents. It seems like the guy who installed the system doesnt want anything to do with it. He told me to go out and buy Hoffman vents which are adjustable. Before I go out and spend that type of money, I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions. This is a steam boiler. Also, I did some testing and closed every valve off and put one radiator on at a time. When I put them on, one at the time, the radiator is very hot and the steam that comes out of the vents is very powerful. As I put more and more of the raditors on, they get less hot and no steam exits the vents. I have a 1200 sq 2 story home (8 radiators in total). ANY HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. THANK YOU.

Fred Harwood

Steam heat

When your boiler is matched to your radiators, a good thing, and your thermostat works well, your radiators will heat only as much as needed, not all the way every time. In effect, only on the coldest day of the year should your rads get all hot. Otherwise, you'll overheat.

In order to vary the heat by room, you adjust your radiator venting, with the slowest venting on the radiator nearest to the thermostat, and the fastest venting on the radiator most distant from the boiler.

Is the thermostat room getting to temperature?

Joe_48

one more thing....

Also, the only time the air vents will "whistle" is after the system fires up and the steam starts reaching the radiators. You know you will start to get heat in the radiator because the whistling starts when the steam is approaching the radiator, pushing out the colder air. The whistling will stop as the radiator gets hot and will occasionally whistle during the cycle.

Anthony_9

In addition

Thanks for all the quick responses. I'm gonna go out and buy those Hoffman vents and see if that does the trick. Logically, it doesn't make sense, but I'll give it a try. This morning, I set the thermostat so that it would be 69 degrees at 6:00 AM. The boiler kicked on at 3:21 AM so that it would be ready at 6:00 AM. Not sure how replacing the vents will make the system get hotter faster, but I guess its worth a try. I think it has something to do the with amount of pressure being pushed out by the boiler. I'll keep everyone posted. Any other suggestions, please let me know.

Fred Harwood

Steam

Are you saying that your boiler has to run 2.5 hours to get steam to the radiators?

chuck_6

Anthony/Joe - listen to Fred

We have a steam boiler at home as well. I would forget the Hoffman and Home Depot air vents. Go to a heating supply place and only buy Gorton vents. You need to put a Gorton 4 in the room with the thermostat and Gorton C and D vents upstairs. Speak to Ken Kunz at Gorton at (908) 276-1323. He is terrific and can probably tell you where your local supply place is located. You may also want to check the vents on the mains. Ken can help you that as well.

Dean_7

radiators

From one home owner to another buy Dan's book "We Got Steam Heat" it is well worth it and you will understand your system better. After that if you get "The Lost Art of Steam Heating" you will know more than most contractors.

Steamhead

Some other possible causes

Wet steam- this is usually caused by improper piping around the boiler, or by dirty water in the boiler. If the water in the sight glass is dirty, you know you have the latter problem. Compare the piping to Burnham's specs to see if you have the former problem.

Lack of insulation- if steam pipes are left bare, usually after asbestos removal, the steam will condense in the pipes before it reaches the radiators.

Boiler too small- we don't see this one too often, but it can cause the symptoms you have.

Take some pics of your system, including the piping around the boiler, and post them here. We may be able to spot something that may help you. Also, try the Find a Professional page of this site to locate a good steam man near you. If you're in the Baltimore area, contact me!

BTW Joe- if those Home Depot vents you bought are the ones with the adjustable cap on top, they just might last through the heating season. That's why the Gorton, Hoffman, Dole, Vent-Rite, Maid-o-Mist and others cost a bit more- they're built to last.

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Anthony_9

UPDATES

Thanks for all your replies. I just wanted to add that someone I work with said my boiler might be too small for my house. I have approxiatemly 1,300 sq feet, detached, 2 story cape. The boiler is located in the basement. I have 5 radiators on the first floor and 3 radiators on the 2nd (top floor). Here is the information off my brand new Burnham boiler. Input = 105,000
HTG Cap = 87,000 BTU/HR ; Steam = 271 sq ; steam = 65,000 btu/hr ; water = 76,000 btu/hr.

As always, thanks for your feedback.

Steamhead

To properly answer this

we'd need to know the EDR ratings of your radiators. These can be found in Dan's book "E.D.R." which is a compilation of old radiator catalogs. You can order a copy on the Books and More page of this site.

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