Not long ago, there was an article in The Wall Street Journal titled, "Ceiling Height Versus Performance: Sometimes It Can Make a Difference." It seems that if you're... more info»

Back when I was working for the manufacturers rep company we moved into this big new office on the Isle of Long that was split up into Dilbert-like cubbies. The place had... more info»

There are some old radiator sizing formulas but they will most often produce wildly oversized systems. If you're good and accurate with measurement, are quite familiar with... more info»

I first went to the big ISH fair in Frankfurt, Germany in 1991 with two buddies, and I think we three were joined by only about 17 other Americans that year. ISH was... more info»

There's a restaurant chain here in the east called Legal Seafood. They've been in business for years, and for good reasons. Their places are clean and attractive. They serve good fresh food at a fair price for the value delivered, and... more info»

In August, 2003, the lights and everything else went out in a big part of America. I work at home so it was no big deal for me. I don’t do much to begin with, so being in the dark really isn’t a problem. The Lovely Marianne closed our storefront office in town and came home. We sat in... more info»

They built our house in 1950 here on the Isle of Long and it used to have a radiant heating system. In 1970, the previous owner noticed... more info»

If your steam boiler leaks, or if you realize the old unit has the efficiency of a campfire, you're probably going to find yourself interviewing heating contractors. Only the bravest do-it-yourselfer will tackle an old steam system. As you... more info»

One of the treasures that I have in my library is a booklet titled, "Trends in Heating Development" that Coal-Heat magazine published in July, 1942. K.C. Richmond, the Editor of Coal-Heat surveyed a group of... more info»

In 1970 I went to work for a manufacturers rep on the Isle of Long and I fell in love with hydronics. We sold Bell & Gossett and... more info»

It all started when a friend called to tell me about this old gravity hot-water system that... more info»

My friend Tim McElwain specializes in Gas Appliance Service Training and Consulting. When it comes to this, I think he’s the best in the business. Since 1994, he’s conducted training nationwide for everyone involved in the Gas Heating Industry. Tim has... more info»

Here are the top 10 most important things that I think a contractor can do nowadays. They’re in no particular order, although I have to admit I’m very... more info»

I was sharing a cold beer with my buddy Fred when the topic of concrete came up. This was inevitable because I had just spent an afternoon... more info»

A friend sent me a booklet that New Jersey's Public Service Gas Company (now Public Service Electric and Gas) published in 1917. This little gem appeared during a time when electricity was... more info»

We’re still in our first house, mostly because this is where all the memories are. That maple tree in the center of the backyard, the one that towers over the second-floor roof? I had that tree in the backseat of a... more info»

Somewhere in America an old friend of mine is hanging a low-NOX gas/oil burner on the side of this enormous steam boiler. This burner weighs 3,600 pounds and is the size of a Buick. It produces screaming... more info»

Some good stuff for your consideration, products that can I think can really benefit you if you're a contractor. In no particular order: Differential pressure regulators This is a standard item... more info»

I’ve owned one of Stephen J. Gold’s mattress radiators since the fall of 1989. It’s on a shelf in our office now, a part of the little heating museum that we maintain for the sake of wonder and amusement. Last spring, I got a... more info»

It was Thursday, and the groundskeepers were getting the place ready for a game that was, in the minds of most of the locals, bigger than Bunker Hill. Pats vs. Dolphins, and a savage December Nor’easter was churning its way up the coast, which was... more info»

My buddy, Fred, was over for a visit and the talk turned to steam. Fred works for Consolidated Edison in New York City. Con Ed provides the electricity and steam for about... more info»

I was visiting Washington D. C. with the family. We stayed right near the Smithsonian Institute and spent our days walking through museums and breathing in the history and having a fine time. The sight of the homeless people... more info»

My sister-in-law Missy has lived with us for the past seven years. She’ll turn 40 next September and she has Down Syndrome. She often does things that make perfect sense to her, but it takes us a while to recognize... more info»

