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It's raining snowmen...

Constantin
Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
in THE MAIN WALL
... is the heating situation in the kitchen and the family room. The following picture shows how the original radiator was disconnected. My friends wonder if there is a way to heat both the kitchen and the family toom w/o reorting to ripping out a lot of the built-in furniture.

I presume that these small zones could be a great place for something like PEX staple-up with Al-plates and a lot of insulation. I left my Holohan tomes with them, so I don't know just how much of a steamer's heat can be siphoned off, but I'd like to think that if these rooms make up but 15% of the total floor area, that the steamer should be OK...

Comments

  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Here is a blast from the past...

    ... two ARCO Ideal snowmen in a basement that I was recently allowed to visit. Both had been converted from coal to oil, with a very interesting location for the burner tube.
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Both burners were Becketts...

    .... and look like they have been around for a while as well. Yet, undoubtedly, they were a lot younger than the boilers they were attached to. Allegedly, the thermal efficiency is in the 70's...
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    As best as I can tell....

    ... both of these boilers used to provide endless hot water via these nifty "Everhot" heat exchangers. What a wonderful red color jacket, a 1000psi test pressure, and other details. One snowman still had his Everhot, while the other had but the stubs that it used to attach to.

    Presumably, there is at least a beers worth of copper in one of these babies!
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Neat plaque...

    I wonder how many people test to 1000 psi these days...
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    The pressuretrol was a feast for the eyes...

    Not only because of its apparent age but because the pressure seems to be adjusted properly. The heating professional that keeps this system in shape apparently is a follower of Dans, so these homeowners are in good hands...
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Other blasts of the past include...

    ... a [thanks for the correction!] stack switch on the exhaust flue, lots of knob and tube wiring, and an effective way of cutting off the oil supply to the burner via a fusible link in case of a fire.

    Note the service dates on the snowman... they get lower and lower, the further you go up the asbestos. Presumably, these beauties were installed in the 1920's when the house was built.
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Now to the interesting stuff....

    The floor my friends live on does not heat evenly. This appears to be the result of the lack of adequate venting. Basically, the radiators are arranged around the perimeter of the house (on the outside wall), while the main runs down the centerline of the home. 15-20' long leaders then snake out to each radiator.

    There is not a single vent on the main on my friends' systems, either at the point where a normal boilers piping would drop down into the Hartford loop, nor at the end of the "main", which is a 25' long 4" pipe. I presume that the retrofit of 2x #2 Gorton vents would probably do the trick as far as getting the steam down the main, allowing all radiators to be heated at the same time.

    Her neighbors snowman has a vent...
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796


  • gilligan
    gilligan Member Posts: 18
    oldies

    as a service tech in central massachusetts i still see quite a few of these beauties, many with 1725 rpm burners. one reason people don't upgrade is the cost of the asbestos removal. maybe with today's oil prices more people will see the light and finally make the change. yup, ya gotta love those stack relays too. at least they have interrupted ignition!
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 17,387
    Why not

    put in another steam rad, out of the way of the built-ins?

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    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
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  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    That is a possibility...

    ... considering that they have one of those egg-carton-like flat rads in the garage. However, I have the feeling that warm floors underfoot in the family room would be very welcome and the space saving/flexibility increase would be welcome as well.

    At the very least, I put them in touch with Danfoss TRVs to keep the rooms at an even temp.
  • bob_44
    bob_44 Member Posts: 112
    Constantin

    what you refer to as a damper in the flue I believe is a stack switch. bob
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 17,387
    If

    it's the gray thing with the red button on the stack, it's a stack relay, probably a Honeywell RA117. But the pictured Beckett had what looks like a cad-cell type relay on it.

    It's still a nice shot of those servicing dates!

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    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • Scott Kneeland
    Scott Kneeland Member Posts: 158
    RA117

    Steamhead,
    I have seen this several times before when a retrofit was done and the "old stack relay" was used as a juction box and left in the flue pipe. I bet that is what was done here.
    Scott

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