Temperature range for steam heat systems

Brad White_9

Not sure who is giving you mixed signals, but the type of heating delivery you have (air, water, steam) only wants to satisfy your comfort setpoint.

All it means is, when you set the temperature back at night or when unoccupied, the boiler will satisfy that setpoint sooner, then go back to sleep. It may cycle more (because it becomes effectively "oversized" relative to the reduced heat load at lower temperatures. That's all.

Go ahead and set it back to save fuel.

Naturally we would be remiss in asking if your piping is insulated and that you are running the boiler at the lowest possible pressure which will do the job. Forget those things and why worry about setbacks?

You may also consider TRV vent valves at rooms you like to keep on the cool side, too.

Some thoughts.

Brad

Brian_47

Temperature Range for Steam Heat System

Just moved into new home which has steam heat. Previous home had forced hot air / oil furnace. I would set the temp to come on at 6:00 am at 65 degrees then shut off at 7:15 am at 57 degress. Then back on at 5:00 pm to 65 then down at 8:00 pm to 57 for the night, ( Mon - Fri ) Note: both my wife & I work same hours, that's why we could do this with the heat settings.

Same for weekend but 65 throughout the day and down to 57 for the night. Previous house was much smaller than what we have now. We would use about 350 to 400 gallons of fuel each heating season.

Now we have steam heat. Can we run the same temperature settings or is this method no good for steam?? Been getting mixed reviews.

Your thoughts
Thanks
Brian

John Mills_5

remember...

with your old forced air, a few minutes after the thermostat shuts down, the heat stops coming out. With steam, once those radiators get blazing hot during a recovery, it may take hours to cool down. So if your stat satisfies at 70, the residual heat in the radiators could well overshoot that by several degrees. Something to watch for and may have to tweak your settings.