radiator vents - best ones

alan_8

Need some opinions, what are the best one pipe radiator vents - both adjustable and not. House is an old 3 story house if that makes any differnce. Thanks,

Alan

Ryan_10

Some bad ones...

I can't tell you the best, but I'll tell you I tried some of those $8.00 Watts from Home Depot online. GARBAGE.

My radiators mostly all came with Dole 1As. They tend to load up with water and then buzz very loudly and annoyingly. I'm reluctant to blame the vents entirely because my mains venting stinks and the vents are getting overworked.

Pete_18

going by Gerry Gill and Steve Pajek's info (for purchase)

and in use around my house, Gorton's and Varivalve Heat Timers are the best. Gorton's are the best non-adjustable, and Varivalves are the best adjustable. I've had ok luck with the Ventrites once the mains were vented properly, but their venting capacity is minimal compared to the others.

I echo from personal experience that the HD Durst brand is garbage.

Pete_18

Do your radiators hiss? Are your mains properly vented? If your mains are not vented and not vented properly, this will force your radiator vents to work way too hard.

First step would be check out the main vents and ensure they exist, function and are the proper size for your pipe / lengths. Once this is done, then you can begin attempting to balance the system. If you post the sizes, lengths of your main pipes and existing vent types, one of the experts can chime in to help.

When I was new to my system a few months ago, I attempted to balance it without main vents simply by using different sized vents and it went nowhere. Unless you can get the main to fill with steam quickly, you're going to have uneven heating. If your radiators are stuck venting what the main vents should be doing, they will suffer and making hissing noises.

Bob W._3

For the smaller radiators and the ones near the thermostat, you may want to consider Hoffman 1A's. They are quality and adjustable. I use them in combination with the faster venting Gortons.

gerry gill

my recommendation is

to use gorton vents on radiators..heatimers have their place but can actually create an induced vacuum problem..i've put heatimers on several jobs and sometimes they work, sometimes they create issues..when its happened i've solved all the ill's by replacing them with gortons, so now all i stock are gorton 6's, C's & D's..

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Pete_18

From the source..

I love the Gorton vents as well and have had the best of luck with them. I just found that having some flexibility to adjust the venting can be helpful as well. An adjustable Gorton that ranges from a 6-D would be wonderful.

shawn_11

Gerry Gill,

Gerry, or anyone else familiar with this, would you please explain what an "induced vacuum problem" is? THANKS FOR THE ANSWER GERRY

gerry gill

its rather lenghty and

i type with the one finger search and destroy method..i'll have a long write up of this phenom upcoming..its about three or four handwritten pages, but the jist of it is this...if you have vented so fast that steam is rocketing into a radiator, its creating a rather big vacuum in that radiator..so all the open atmoshere you want on another radiator won't beat out a vacuum...vacuum wins-atmoshere losses..

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stevenyc_2

So a radiator can be vented too fast?

So are you saying that it is possible to vent a radiator too fast? That this creates a vacuum?

I think this is happening on a few of my radiators that seem to be sucking in air about 4-5 minutes after the boiler shuts off.

Thanks.

Ryan_9

This seems like a pretty simple...

physics problem. Think of the radiator as a really cold balloon. Hot steam of volume 2X hits cold radiator and shoves air out the vent. Hot steam then condenses to volume .5X, or whatever you want. With a balloon, it would simply collapse. The radiator can't collapse. If there is not enough steam waiting to fill that 1.5X of space immediately, outside air will have to be drawn in to fill the void.

This happens with the last radiator in my presently unvented mess if I pull the vent right off and have an open 1/8" hole. By the time it gets steam, most of the other radiators are nearly full, so most all the steam is rushing into that radiator. If one of the other radiator vents opens and "calls" for steam, the end one with the big hold open sucks air. I'm assuming this is how those big Heat-Timers can pull a vacuum, seeing as they can vent like an open hole.

chuck_6

Go with Gorton vents

Alan:

Listen to Gerry. He is very good. Only go with the Gorton vents. As someone else mentioned, make sure your main vents are properly vented (especially since there is a third floor). You can measure the length of each main and diameter and someone can advise on main vents.

You can also call Ken Kunz at Gorton. His phone number is (908) 276-1323. Ken is terrific and helped me many times.

Chuck

Brian_39

I have tried several different types of vents for my one pipe system. Varivalve made by Heat Timer Corp has been hands down the best for me. All replaced all of mine with the Heat Timers. I also have a three story house

gerry gill

under the right circumstance yes..

i never thought it possible till i managed to achieve that state of awe...hehe...as i stood there and watched the steam choose which radiator (on a back to back set up off the same riser)that it wanted to go into..this happened only recently and was long after i said in my ''venting chart procedure'' that i hadn't had problems venting fast..once i slowed things down a bit (using gorton c vents) all worked fine and dandy..i then faced east toward baltimore and bowed to steamhead who said i can vent to fast...lesson learned..but the gorton c's and d's that i ended up using were still significantly faster than the watts vents that were there..i still advocate venting extremely fast but one now has to put it in mind that there is a limit to everything..

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mel rowe

What do you think of Thermostatic rad valves? Do they vent well along with providing better temp. control? Anyone have experience to share in this area?

gerry gill

they work

just fine..

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