Steam piping question

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andrewd9
andrewd9 Posts: 1
in Strictly Steam

Long time viewer, first time poster. 1880s house in Upstate NY with a one pipe steam heating system.

We are getting a new boiler installed (Burnham MST-513) and using it as an opportunity to redo all of the piping in our basement. The majority of the original pipes were sloped incorrectly and were undersized. We developed pinhole leaks in several areas. I know systems have changed quite a bit so I am looking to improve some things to help with efficiency (increasing mains to 2 inch, adding main vents, fixing slope issues).

The original system had no main vents. It had 2 short mains that transitioned into branches that each fed multiple radiators. My goal is to extend the mains throughout the basement with each radiator feeding off the main.

I’ve attached a drawing here showing the original and my proposal. Is there anything else I should be considering? Any issues with increasing pipe size and lengthening the main? I also have a few radiators in close proximity to each other. Is it better to give them each their own feed off the main as I have done in the proposal, or is it better to upsize the pipe (I.e creating a branch of the main) then feed 2 radiators off of that? An example of that is on the right side of the drawing. You’ll see previously 2 radiators were fed from a 1 1/4 pipe. In my proposal I am running 2 1 inch pipes instead. Curious which is preferred?


IMG_6097.jpeg

Comments

  • ethicalpaul
    ethicalpaul Posts: 9,052

    There's no concern over the increased piping. Your boiler is probably oversized anyway (almost all of them are).

    It's better to feed each radiator with its own runout.

    NJ Steam Homeowner.
    See my sight glass boiler videos: https://bit.ly/3sZW1el

  • EBEBRATT-Ed
    EBEBRATT-Ed Posts: 21,287

    @andrewd9

    I assume you're using the existing radiators.

    First thing is to total up the EDR of all radiators. Compare the total EDR to the new boiler rating in "SQ FT of steam" don't get into BTUs or anything else.

    Then you lay out the piping. I would suggest using a book to size and pitch the piping.

    You can buy "Lost art of steam heat" on this site which would be the best book to have

    Or for a more simplified book google on line and find the "Burnham Heating Helper" which you can down load for free.

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