Steam riser in linen closet- risk of fire?

We have a steam heat riser running up through our linen closet. It’s a small closet so very hard to keep the sheets and blankets from touching the hot pipe and there isn’t any space to add insulation or wrap the pipe. How risky is this? Is the pipe hot enough to cause a fire if the cloth was against the hot steam pipe for a long time?

stickerhappy

in Heating 9 years and 8 months ago

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cmu | 9 years and 8 months ago

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Oil on cotton rags can ignite much lower than 200\. Wet rags not so much.

steam_man | 9 years and 8 months ago

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The steam in your home will most likely never go above 227 degrees F. If the pipe is left in contact with a particularly dry and combustible fabric then it may singe it but I have never heard of anything bursting into flames. As for proving mom wrong…Waste of time. She don’t care.

stickerhappy | 9 years and 8 months ago

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Yes, it was a legit question. I’m still remembering my mom when we were kids yelling at us not to leave wet gloves on the radiator to dry because it would start a fire. Now after all these years, I can prove her wrong! So just to be clear, there is no fire risk associated with contact with any part (riser, radiator) of a steam system, even if the system is set up to a relatively high temp?

steam_man | 9 years and 8 months ago

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Now now. Be nice. I’m sure it was a legit question.

pigthree | 9 years and 8 months ago

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steam_man and eman134, clearly their steam riser operates at 400*

eman134 | 9 years and 8 months ago

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there is zero risk of fire from a steam riser…it is hard for me to believe that this is even a concern

Arkady | 9 years and 8 months ago

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Can’t you fold your sheets a bit smaller to make room for the cladding deano recommends?

deano | 9 years and 8 months ago

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It would help if I read further where you say there’s no room for this… oops. So maybe padded foil tape stuck to the exposed part of the pipe?

deano | 9 years and 8 months ago

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home depot sells 3′ lengths of foil-skinned cladding for steam pipes – just wrap the part running in the closet, finish the seams carefully with foil tape (to prevent glass fibers getting near your sheets), and problem is solved for less than twenty bucks.

steam_man | 9 years and 8 months ago

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You’re good. Just keep the oil soaked rags on the opposite side.