Steam Heat Zone Question

Greg_27

Hi All,

I recently bought a two family house with a sinlge oil-fired burnham steam furnace one-pipe system. I'll be living on the first floor and renting the 2nd. Currently, there is only one zone run by the thermostat on the first floor.

Is it possible to separate the radiators on the 2nd floor to have their own zone controls?

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Probably not too practical in a small residential steam system. Not only is it unlikely that the piping is arranged to make it relatively easy, steam systems like to have all of their load connected.

You might want to consider thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) for the radiators. You'll still have the one thermostat downstairs, but you'll get a decent degree of individual room control--very useful in steam systems where some rooms overheat relative to others.

Greg_27

In the long run, I'd like to have separate utilities for each unit. Already separated electric and Gas(cooking & hot water). It makes sense that the boiler wants the load connected as you said. As an alternate, would it be okay to disconnect the upstairs radiators all together and put in a separate system on its own (gas boiler and water baseboards)? Or would that make my current boiler, which is now heating the whole house, be too big for the first floor alone?

The valves make sense, but I'd like some option that gives the renters more control overall.

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Yes, just shutting down the upstairs radiators will result in a greatly oversized steam boiler, increased fuel consumption and likely decreased comfort (particularly in not-so-cold weather).

Anything is possible given the money, but old hydronic systems in multi-floor residences are rarely laid out in a way that makes it easy to separate the floors--either for zoning or individual boilers.

Have you tried the "Find a Contractor" feature here? A good steam man can do wonders.

Greg_27

Thanks,

Looks like this will have to wait a bit.

Thanks for the ideas,
Greg