If your house has a warm air heating system there's a lot you can learn from your hair dryer. It sounds funny, but every now and then we'll solve a "no-heat" call by telling someone to rearrange... more info»

When steam heating was new, back at the turn of the 19th century, coal was the fuel of choice. It burned hot, and it burned long. A good coal-fired boiler would stay lit for eight to 10 hours on a load of coal. Those early boilers contained cast iron grates that were similar to what you... more info»

The boilers (and there were 20 of them) were laying out there in the parking lot, not far from the boiler room door. I could see them as Joe and I drove... more info»

It all started when a friend called to tell me about this old gravity hot-water system that had him... more info»

Concrete has been used for many years as a composite material that has excellent mechanical properties and durability for construction. However, concrete is a poor electrical conductor, especially under dry conditions. Concrete that... more info»

To some, water heaters are as mysterious as a black hole. That black hole sucks in nearly six million heaters (from the United States) each year as people endure... more info»

You could install a water heater in your sleep, right? Well, you've probably had to deal with installations that look like that's what someone did, and they're not a pretty sight. But... more info»

It sounded like someone was coming through the front door with a fire axe. We were sound asleep and then... more info»

Some buildings just live on and on in my mind. Some are old and some are new, but each began as someone's idea and then became... more info»

I have an old book on my shelf that came to me by way of my friend Paul Yunnie. Paul lives in England and is Chairman of the ASHRAE Historical Committee. I time-travel with him.... more info»

We use newspaper, red rosin paper and kitty litter. We are as careful as possible, but spills do happen. Because we know this, we also bring along a... more info»

I was reading an interesting book titled The Monster Under the Bed (How Business Is Mastering the Opportunity for Knowledge for Profit) by Stan Davis and Jim Botkin (Simon & Schuster, 1994) when I came across something that made me sit up straight and stare out the window for a while.... more info»

I just got back from an industry symposium where I watched a bunch of engineers give lectures on various topics. Each was an expert who had knowledge to share, and I was hanging on as best I could, not being an... more info»

The Lord contacted Noah & commmanded he build an Ark for in one year's time a flood would cover the earth. Specifations were sent & Noah accepted the task. Exactly one year later, the Lord returned to find a grey haired Noah but no ... more info»

...It took my breath away when I first saw it. Four boilers stood side by side along the wall. The pipes lined up with military precision in a primary-secondary fashion... more info»

Is the year already rushing by you? Where has the time gone? You haven't started on your list of vital tasks. June will arrive before you even complete your planning and budget for the year. This is NOT the way you wanted to do it this year. So, what's the deal anyway?... more info»

If you're a contractor, and if you're not the low bidder on every job, you might want to use this letter as a part of your presentation. It will help you tell your story... more info»

Here are the notes that participants from the first Gathering of Wetheads (November 23, 2002) handed in during the day. From Aaron Ourada RADIANT COOLING EXPLORATION. Why not? (tubing’s already there!): ... more info»

Whether you’re doing radiant floor heating or hydronic snowmelt jobs, it pays to give lots of thought to this oxygen-diffusion corrosion business. Since this is one of those areas where the marketing and the engineering... more info»

Although it was just past three o'clock in the afternoon, it was almost dark when we checked into our hotel in Stockholm... more info»

Most of the scientific concepts we take for granted nowadays started as an idea that some guy in a room came up with one day... more info»

I tried to explain to her what life had taught me about the Algebra Regents. It really hadn’t mattered one bit in the long run... more info»

Never gloat over someone else’s stupid mistake. Make it better if you can, but don’t laugh. Just let it slide and do your best to make like you never saw a thing... more info»

A gravity-return steam system uses a combination of two forces to put the returning condensate back into the boiler. First, there’s the steam pressure that's leftover at the end of the mains... more info»

To use this chart, assume the uncovered radiator is 100% capacity. To get that same capacity with these style covers, you would... more info»

Stop for a moment and consider what’s really on the average person’s mind when they’re deciding whether to replace their old boiler, or to just ignore the old beast for yet another year... more info»

