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For Old Heating System Sleuths

Looked at a 2-piper today. Big 4 Square house from 1914. I don't know why, but I never feel comfortable working with a system until I understand how it started out originally and what changes happened along the way. Mysteries drive me nuts. Before I found you guys, I was almost insane.

And for that reason, finished basements drive me nuts. Which is what I have in this case.

It's a beautiful house that seems largely intact. Two-pipe system as previous stated. But none of the radiators match, though the traps all do (Webster). Not even on the first floor in the main rooms do they match. No signs of any heating system prior to the existing.

And then we have this:



It's a steam heat exchanger with a blower and 3 ducts to three floor vents, one in the parlor, one in the front foyer and one in the 2nd floor master bedroom. It was important enough to install that a door behind the unit was walled over so as to allow it's installation. The 3 rooms with the floor grates have massive radiation, so why?

The unit is disconnected, probably has been for a very long time, and is not of any import beyond being a possible piece of the puzzle that this house represents. My customer purchased the home over the summer so there is no history.
New England SteamWorks
Service, Installation, & Restoration of Steam Heating Systems
newenglandsteamworks.com

Comments

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Could have been for fresh air into the house. Any evidence of ductwork or outside inlet grills?
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    I agree.

    This is probably a Webster Modulation system (If it doesn't have a Return Trap) or a Type R system (if it does). Pretty standard Vapor in either case.

    How about some radiator and boiler room pics?
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Is that a direct drive motor on that blower? Maybe the fresh air was an afterthought? Also did the house have electricity in 1914?
  • 1. If there was ducting to bring fresh air in, there is no sign or clue of it now.
    2. There is a trap on the return.
    3. The house likely had electricity when built, but the blower is not original because a door was walled off in order to install it.

    I suppose it could have been added simply to bring in fresh (warmed) air into the home? That would make sense if someone was really concerned about stale air, especially given the location of the vents in the home.

    The requested photos:






    2.jpg 241.5K
    4.jpg 178.8K
    5.jpg 221.4K
    1.jpg 245K
    3.jpg 251.1K
    New England SteamWorks
    Service, Installation, & Restoration of Steam Heating Systems
    newenglandsteamworks.com
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,592
    Maybe it was a heating guy's house and he used whatever he had on hand as long as the radiators were about the right size?
    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
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,042
    Looks like remains of a trapeze hanger for a ceiling/condenser radiator above the boiler.
  • Danny Scully
    Danny Scully Member Posts: 1,416
    @JUGHNE, I was thinking the same.
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    edited September 2016
    Consumption, or what we now call tuberculosis, was raging in the U.S. then, and fresh air was a part of the remedy. Note the location of the vents in this house. Someone who lived there was ill.

    http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/blueridgesanatorium/death.htm
    Retired and loving it.
    New England SteamWorksHap_Hazzard
  • I am going with that Dan, makes perfect sense, thank you. A doorway wouldn't stand in the way of an illness.

    I couldn't read the model number of this Utica. Anyone care to venture an approximate age?
    New England SteamWorks
    Service, Installation, & Restoration of Steam Heating Systems
    newenglandsteamworks.com
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    It's an OU-something. Count the number of sections to complete the model number: 4 sections= OU400, 6 sections= OU600. Some of the larger units had model numbers starting with HS rather than OU, but I don't think yours is that big.

    These boilers were built like tanks.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356

    Consumption, or what we now call tuberculosis, was raging in the U.S. then, and fresh air was a part of the remedy.

    Consumption was big business here in our little corner of NM
    http://www.elpalacio.org/placeseries/winter08lungers.pdf
    http://www.cs.amedd.army.mil/borden/FileDownloadpublic.aspx?docid=332041d7-dbd2-4edf-823f-29a66c0b65ef
  • Steamhead said:

    It's an OU-something. Count the number of sections to complete the model number: 4 sections= OU400, 6 sections= OU600. Some of the larger units had model numbers starting with HS rather than OU, but I don't think yours is that big.

    These boilers were built like tanks.

    The only thing I could make out was 1035 sq ft of steam. I am guessing from the 1960's?
    New England SteamWorks
    Service, Installation, & Restoration of Steam Heating Systems
    newenglandsteamworks.com
  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846

    Consumption, or what we now call tuberculosis, was raging in the U.S. then, and fresh air was a part of the remedy. Note the location of the vents in this house. Someone who lived there was ill.

    Amazing how putting something in its historical context clarity to an enigma.

    Dan, I think you could probably earn a graduate degree in history of technology without too much difficulty.
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    LOL! Thanks, Hap. I'm just curious.
    Retired and loving it.
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,592
    We need @Dan Holohan to write books about the Monitor Top and it's history.



    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
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    Retired and loving it.
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,592
    Negative.
    A book like your lost art, or greening steam. The history of how and why they were engineered the way they are. How they were sold, financed etc and most importantly, how to make repairs.
    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
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    Okay. Thanks.
    Retired and loving it.
  • STEVEusaPA
    STEVEusaPA Member Posts: 6,506
    Yeah isn't that what retirement is for...more work?
    steve
    Erin Holohan Haskell
  • ChrisJ
    ChrisJ Member Posts: 15,592
    Of course not but no one writes like Dan.
    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
    New England SteamWorks
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    Writing has never seemed like work to me. It's just talking on paper, a joy.
    Retired and loving it.
    SWEIErin Holohan Haskell
  • gerry gill
    gerry gill Member Posts: 3,078
    some very cool history in this thread!
    gwgillplumbingandheating.com
    Serving Cleveland's eastern suburbs from Cleveland Heights down to Cuyahoga Falls.

  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796

    Steamhead said:

    It's an OU-something. Count the number of sections to complete the model number: 4 sections= OU400, 6 sections= OU600. Some of the larger units had model numbers starting with HS rather than OU, but I don't think yours is that big.

    These boilers were built like tanks.

    The only thing I could make out was 1035 sq ft of steam. I am guessing from the 1960's?
    That would be either an OU-800 or an HS-800 depending on what burner was originally on it. Firing rate is 3.05 GPH if running at maximum rated load. Probably dates to the 1970s or early 1980s.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    New England SteamWorks
  • Hap_Hazzard
    Hap_Hazzard Member Posts: 2,846

    Writing has never seemed like work to me. It's just talking on paper, a joy.

    Keep talking. ;-)
    Just another DIYer | King of Prussia, PA
    1983(?) Peerless G-561-W-S | 3" drop header, CG400-1090, VXT-24
    b_bzErin Holohan HaskellSWEI