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Posted by HeatPro on November 24, 2007 at 10:09:36:
In Reply to: Converting from Steam to Hot Water Boiler in big house posted by Jeff Smith on November 24, 2007 at 01:46:18:
You can make the present system work as water by making the water temperature at 215F as well; water can get to 250F by code and will remain water at that temperature at 15 psig, so no worry. The benefit of water is that you only need that temperature during one coldest week and can modulate the water to match the weather.
Yes, you will remove the vents at the bottom and make sure there are key-purge vents at the radiator tops.
With steam, the boiler had to supply the RADIATION fully, so the boiler probably wasn't oversized. With water systems, the boiler can match the heat estimate. There will be considerable energy savings with the water system.
If you leave the system as is, use one large boiler. Talk with Dave below as he's gone through some of this as an owner in the past two years.
If you can use heat on each floor, there will be more expense, but you can use a boiler on each floor.