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How can I tell main vents are working?

Lee Kowalski
Lee Kowalski Member Posts: 1
in THE MAIN WALL
Hi,

We're renting an old house (1850's says the landlord). The heat is steam, and looks to be one-pipe radiators, based on what I've read on this site and from searching Google for info.

Prior to now, we've lived in a modern apartment with forced air heat.

The radiators here take ages to respond, and start heating at different rates. I have an indoor/outdoor thermometer so I can gauge the heat in various rooms. It seems to increase only 1 degree per hour. When I crank the thermostat to 80 degrees (it's 40 outside) it takes 3 hours to rise from 67 to 71. Just now, to increase 1 degree, it took 2 cf on the gas meter, over one hour. (Is that typical?)

Based on what I've read and to try to understand what's going on, I opened all the vents that are at the radiators. In this last experiment, the granddaddy in the living room, the kitchen radiator, and a small one in the hall were hissing.

I stood by what I think are the main vents just after the boiler turned on to see whether they opened or did anything. They just sat there. Nothing happened with them. I've found two, and based on diagrams I saw on Google, they look like they are the ones on the returns, so their location makes sense.

From what I read, I expected that when the boiler turns on and steam starts going, the main vents should open to get the air out, and then close as the main pipes get hot. Is that correct? But what can I "see" to let me know that they open?

When I look at the top of one of them, it looks like it is just silver metal and solid. I suspect that they might just be caps and not really venting.

Is there some way I can test that the main vents themselves are actually doing what they are supposed to do? What would I see or hear?

I know the answer "depends", but what kind of temp increase rates and gas cf usage should I expect? Is 1 deg per hour and 2 cfs per degree to be expected?

Is there some information I can relate to the landlord (like "I think the main vents aren't working and here's why") to convince him that this is a problem he should address? We are getting some heat, so it's not like its not working. I'm just afraid our gas bill is going to be through the roof come January. :-)

Thank you!
--Lee

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