Over fired Boiler

[Deleted User]

I have a 1918 era Moline Vapor System with all parts as original. The previous home owner installed a Burnham 5B 400,000+ BTU Commercial Boiler in my 2,800 sq. ft. house. Based upon my calculations, it is more than twice the boiler that should have been installed. Over the last 3 years I have added a vaporstat, repiped the header added Gortons, etc. My heat bills during the cold season get to $800 per month from November to February. I am considering having this replaced by a contractor, but most of the professionals in my area are not knowledgeable about vapor systems. (In fact, steam heat is rather rare in this area.) How much benefit will I get from replacing? What type of boiler should I consider? I would like to get some recomendations on boiler manufacturers, so I can go to them to get a contractor in my area. Any thoughts?

Steamhead (in transit)

Calculations (Paging Boilerpro!)

Do you mean the amount of installed radiation? If so, how much is in there?

If you did a heat-loss calculation, it may or may not match the radiation. If there's a large difference, you may be able to use orifices to restrict the amount of entering steam to each radiator.

Dave "Boilerpro" is our resident Moline expert- how about it, BP?

[Deleted User]

I calculated the radiation square footage for the home at just over 1,000 square feet. The boiler has an AGA rating of 436,800, an I=B=R of 1,367 sq ft and 328,000 MBH.

Steamhead (in transit)

Next thing to do

is calculate the house's heat loss. Try the Free Heat Loss Calcs link to get the software to do this. Then compare the result to your radiation.