You don't have to replace your Steam Heat system to save money and energy!Steam provides wonderful warmth but can be VERY expensive to run. We're Steam Specialists. We can help you cut your cost to run your steam heat system without the major cost or replacing your whole system with some simple common sense solutions and readily available, proven products! Cash Rebates from your local gas company are available for new steam boilers with AFUE ratings of 82% of greater. RIGHT: Got any of these? A "One Pipe", four section radiator |  |
We have Money-saving solutions for you if you heat with steam!
A steam system uses a boiler, piping and radiators to do it's job. The boiler acts like a big teakettle that boils water to low pressure steam (than 6 psi). This steam rises through expansion through pipes to your radiators, heats them up, then returns through piping to the boiler for re-heating. This system can be very efficient due to the high thermal mass of the system with it's cast iron radiators and steel piping.
Because the boiler is the heart of the system, it's condition and efficiency is very improtant.
Few steam systems have been installed since before World War II (hot water baseboards systems and air systems replaced steam in the mid 1940s). Because of that, more often than not these days when we answer a call to replace a steam heat system, we often find steam boilers that are in what we know as "three states of steam boiler reality":
Junk: Most steamers we see are 1890s vintage "snowmen" or converted coal burners from the 1920 & 30s with leaks, lots of iron to suck energy (thermal mass) and a high draft through the chimney that pulls more than 50% of your heat energy into the sky. These have survived due to their brute size, and the skill of generations of boilermen who've kept them alive.
Obsolete: See "junk" above
Oversized: To add to the list of issues, boilers back in the day were sized based on the size of the building, radiator capacity, or both. As a result they're often way bigger than they need to be in an era of insulated windows and blown in outer wall insulation
But that's not all.
Most folks we see with bad boilers have poor insulation and drafty windows, so they're getting hit with the sandbag twice. They're losing most of the heat value in the fuel they burn up the chimney AND any that's left through walls, ceilings and windows.
So, what to do?
In the end, upgrades to insulation and windows HAVE to be done first before anyone talks about throwing away your steam boiler and radiators and selling you hot air, hot water baseboards, or even a geothermal system. Without that, the impact of any investment in new equipment will be cut back significantly.
Then it's time to look at replacing the boiler with a properly sized unit equipped with the latest in steam boiler reset controls, a barometric damper, and a pilotless ignitionThese will go a long way toward increasing efficiency and cutting fuel costs.
Piping matters too, because in order for a one or two pipe steam system to work right, a return loop to the boiler MUST be installed properly to allow water to return at the proper rate (otherwise it floods the boiler).
Dont forget the Radiators:
Vents (those little things on the side or top that look like cylinders) matter too, because they bleed air from the system as it runs. If they're mssing or broken the system will not bleed air well, and in turn not work right. And valves should fully close and open and not leak.
If any of these are not in good shape no big deal. It's all fixable for modest cost.
In summary, you don't have to throw your steam system away. Just deal with all the losses you probably have now, maybe upgrade your old boiler with a new one and fix any broken radiator parts. Much cheaper than throwing it all away in our opinion.
In the end, changing your steam boiler, adding insulation, and doing some other tweaking including adding a boiler reset control to limit boiler operation on warmer days can cost 25 to 70% less than throwing the whole system away for any alternative on the market today. Which would you rather pay for?
Contact us at 508 410-1799 to bring your steam system into THIS century
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