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Posted by joe on July 20, 2006 at 12:12:19:
In Reply to: Re: Replacing Old Steam Boiler With New??? posted by HeatPro on July 20, 2006 at 09:13:02:
You should resize the BTU yourself, and not rely on what a mechanic tells you, because he is basing it on existing radiators, without taking into consideration other things like double pane windows, insulation at basement ceiling, insulation at exterior walls, etc. For all you know, he is replacing an oversized boiler with another oversized boiler of equivalent BTUs. Calculate your heat loss with Heatpro's program, Slantfin's program, or your utility program. Calculate with multiple programs to verify your results if necessary.
Something else to consider: switch from one pipe steam to 2 pipe water. Do the work yourself, running half inch pex from the boiler room to each radiator and back to the boiler room to a 1" manifold. Reuse existing cast iron radiators. Replace boiler with a condensing boiler (93% efficient). You can get free technical advice and excellent prices from Daryl at radiantheatproducts.com . Give him a call. The only problem you could encounter with this setup is removing the old plugs from your cast iron radiators to make it from one pipe to two pipe. If you decide to do so, post a message on this website, and it will be explained to you how to do so, step by step.