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Adding Steam and Hot-water Radiation to a Steam System

Steamhead
Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
This is an ongoing project that we've been working on as the owner's budget allows.



It's a modest three-bedroom cottage, originally heated by one-pipe steam. Previous owner built two additions with no heat at all. A heat-pump pusher said he could heat and cool the entire first floor with a heat pump, which didn't work too well.



He removed the steam elements from the two remaining first-floor convectors and disconnected them from the mains. We put everything back.



The mains are counterflow in this system, and had been replaced with copper that was too small. We re-piped them properly. The street ell you see going up into the drop ceiling is for one of the main vents.



The last pic is how the heat pump wasn't ducted. The boiler room was going negative, drawing flue gases into the ducts. Whoever did that should be shot. This unit has been replaced with a properly-sized A/C unit and proper ducting.
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting

Comments

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    Finished Basement- Hot-Water Loop

    These are standard Beacon-Morris convectors and commercial-style fin-tube, in the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen. The piping is run in trenches below the floor, there was really no other way to put it in. The last pic is the circ and bypass. The aquastat is located at the boiler, where I couldn't get a good picture.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    edited July 2010
    TV Room- Extension of Steam System

    We just finished this part today, fired it up and tested it. Talk about sweating for our money!



    We used Beacon-Morris commercial fin-tube again, this time with 1-1/4" steel elements. Note the use of 45° street ells to get the proper pitches on the element and supply piping on the longer one.



    The steam main is 1-1/2" parallel-flow, pretty standard. It's short enough that a Hoffman #4A is enough main vent. The addition basement it runs thru will eventually be finished, but for now it's a storage area.



    The lower left and right pics show the covers in place. The owner wanted the shorter one offset so she could put a small table there.



    The side addition is next on the list. That will also be steam.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • gerry gill
    gerry gill Member Posts: 3,078
    nice looking job guys!

    you made it look like it was always supposed to be that way..well done.
    gwgillplumbingandheating.com
    Serving Cleveland's eastern suburbs from Cleveland Heights down to Cuyahoga Falls.

  • Charlie from wmass
    Charlie from wmass Member Posts: 4,318
    Wow a propane turbo torch!

    I am one of the few running them in my area, good to see another one out there. Nice job too but you knew that.
    Cost is what you spend , value is what you get.

    cell # 413-841-6726
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/charles-garrity-plumbing-and-heating
  • Gordo
    Gordo Member Posts: 856
    Don't Worry, There'll be Propane for Everyone!

    Cool of you to notice!



    I've been running "propane" for years...it's safer than acetylene (C2H2),and the tank holds more fuel and it's lighter than a "B" tank.  Nota Bene: Acetylene becomes spontaneously explosive at pressures above 15psi.



    I used to run MAPP gas (almost as hot as C2H2), but they've stopped making it, so now I burn propylene...not quite as hot as MAPP,  but hotter than straight propane. 
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    "Reducing our country's energy consumption, one system at a time"
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Baltimore, MD (USA) and consulting anywhere.
    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/all-steamed-up-inc
This discussion has been closed.