On Dec 7, 9:37 am, dpb wrote:
mike wrote:
On Dec 7, 9:50 am, "Pete C." wrote:
mike wrote:

has anyone gone through the process of converting a steam system to
hot water by using the old steam radiators and piping? i have been
told i can do this since i have a two pipe system with the hot water
type of radiators. but I can't help but wonder whether my the size of
my steam pipes is too large. i think my main is 3". also i wonder if
the system will leak with hot water. any thoughts. thanks.
Why would you convert it? Steam heating works well and new steam boilers
are readily available. Not like it's something obsolete. You can fuel a
steam boiler with gas or oil, just like a hot water boiler. Why try to
partially convert a system to make it less efficient?

i would like to zone my house. my boiler is at one end of my house
where coal used to be delivered. certain rooms are much colder than
others. my problem is finding someone that really knows steam well.
also i think my house has too many radiators for the size of the
house. i have done quite a bit of insulation. so i think water at a
lower than steam will fix my over radiation problem. does that make
any sense or am i just using screwy logic?

IMO, "no" and "yes"...

The boiler will still be at the same location, you'll still have the
same number of radiators and there will still be the same _relative_
drop around the loop.

The solution is to cut down the flow to the closer areas and even, if
necessary, simply close one or more radiators if you really now do have
more than required owing to the addition of insulation. Unless you
don't have individual radiator valves, you should be able to do this
experimentally until you have a good idea what is needed. Then you
could perhaps eventually remove an excess radiator or two if really desired.

I don't think the conversion to water from steam is really going to fix
the problem--it's the redistribution and control of what you have that
needs fixing imo.

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Balance your steam system first, air vents go bad over time, the
coldest rooms would get a large vent , hot rooms a smaller one, What
type of air vents do you have, if Gorton what number are they