To much heat from steam radiator
Even with the steam radiators turned almost all the way off, still throws off tremendous amounts of heat especially in our bedroom. Even sleep with the window open. I wrapped the stream pipes going through the room with insulation. How to address the radiator itself? Would a radiator cover be able to absorb some? Is…
Even with the steam radiators turned almost all the way off, still throws off tremendous amounts of heat especially in our bedroom. Even sleep with the window open. I wrapped the stream pipes going through the room with insulation. How to address the radiator itself? Would a radiator cover be able to absorb some? Is there another alternative to wrap the radiator? Thanks
BoilerMan:
I also have the too hot/too cold room, steam radiator problem in my apartment, which I rent. In my bedroom and living room I have a two pipe, two valve arrangement (at the same end of those radiators), both valves of which I turn completely on or off along with opening and shuting windows(thus the too hot too cold effect). I also have a kitchen radiator which is fed from a riser that can’t be turned off from within the apartment although I can turn the radiator off with a single valve that’s between the riser and that radiator. There are steam vent fittings on all my radiators. I would like to get some automatic temperature regulating device that’s not too expensive(?). Can you recommend something for those two situaions?
Thanks.
H
Ok folks, here we go….
Donatella is onto the problem but the answer seems to have gotten mixed up in the translation.
Slow acting and fast acting refer to the size of the holes in the air vents on your radiators. Fast means bigger hole therefore mor AIR escapes not steam. In fact you need to properly size the vents so that the steam will not escape if the vent is too big.
Valves typically cost anywhere in the range from $10-$15 and any homeowner can change them. Just turn off the radiator first!!!
PK is correct in saying that the steam supply valve should be open all the way. If not, the condensate will not be able to run back to the boiler assuming you have a one pipe system. This will lead to all sorts of things that a steam system doesn’t need to do if tuned properly.
Lastly. Thermostatic radiator valves are a great solution to the problem. There is a trick to them though. Don’t just slap on any ol’ TRV an think it will work. A really good heating company will know what needs to be done. Interested? Well then just e-mail me…..
Good luck folks!
Changing vents would probably help. But I’m pretty sure that you should not have a steam radiator “almost all the way off”. Steam radiators should be left all the way ON or all the way off. Closing the valve a little bit does no good and can adversely affect the way the system runs.
Best to get a smaller radiator. Or else get a thermostatic radiator valve. You cannot partially close the steam valve, it’ll just cause problems.
An enclosed cover may also help since it will reduce the rate of radiation into the room.
I own a 4 story brownstone with steam heat and I have been having issues with this. I have the temperature set at 68-72, depending on the time of day and it is comfortable on the Parlor floor where the thermostat is, hot as hell downstairs on the ground floor of my duplex, OK on the middle floor and until we got the really cold weather, it was cold on the top floor.
I called a plumber who said that I should have “slow acting” valves on the radiators downstairs in my duplex and “fast acting” ones upstairs. As it suggests, slow acting ones allow steam to escape more slowly and fast ones faster. (Now the whole building has fast acting ones). So what was happening is that the downstairs would heat up quickly, signaling to the thermostat that the place was OK, which did not take long due to the type of valves I have and the fact that it had been warm outside. But my tenants kept complaining about how cold they were and I would turn up the heat and swelter to keep them warm.
So the solution is to have the downstairs heat up more slowly and allow the heat to stay on longer so that it rises properly to the higher floors. This information is curtesy of Hlad Plumbing, who is going to change the valves.
It seems to be better ironically with the cold weather because the heat must remain on longer.
Anyway, hopefully my problem will be fixed with changing the valves. Also, they will be flushing my boiler, which needs it and which will make it work more efficiently.
I hope this helps.
I know the feeling we are now sleeping in the living room because the bedroom is too hot…I would loveto hear some answers