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.

Inconsistent and uneven steam radiator heating after conversion.

Options
MartinK
MartinK Member Posts: 1
edited November 2021 in Gas Heating
The first winter of 2017-18 in my 1880’s house I ran the oil steam boiler. The heat was cozy, even and consistent up until midwinter of 2018-19 when I converted the approximate 10-12 yr old Smith boiler to NG anticipating lower heating costs. 

Since then not all eleven radiators throughout my two story house heat evenly, consistently or at all sometimes, despite release valve adjustments, and just recently six were replaced. There are two system main valves in the basement, but the HVAC guy who came out to replace the aforementioned six release valves four days ago said they were fine, and the .5 lb pressure gauge setting on the boiler was also.  Yet the inconsistency and uneven heating issues persist.  The HVAC guy is supposed to return to hopefully figure out what’s going on ASAP. 

Does anyone have any input, insight or advice as to what is wrong with my once reliable steam radiator heat after the boiler was converted?  I’m stumped. Thank you. 

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,286
    Options
    What else was done besides taking out the oil burner and putting in natural gas? How do the capacities of the two compare? Were they exactly, or very nearly exactly, the same?

    Was any near boiler piping disturbed or changed?

    As a minor note -- if something worked before a change was made, and didn't afterwards, the problem is something related directly to the change -- not some other problem -- unless you have really bad karma.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Member Posts: 15,524
    edited November 2021
    Options
    Changing from an oil burner to a gas burner should have no affect on the steam unless they over fired or under fired the gas burner in relation to what the oil burner was firing.

    And if they did that they should be spanked because there is no reason to not know what the oil burner was firing.

    Do you have some pictures of the boiler?

    Do you know if your getting pressure on the steam pressure gauge? How much pressure if any?

    There was no reason to go messing with air vents where the system was already working. They need to stop fooling with the system and figure out what changed
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,061
    Options
    Did they install a new thermostat?
    Or change any adjustments within it?
    What do you have for tstat now?
  • neilc
    neilc Member Posts: 2,703
    Options
    boiler pictures, and of the controls,
    known to beat dead horses

Categories