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

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?

The cold room issue, is something i'm currently working on in my house
as well. It's about controlling distribution of steam, so that all
radiators get steam at the same time.

Get adjustable steam vents for all your radiators (they can be had for
between $25 and $50 a piece depending on where you get them), that will
give you fine tuning adjustment.

With the above method, I've been able to even out the heat on the 2nd
floor of my house, the only cold room is the one with broken vent, that
just won't vent.

In the cold rooms, you may want to check to be sure the radiators are
venting at all. I'm assuming that the cold rooms are furthest away from
the boiler, in which case what is happening is this:

Boiler makes steam, steam goes into mains, then up to heaters. If the
vents on the closest units are too big, they'll vent and get hot, and if
the t-stat is in one of those rooms, the furnace will shut down before
the far units get steam.

So restricting the vents a little in the hot rooms and opening them in
the cold rooms, will force more steam to the cold rooms sooner.

The above will take a couple hundred bucks for new vents, and a few
days/weeks to get the balancing correct.

Either way, it cheaper and less hassle than a conversion and a new boiler.

Jason