Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Steam Heating

I'm a recent new (well, new to me anyway) homeowner. My home is heated by steam heat and I have little idea what I might need to do for regular maintanence. With the weather cooling off the heat has kicked on occasionally with approx half of the radiators, well, heating. I understand to rememdy this uneven heating I probably need to bleed the radiators that are not heating, but thought I should check if there's a safe/not safe way to do this. Also, I'd welcome any info on regular maintinence of steam heating systems.

Here's what I know already (perhaps some of it's not right so feel free to correct me):

-I need to keep the water level approx half way up the glass tube that indicates what the water level is at.

-I need to drain and refill the water when the water in the tube becomes completely dirty.

Things I think I should know, but don't:

-is the thermostat being turned down the only precaution I need to take when draining water from the boiler or is there something more I need to do to turn the system "off"?

-is there a right or wrong way to bleed the radiators/system?\

-does some sort of chemical need to be added to the water at anypoint to reduce corrosion/wear and if so how do you do it?

-in warm weather does the system need to be drained or turned off or can it just sit in the same state it's in during colder weather?

-is there any other sort of maintanence that I need to be doing to keep it running longer/better?

-is there anything I need to be sure NOT to do so I don't break/ruin the system?

I'm sure there's things I'm overlooking, but any answers would be appreciated. You could always just point me to a "steam heating for dummies" web site if that's easier.

Thanks,

matt

At the bottom of this message is a www icon, click on it and scroll down the page and on the left it says "Steam Systems", click on that. The type of system you have is a Steam 1-pipe system. It will tell you the things that you can do.

In your area, the boiler solvent most used is known as "SQUICK". Go to any heating and plumbing supply store and say that name and they'll know exactly what you're talking about. They might give you something with a different name, but the chemicals are the same, so it doesn't matter what brand. This is usually done in the beginning of the heating season. If you are mechanically incline, let me know and I'll explain how to install it. If not, get someone else to do it for you.

You don't bleed steam radiators. If you want to know more about how your system works, you can go to http://www.heatinghelp.com and remember, you have a steam 1-pipe system.

thanks for the 411. I still have questions, but between that site you suggested and one that I found elsewhere most of my most pressing questions have been answered. I was also able to get heat to all of the radiators by fiddling with the air vents, however I do have 2 vents that are roughly bullet shaped with just a nipple looking thing on top, which I assume is the valve. I have heat in these radiators, but not sure how to adjust these. The other ones have rotating tips to adjust the air flow.

In answer to your question, I'm reasonably handy, but lack a lot of tools. I'm willing to try, but I lack the financial resources to have someone come fix something I may break. On the plus side, I'm a pretty good intuitive problem-solver, so I'm pretty good at figuring out how to get things done with a minimum of resources.

If you want to walk me through it, I can give it a try, but if the risk outweighs the reward, then I might wait until next year when I would presumably have more money and tools. Also, did I mention that it's a gas boiler? Not sure if that's relavent, but now you know.

Thanks:D

Matt

If you're are the least bit weary about doing this, please get some else to do it.

On the top or side of the boiler is a pressure relief valve. It's a brass valve with a silver lever on top or on the side of it. Attached to the pressure relief valve (by law) there is a diverter pipe that leads towards the floor. Under NJ law, this pipe should be between 6 to 8 inches above the floor and no threads on the end of it. The reason for this is, if the valve opened the steam would not blow off into your face and you must not be able to screw on or attach anything to the end of this pipe. This is the law, if one is not there, you should install one.

When you buy the Squick, also ask for high temperature pipe sealant. Not acid resistance pipe sealant. Acid resistant is used for gas pipe line. Then make sure the power is off to the boiler and the boiler has cooled off.

Unscrew the diverter pipe(s) and then unscrew the pressure relief valve. If the valve is located on top of the boiler, then pour in the recommended amount of Squick, if it's on the side, you have to spoon in the squick. Also, you may have to squirt some water in the pipe to get it into the boiler.

If the pipe that goes into the boiler that the valve screws onto moves when unscrewing the pressure valve, you have to unscrew this pipe, put pipe sealant on it and screw it back on. On the threads from this pipe to the valve, you have to put pipe sealant on. For the diverter pipe(s), you don't have to put pipe sealant.

Once the valve and pipes are on, turn on the system and check for leaks. Which means you have to turn the heat on in the house until the steam builds up in the boiler to check for leaks. You may want to check this everyday for a couple of days, since this is the first time you're doing this.

The 2 valves you're talking about are not adjustable, they're sized. All you have to do with them is clean them.