steam or hot water heat

[jaykray]

I have a 75000 BTU Slant Fin Boiler (10 years old). Currently I have steam heat with Radiators. I had a plumber tell me it would be better for me to convert to Hot Water from Steam. I did not even think this was possible. Is it? Is it more effecient? What is involved?

Please advise

[KField]

It will be costly, I can tell you that. If your system works, there isn't a good reason to attempt the changeover. It can be done if you have a 2 pipe system but it involves a lot of work.

Ken

[Jay11J]

I am with Ken on this... If it's not broken, don't mess with it. I think steam is best out there..

[jaykray]

OK, not broken, don't fix. Got it!

2 more things

1) There was a small addition put on the back of the house and there are 2 small radiators. They are on the first floor, boilaer in the basement. I find that they never really heat up the room that well. The room is probably the best insulated room in the house.. Any suggestions?

2) The boiler has a valve that lets water out of the unit. When I first moved in, the plumber cleaned the water out. was like mud. A year later, water won't come out anymore... What to do?

Thanks!

[KField]

The serious issue here is thew Low Water Cutoff. It should be flushed way more often than yearly. What you are doing is flushing out the float chamber. The float needs space to drop and tell the burner to stop because there is not enough water in the boiler. If the float chamber is full of mud, the float will lay on the mud and not actually sense the low water condition. If you flush regularly, the mud will eventually clear up and you will have relatively clean water when you flush. It sounds like you should have an overhaul done on the LWCO. That entails disassembling it and cleaning by hand until everything moves freely and operates correctly. It is a very important safety control thet prevents boiler damage and fire that could destroy the house.

Ken