Steam heating main air vents, why two?

http://cdn.brownstoner.com/4eded764897ef-.jpg

The steam heating system in our recently purchased, three story (plus basement where the boiler is) frame house in williamgsburg heats the house very irregulary. It will be 75 on the first floor (where the thermostat is) 88 in the basement and 65 on the top floor. We’ve been working on the house for several months and replaced almost all the air vents on the radiators (many were rusted open and leaking). From reading up in Dan Holohan’s ‘We Got Steam Heat’, he seems to think that air vents should be sized only by the size of the radiator. Every hardware store and plumbing supply place asks which floor the radiator is on, then says lower down in the house gets a 4,5,6, higher up gets a C,D, etc. I’m thinking now the former is the correct assumption and the main vent(s) should get # 1’s. In order to improve the system I am thinking of: -insulating the pipes in the basement -making sure the air vents for each radiator are sized for that radiator -perhaps relocating the thermostat (but that alone will just make the first floor too hot) -clean or replace the main air vents in the basement (shown in picture right before the line drops down into what I believe is the Hartford Loop). My question is, why are there two main air vents? Was someone trying to (poorly) improve the system by doing this, and if so, is there any point to it? thanks for any advice

chrisn

in Plumbers and Plumbing 13 years and 5 months ago

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ellenlourie | 13 years and 5 months ago

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DANFOSS **013G2922 and
**Danfoss 013G0140   wil set you off few buck, but you will get what you looking for

Master Plvmber | 13 years and 5 months ago

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There’s no opinion to have. The job of an air vent is to vent the volume of air from a radiator that is determined by its open internal area. The sample house in the chart the hardware store shows you is by no means your house or anyone else’s. Aside from being the worst piping diagram ever, it’s an oversimplified marketing tool that shows each size vent having a *purpose*. But it’s misleading to show vent sizes changing as a result of floor number or distance from boiler. That said, it does kind of work in a home where the lower floors are warmer than the upper floors. This is me:

http://brownstoner.staging.wpengine.com/gatewayplumbing

chrisn | 13 years and 5 months ago

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Do either of you guys have an opinion about sizing radiator air vents by the size of the radiator vs. by location in the house, or is it a matter of trial and error to see what works best?

Master Plvmber | 13 years and 5 months ago

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The vents in your picture are Gorton model #1\. They provide 1/4th the venting capacity of Gorton model #2, so I don’t use them often in any sizeable system. Selling vents by geography is an easy way to sell people a bunch of vents, nothing more. It has to do with volume of air to be vented under specific pressures. We often “tree” several air vents on the mains, especially where the piping is 2″ and over and extends for 25 feet or more.

eman134 | 13 years and 5 months ago

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steam is a trcky thing…kind of like squeezing a balloon..for a free consultation, contact me via my info on my profile

eman134 | 13 years and 5 months ago

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they  were actually doing the right thing by increasing the venting capacity of the rear main