Old house heating: Steam radiators or forced air?

montysir · May 1

hi there!

we moved into an old house built in the 1930s in New Jersey. The house has steam radiators with a gas powered boiler in the basement. And then we have central AC with dampers in the attic. Our boiler is 30 years old and we’re doing a bunch of renovation in the house, so the question is:

should we stick to boiler and steam heat or switch to forced air heat?

Some considerations:

We are based in New Jersey
The house was built in 1930s
We had HVAC companies provide us some quotes to switch to forced heat, and they all mentioned that some of the ductwork would have to be redone to support heating (since it’s designed for cooling)
Planned renovation involves tearing down a couple of walls on the second floor
We have no major issues currently with the cooling or heating in the house, other than a couple of dead zones and poorly insulated areas which we will fix in the renovation
The reason for switching to central would be get to rid of the boiler in the basement and make it a mud room, get rid of refilling/draining the boiler process every few weeks, don’t have to worry about hammering noises, and remove the radiators (my wife thinks they are ugly lol)

FWIW, some of the HVAC contractors we got quotes from mentioned we would end up dissatisfied with forced heat and these old houses are not well setup for it. None of them were able to offer an explanation I could understand other than “they’re not built for central.” Really hoping the experts here can shed some light on what would be good to do!

ethicalpaul · May 1

Don't do it.

And stop draining the boiler. There shouldn't be hammering noises, those can be fixed.

You can contact me at the link below if you like, I didn't know anything about steam when I bought my NJ house in 2017. Now you'd have to pry it from my cold dead fingers.

EBEBRATT-Ed · May 1

If the wife thinks the radiators are ugly then this one is a lost cause.

You should keep the steam but you will hear about it every time a pipe bangs or there is an issue with the boiler………….for EVER.

Steamhead · May 1

Keep the steam. And if your wife thinks the rads are ugly, have them refinished in whatever color she wants.

Does the boiler have a float-type low-water cutoff that requires weekly draining?

delcrossv · May 1

Solve for wife crabbing about rads:

Never used them but they are in NYC. https://stanleyradiatorenclosures.com/

You really, really, REALLY do NOT want to go to forced air for heat. At best, it's inferior to steam, at worst it really sucks.

pecmsg · May 1

do not tell the wife. Get the heat pumps but keep the steam. Come next February when that NE wind is blowing and the mercury is dropping and she’s complaining I’m cold, turn the steam on. Do NOT tell her I told you so. Let her decide!

ChrisJ · May 1

Speaking as someone who went out specifically looking for a house with cast iron radiators because I like them, I'd say keep the steam and get rid of the wife.

😉

Jamie Hall · May 1

You will have to do EXTENSIVE revisions to the ductwork if you switch to forced air (or a heat pump). Nothing minor or "some" about it, And the ducts are large. Even if you do, you will have to run the house warmer to feel somewhat comfortable. If you don't, you will be miserable.

Keep the steam. There is no need to drain and refill the boiler, except perhaps once per season (and not even then, in most cases), unless you have a float type low water cutoff — and that takes all of a minute or so to do. There is no good excuse for bangs; they can be almost completely, if not completely, eliminated by minor work — mostly checking and restoring the pitch of some of the pipes.

leonz · May 2

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/201343/old-house-heating-steam-radiators-or-forced-air

As Brother Jamie has said you should keep your steam heat because it will cost you a great deal of money to install and the payback period would be very very long and the house will not be as warm during the winter months and modern furnaces do not last as long as steam boilers.

It would help if you could upload pictures of your boiler and radiators.

What do you mean in reference to dead zones? Could the radiator valves in these areas be completely closed?

In regard to the banging you are experiencing the header pipes and or the radiators are not pitched back to the boiler to let the condensate drain back to the boiler. The cold water that has collected in the sagging pipes instantly reacts to the steam rising from the boiler and contacting the cold water remaining in the pipe which causes the banging.

The quickest thing to do is use a good bubble level to check the header pipes in the basement as they may have sagged over time and also check each radiator for level as the radiators need to be shimmed on the end to drain condensate back to the riser or header pipe to prevent banging.

YOU are in need of a steam licensed plumber to take care of your boiler with the needed repairs and bring it up to code and correctly pitch your steam piping and radiators and stop her from complaining.

You can buy beautiful radiator covers to eliminate the wifes UGGHHHH radiator issues and save a great deal of money as furnace ducting installations take up a great deal of space in a basement and cost a great deal of money.

These contractors that told you old houses are not built for central heat did you no favors as your steam boiler is your central heating source.

My wife's first home was a 2 story Montgomery Ward kit home that came to the local rail yard in box cars with everything down to the last nail, pipe, faucet and the hand fed coal steam boiler and the steam heating system was a single pipe steam boiler.

Whoever told you that you would not be happy with forced air heating is right as there is no radiant heat being shed from a properly shimmed radiator that is draining condensate back to the header pipe or pipes sloped to drain back to the boiler.

Growing up I lived in 2 houses with forced air and I hated it because I was always cold and the dust bunnies were rampant. The apartment over my fathers grocery store had coal fired steam heat that was converted to gas and the heat was slow and even and we had warm floors as well.

Your steam boiler needs some Tender Loving Care and a steam licensed plumber to take care if it and eliminate the wifes issues with the steam heating.

Removing those radiators will only make a furnace installer richer for the scrap money and you will lose the source of radiant heat in your home.

Have your wife lay several blankets on one of the radiators after the steam plumber provides the boiler the TLC it needs and shims the pipe and radiators and have her sit on the warm radiator for a while and then ask here how she likes the heat. If she still complains about the floors not being warm there is no hope for her.

Old house heating: Steam radiators or forced air?

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