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Cutting Fuel Bills with Venting in Steam Heating Systems

HeatingHelp
HeatingHelp Administrator Posts: 635
edited April 2020 in THE MAIN WALL
Cutting Fuel Bills with Venting in Steam Heating Systems

In this excerpt from his Dead Men’s Steam School seminar, Dan Holohan shares his knowledge about venting steam heating systems. He talks about air vents and proper placement, master venting and how it can cut fuel bills, balancing steam systems using a venting capacity chart, and more.

Read the full story here


Comments

  • johnlobb
    johnlobb Member Posts: 22
    Brilliant, Dan! I love your explanation! Thanks again for your unique ability to make the foggy obvious. Since my Son bought a place with a large steam boiler, we're going to sleuth out the venting problems...
  • DanHolohan
    DanHolohan Member, Moderator, Administrator Posts: 16,513
    edited April 2020
    Thanks for watching, @johnlobb. Erin has other good stuff up on the Heating Help YouTube channel. Did you subscribe to it?
    Retired and loving it.
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    edited May 2023
    If you look at our Find a Contractor ad, you'll see a shining example of what Master Venting can do:

    https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/all-steamed-up-inc

    And here is a more-detailed discussion of the job. The pictures in our Find a Contractor ad once appeared here also, but have gotten lost over time:

    https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/105596/all-steamed-up-inc-s-first-big-job-el-gordo-steamhead
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    Mad Dog_2dkoErin Holohan Haskell
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 6,832
    Proper main .venting can cut fuel usage DRASTICALLY....Commercial buildings can save 10s of thousands in some cases...Low hanging fruit!   Mad Dog 🐕 
  • trivetman
    trivetman Member Posts: 178
    So without proper venting the steam doesn’t distribute efficiently and quickly to radiators. I get that.

    Because it doesn’t distribute efficiently, the boiler runs for longer, using more fuel. Where does the extra heat from all that fuel end up? Does it just heat the space immediately around the boiler as it isnt absorbed by the distribution system? Does it go up the chimney with the exhaust at a higher rate?
  • Mad Dog_2
    Mad Dog_2 Member Posts: 6,832
    Pretty much...Yes.  The on/off...on/off (stop and go traffic on the L.I.E.) i.e., short cycling wastes tons of fuel and takes hours to heat the building properly.  That extra heat gets off the train 🚆 where you don't want it.  Mad Dog 🐕 
  • Steamhead
    Steamhead Member Posts: 16,796
    The other factor is, without main vents the boiler has to build more pressure to make the steam push the air out, since there is not nearly as much vent opening. This compresses the steam and makes it take up less space, so the boiler has to generate even more steam to fill the system- and uses a lot more fuel to do so.
    All Steamed Up, Inc.
    Towson, MD, USA
    Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
    Oil & Gas Burner Service
    Consulting
    Mad Dog_2