Home Steam Heat--Basic Questions and Issues

Mitch_6

is a smaller condensed version of The Lost Art.

Try that first and also check other areas of Dans web site you find some info here. Dan also has several other books but the lost art is master of them all if you have to pick one.

Good Luck

Mitch S.


<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=388&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

Fasteddie82

Home Steam Heat--Basic Questions and Issues

I live in a two story house with steam heat. It has an American-Standard gas boiler, with two-pipe radiators all over the house.

First off, some of the valves on the radiators are stuck. Some I can barely move if I use a lot of force, and some I can't move at all. Are these valves easily replaced? Can I do it myself? Where do I get replacement valves? How expensive are they? Se a sample valve in the picture.

Secondly, the bottom pipe in this picture connects through a 90-degree bend with a hexagon-shaped thing on top of it. I assume this is the "steam trap"? Some radiators in my house get blazing hot, but most are kind of mediocre. Could these steam traps be the problem? How do I tell if they are working properly? How do I maintain or replace these steam traps?

Mitch_6

\"The Lost art of steam heating\"

buy the book it will answer all.

Except pricing.

Plus the actual ability to do the repair depends on the mechanical ability of the individual.

Mitch S.

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"

Brad White_118

It's a Trap!



Take Mitch's advice for The Lost Art... but also "We Got Steam Heat!...

What you describe indeed is a trap, a thermostatic trap. Tunstall Associates in Western MA. has replacement kits of most if not all types. If the radiator is lukewarm but not hot except where the steam enters, the trap could be holding back. If the temperature is hot, equally so on both sides, it is leaking by. Replacement kits for the guts are a common solution. Traps last for years which is probably how old they are....

Fasteddie82

Yup, I ordered "We Got Steam Heat" already, just trying to get a jump on the problem. Its getting cold quick in Northern Illinois.

As a homeowner, would it be worthwhile to also get "The Lost Art of Steam Heat" book?

John_102

LASH

Homeowner to homeowner, I'd say yes, buy both. I am a book addict, however. Far sooner read than watch the tube. LASH is full of info you won't need, but that doesn't make it less valuable. There is plenty you'll appreciate & use. I'm happy to own them both, as well as A Pocketful of Steam Problems. I've hesitated to buy Every Darn Radiator - I need EDR for two or three Trane convectors - and several other titles, but then I do live in a home for unwanted (& wanted) books.