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No Equalizer, No Hartford Loop, No pigtail, no...

Nelson R. Pardee
Nelson R. Pardee Member Posts: 11
in THE MAIN WALL
I'm trying to understand the steam system in my sister's 1910-1930's house. It's a one pipe, but as I'm reading "We Got Steam Heat", I can't see any equalizer loop, no hartford loop. You can see a couple of photographs at http://web.syr.edu/~nrpardee. Is this a concern? Am I missing something?

Comments

  • gerry gill
    gerry gill Member Posts: 3,078
    she doesn't have it cause

    its the original coal system..never updated..'cept for the conversion burner unit..we have lots like it around cleveland...is it safe? well,,,hehe....well....well..long as nothing breaks or leaks....hope your low water cutoff works....
    gwgillplumbingandheating.com
    Serving Cleveland's eastern suburbs from Cleveland Heights down to Cuyahoga Falls.

  • John Mills_3
    John Mills_3 Member Posts: 221
    WOW!

    Neat sight for a dryhead to see! How bad are her gas bills?
  • Dale
    Dale Member Posts: 1,317
    Pretty common

    I see a few of these still. To see if it's worth changing have someone do a good cleaning of the heat exchanger surfaces. Make SURE it is someone familiar with conversion burners so the settings don't get changed without a reason. Add some main vents in the correct spot. Then have her look at her bill and see if the payback is reasonable for her. What I see is the rich person buying the nice old house and wanting the new boiler for $6-8K and sometimes getting it right and sometimes not. What I also see is the landlord who pays for the heat looks at the numbers and if the payback goes much past 3 years its a no go.
  • Nelson R. Pardee
    Nelson R. Pardee Member Posts: 11
    No Equalizer, No Hartford Loop, No pigtail, no...

    I don't know if heat bills are out of sight or not. Their upstairs is too hot, which *is* costing money, and I'm trying to work on solutions to that. I think the right thing is TRV valves, but researching that is taking time, and it looks like it's around $300 for 4 radiators. I've asked about this in a separate thread, but if anyone has ideas, I'd love them.

    The exchanger hasn't been cleaned since they moved in 10 years ago (was then).

    I guess I didn't realize (nor understand) how doing the equalizer, Hartford Loop, etc., could save money. Or are you talking about resizing the burner?
  • Nelson R. Pardee
    Nelson R. Pardee Member Posts: 11
    No Equalizer, No Hartford Loop, No pigtail, no...

    I don't know if heat bills are out of sight or not. Their upstairs is too hot, which *is* costing money, and I'm trying to work on solutions to that. I think the right thing is TRV valves, but researching that is taking time, and it looks like it's around $300 for 4 radiators. I've asked about this in a separate thread, but if anyone has ideas, I'd love them.

    The exchanger hasn't been cleaned since they moved in 10 years ago (was then).

    I guess I didn't realize (nor understand) how doing the equalizer, Hartford Loop, etc., could save money. Or are you talking about resizing the burner?
This discussion has been closed.

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