Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Tile piping

Uncovered 18" clay tile piping with some kind of fabric lining. Any clues?

Comments

  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,418
    18"? that is huge. What goes through it?
  • Arnold E. Clubine
    Arnold E. Clubine Member Posts: 10
    Seems to be abandoned
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Where is it located, under your basement floor?
  • Mark Eatherton
    Mark Eatherton Member Posts: 5,853
    Underground preheat for combustion air, or free ground cooling? I assume it is perforated?
    It's not so much a case of "You got what you paid for", as it is a matter of "You DIDN'T get what you DIDN'T pay for, and you're NOT going to get what you thought you were in the way of comfort". Borrowed from Heatboy.
    Gordy
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,584
    18" diameter?
    Single pipe quasi-vapor system. Typical operating pressure 0.14 - 0.43 oz. EcoSteam ES-20 Advanced Control for Residential Steam boilers. Rectorseal Steamaster water treatment
  • Fred
    Fred Member Posts: 8,542
    I don't know where you are located or how old the house is but in my neighborhood, there are some houses that have/had 18" to 24" tile piping that tied into a "network" that ran through the neighborhood. It was an attempt to provide some passive air conditioning to the houses that had a connection. There was a grate in the basement floor. I don't know if it was an experiment, back in the day, or if it was an option that a home builder had to pay a connection fee but only a few houses were connected. It probably didn't work well as the concept never evloved. Not sure how they kept it drained/dry. It certainly would resolve any question about having enough combustion air in the basement to support today's equipment.
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    Do you know where the piping begins and ends?

    Where are you located? It's possible this was a conduit for an abandoned district-steam system.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    edited December 2015
    Some old houses that were new built with gravity hot air had the return air duct under the basement floor. It would gather cold air (around the perimeter of the house at the windows) and drop risers would connect to the underfloor duct. The "furnace beast" would then sit over the junction of the RA. The supply would then be the familiar "octopus" configuration.
    Have never noticed round tile out here though.