Steam heat rebalancing/troubleshooting

I have a steam heat system in our 4 story building. Our top floor tenant complained that the apartment does not get adequate heat. When we increased the temperature for the whole house via our parlor floor thermostat, she was fine — but the first few floors were boiling.

I am looking for recommendations for someone to diagnose and rebalance the house’s system. Is this in the normal purview of a plumber? A handyman? Or are there outfits that specialize in this?

Thanks.

jose3505

in General Discussion 2 years and 5 months ago

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justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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“Back and forth to the hardware store 4 times” implies some trial and error.

Not sure i would mess with the pressure switch myself. Never have.

Guest User | 2 years and 5 months ago

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This is also a helpful source of info from pros and DIYers. I’ve balanced about 20 buildings using mostly info from here and my previous post. And saved tens of thousands in reduced fuel expenses in the process too
https://forum.heatinghelp.com/

Guest User | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Hire one of the steam specialists that post on the boards… Master plumber, Chris Petri, myself… steam heat isnt a handyman job and balancing it is not that easy

Guest User | 2 years and 5 months ago

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If you want to switch to Gorton brand air valves/vents then this is a generally helpful entry level resource:
https://www.gorton-valves.com/products
I like Gorton because they test their vents before distributing for sale. And they are a well manufactured product.
Unfortunately, I find they are more prone to allowing water to escape than some other brands in the event your supply pipes or radiators are back pitched.
Reading the book Greening Steam is also a good entry level read for a homeowner trying to improve this kind of stuff before paying a plumber hundreds (thousands?) to survey heating plan and implement repairs and upgrades to obtain utopian heat.
Better is often a good place to begin striving toward instead of perfection. Plus, heating season is half way thru

Master Plvmber | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Shutting valves in a 1-pipe steam heating system is not advisable. Steam being a gas gets past the old valves and condensate collects in the radiator. Pressure finds its way past the valves and pushes the condensate out the vents and onto your nice hardwood floors. Not cool. And don’t ask a hardware store clerk how to balance your steam.
Aside from that, balance can sometimes be achieved by adjusting vent sizes but as Mr. Petri has noted, there’s a lot more to it like steam pressure settings, pipe/radiator sizes, compatibility of boiler (steam output) to the system, pipe insulation, room insulation, building envelope issues, and lots of other factors.

lkrshacmzcy | 2 years and 5 months ago

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The above can be helpful for the Radiators, but there is much more to it than that. Where the thermostat is and what is the pressure of the system is would be questions I would ask before I ever go near the radiator itself.

lkrshacmzcy | 2 years and 5 months ago

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The above can be helpful for the Radiators, but there is much more to it than that. Where the thermostat is and what is the pressure of the system is would be questions I would ask before I ever go near the radiator itself.

justinromeu26 | 2 years and 5 months ago

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Do this yourself. Now before you start doing anything in the winter when you need your heat, check that you can isolate the radiators by closing the valves and running the heat. If they do not get hot when the others nearby do or you don’t hear air coming out of the vents, good. Keep those radiators off. Go to a really good hardware store and tell them your top floor rooms are cold and you need larger vents. Larger vents void the cold air faster allowing thos rooms to heat faster.

If you already have the largest vents there, put smaller ones in the other rooms but maybe not in the room where the thermostat is, not just yet anyway.

See how that goes. If this were me, i would go upstairs and ask the tenant which room is the coldest and put a large vent in there and then the next largest in the other cold rooms. Then put the thermostat back where you had it.

You will need thread tape when you do this and be carefil with the threads. If someone has already damaged a thread or they leaked and corroded, you will need a plumber. This is why it is important to check each radiator valve before proceeding. At least if you have a problem with one radiTor it won’t become an emergency. I had no problems in my own home but we had bad threads in one in a building once.

I did this in my house when we bought it and was back and forth to the hatdware store like 4 times.

Read about steam radiator vents on line. There are a couple of companies making them. Hoffman and gorton. Gorton makes a nice chart. A really good hardware store like leopold or a plumbing supply can help answer questions.

Steve
Www.brownstonehomeinspection.com