Old house heating: Steam radiators or forced air?

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!
Comments
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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.
NJ Steam Homeowner.
Free NJ and remote steam advice: https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/new-jersey-steam-help/
See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el1 -
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.
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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?
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting1 -
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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.
Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England2 -
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.
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If I had the money I would have ripped out the baseboard heat (which I hate) long ago and replaced it with top fed steam and a coal fired stoker set up with steam controls in 1982.
No, you cannot dry wet soaked winter or fall clothing slowly without shrinking them with scorched air.
You can set them on a radiator covered with a radiator cover or blankets and have the clothes dry and ready to wear provided the cat has not monopolized the radiator.
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Cast Iron Steam Radiators are a charm in an older home, such as mine, built circa 1760. Steam will serve you well if properly installed and serviced. However, you will need a steam pro - likely from this site - to get the system in order.
I suspect the relationship may turn out to be a tug-of-war on not just the heating system, but on other choices during renovation process.
All the best.
RTW
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In beauty and the beast, the beast became lovable once he saved bell's life.
Open the windows get the house cold, turn on the AC, open the freezer. Play a little ice hockey in the living room.
Give it an hour.
Then, strike up the steam. Those ugly radiators will turn into young princes by the kisses bestowed upon them by her majesty.
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my gloves are still sitting in front of the register. force air does a great job of drying out clothing if it is cold enough that is is running. the problem is it is usually too warm for heat and too cold for ac when my shoes get wet. eve the cold dry moving air of the ac does a decent job of drying things.
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Most suburban folks live in newer houses — many of them less than 30 years old — where everything was done to go cheap. And forced air is cheap to install in a new build (not as a retrofit). Most people living in denser cities on the east coast have steam, because their buildings are mostly pre-WWII or even earlier, and are much more compact and forced air was almost unheard of (gravity air, yes, but only for the very high end mansions).. Most rural homes will be steam or hot water.
But… the ones who squeak and the ones who post are the suburban ones, so there is an illusion that "almost no one has it in their own home".
Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England1 -
Steam and HW are only a fraction of the systems installed. Hot air is the king in most of the country whether we like it or not.
Nothing wrong with hot air if it done right unfortunately it seldom is. Hot air will be unsatisfactory in some buildings like masonary construction. Low ceilings with overhead supplies are a problem occupants can feel air movement. And overhead heat supply is never good.
Most jobs have undersized ductwork that can't be balanced
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"The reason for switching to central would be get to rid of the boiler in the basement and make it a mud room"
Done correctly, you'd be replacing steam pipes in your basement with much larger ductwork. 🤔
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.0 -
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That's how our house started out. (Originally a farmhouse)
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.0 -
Jamie, it’s not the ones that squeak. Probably 95%+ of Americans don’t have steam. This is a pleasant and knowledgeable echo chamber, but still an echo chamber! Should we try to understand why Americans have abandoned steam? Or just call them names?
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What most people have doesn't justify the cost of tearing a system out that can perform perfectly fine and paying to install a new one.
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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I do not call them names. Indeed, much of my "day" job has to do with helping them. All of them. The ones with post WWII houses with forced hot air. The ones with brownstones or triple deckers with steam or hot water (when it works at all). The ones with more money than they know what to do with with multi-zoned heat pumps. If there is one thing I've learned — I hope — it is that one size most assuredly does not fit all.
Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England0 -
What most people have doesn't justify the cost of tearing a system out that can perform perfectly fine and paying to install a new one.
well then steam is losing because people don’t want it. Plain and simple. We can both personally like steam and admit that the vast majority of Americans do not want it.
@Jamie Hall you called them cheap and squeakers!
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It seems to me the original post needs to pick his tie breaker, whether it be cost, looks, comfort, future plans, maintenance cost, etc. At this point there doesn't appear to be a wrong solution in the runnings. Maybe someone could assemble the likely pros and cons into a list to consolidate things
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If no "one wanted steam", this website would not exist. Think about it…………..
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting2 -
I wasn't referring to the tenants or the latest owners, or even, often, the owner-occupier landlords… @Hot_water_fan … get out and wander around Harlem or the Bronx… Queen… Roxbury… ride into Baltimore from the north on Amtrak… downtown pretty much any larger northeast city… South Chicago…
Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England0 -
@Jamie Hall I live in Baltimore and have steam. That doesn’t change the fact that homeowners don’t want it enough to install it :). Shouldn’t we examine why that is? Instead of trying to blame it on everyone else?
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@Hot_water_fan , I live in Baltimore and have hot-water radiators. They will only be removed over my cold, dead body.
In most cases, homeowners have very little input regarding what type of heat the builder installs. Mostly it's already there when they buy the house, and the money isn't there to upgrade given mortgage terms these days.
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting0 -
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@Steamhead No, that’s not it. People spend lavishly on their homes. And rates were 3% only a few years ago. Money was cheap and people were spending. Just not on steam!
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I don't know about the OP but I don't personally care what most people want.
I care about what I want.
That's why I told our realtor I wanted to see houses with steam heat and cast iron radiators.
If I didn't like radiators I would've looked at houses without them. As you said there's no shortage on houses with forced air so why buy one without it and then pay a fortune to change it?
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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@ChrisJ if we're talking Baltimore, you want to live in a place with good schools and less crime. That's not Baltimore City. You can always upgrade the heat, but not the schools etc.
All Steamed Up, Inc.
Towson, MD, USA
Steam, Vapor & Hot-Water Heating Specialists
Oil & Gas Burner Service
Consulting0 -
I've been in a lot of places with forced hot air that I always felt chilly or sweaty. Seldom comfortable. I'm sure it has to do with cycling but too me it's like trying to adjust the temp in my car. Up, down, off, repeat. It's impossible for me to be comfortable with rather fast moving air trying to heat me at the same time wicking away my body temp. Unlike air conditioning where the moving air helps with the chilling process.
Maybe it's preference, some people turn ceiling fans on in the winter to push the heat back down. Makes me feel cold, so I don't.
Slow and steady wins for me.
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There's another factor, folks… how many buildirs will even suggest anything except hot air? It's cheap, it's popular — just look at the Jones's down the street! It's easy to install (though not to install right). What's not to like?
Br. Jamie, osb
Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England0 -
@Jamie Hall that’s implying that builders understand that steam adds no value ? How do we change that? Or is the steam industry stuck?
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Have you observed anything builders tend to do?
There's a ton of things they do that id never do. Lets start with using the absolute cheapest electrical components like panels, switches and receptacles.
I wouldn't base any argument on what builders tend to do. Seriously.
And none of this lonely argument is helping the OP.
Single pipe 392sqft system with an EG-40 rated for 325sqft and it's silent and balanced at all times.
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Did anyone say steam heat is right for everyone? I didn't hear that anywhere.
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@RascalOrnery correct nobody said that and no one claimed anyone did. But what does exist is a strong bias.
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Is there a return on investment? Doubtful. Mew construction
In floor radiant
Possibly HW Coils with the Heat Pumps
Multiple systems.
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