Somewhere in America today an old friend of mine is hanging a low-NOX gas/oil burner on the side of this steam boiler. This burner weighs 3,600 pounds and is the size of a Buick... more info»

Missy was watching The Weather Channel when the woman in front of the map mentioned that it was going to snow in Denver. Missy's eyes waggled furiously and she shouted, "I'm going in!"... more info»

The Energy Information Administration is a fascinating website where you can find a huge amount of detailed information about energy usage in the United States... more info»

A friend told me that he was thinking of putting a training session together for his apprentices. He was also hoping he could work with the local trade association to see if...... more info»

Good morning! And thanks for giving us the opportunity to make a proposal on your new heating system... more info»

I was raised by a Bell & Gossett rep and gobbled up the writings of the late, great Gil Carlson for a lot of years. I learned about... more info»

WE NEED HELP with a number of problems left over from a new addition,” the homeowner told me over the phone. “It’s a slab on grade radiantly heated room that overheats, and it takes forever for us to get hot water in the master bathroom.”... more info»

Questions regarding the often elegant, cast-iron behemoths we love so much are as perennial as water hammer and squirting air vents. So, I thought I'd put some straight answers together for you in one convenient place. Here goes... more info»

If you ask a dozen people what the proper operating pressure for a steam system is, you'll probably get a dozen different answers. Most folks just follow "what they were taught" without giving much thought to the results. You see most steam systems run at ridiculously high pressures... more info»

Contractors use low-water cutoffs on every steam boiler they install, as well as every hot water boiler over a certain size. That’s good because the most common cause of boiler loss in this country is low water and the incidences of loss would boggle you mind (just ask Hartford Insurance).... more info»

When business owners make up selling prices, they trot out this silly phrase as their reasoning: I charge what the market will bear – the going rate. Sadly, virtually all business literature, and most accountants and bankers will back up... more info»

This time last year, I was just returning from ISH, the world's largest plumbing & heating show. They hold it every other year in Frankfurt, Germany. Before I left, I was invited to a press conference in New York City to hear Andreas... more info»

I'm working on a 90-psig-steam system. It provides heat to a 30' x30' x 10' foot curing room with a chamber temperature of 100-degrees Fahrenheit. There are coils on both end walls of the room. They're piped in parallel and fed from a solenoid valve. The condensate goes through a... more info»

I grew up in Hicksville, Long Island (don't laugh!) and I spent a good part of Junior and Senior High School sharing a classroom with Billy Joel, and that is my single brush with musical fame. I clearly remember sitting next to him in ... more info»

In a Manhattan co-op apartment building, where the local time, mechanically speaking, is 1949, Screwdriver Willie is doing his very best to keep the tenants warm and happy while trying to maintain his own sanity. His tool of choice for this monumental task is, of course, the screwdriver.... more info»

When I was 20 years old I took a job working for a manufacturer’s rep. My father was my boss and since we were the first father/son combination ever to show up at this company he was especially hard on me. He didn’t want anyone to think I was being favored. We were the representatives for the ... more info»

If you ask a dozen people what the proper operating pressure for a steam system is, you'll probably get a dozen different answers. Most folks just follow "what they were taught" without giving much thought to the results. You see most steam systems run at ridiculously high pressures.... more info»

The building management agent looked at me the way a cop would look at a con man. "You can't tell me how much we're going to save?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "We should spend all this money and go to all this trouble without knowing the payback?" He shook his head again. "This is not something I can sell to the board," he said finally, and we left it... more info»

If you're working with folks who are rich, cold, and miserable there's a good chance they'll be living in big 19th Century homes that have heating systems of the indirect variety. These can be as confusing as adolescence so I thought I'd tell you what I've learned of them so far... more info»

When you look in a boiler manufacturer's catalog you'll see that there are several types of ratings for each boiler. There's the Input rating, the Gross Output rating (which some call the D.O.E. Heating Capacity) and then there's the Net Output rating. You pick one or another to size a boiler. But are you sure you picked the right one?... more info»

Billy was having a bad day. Mario the Baker had called him first thing that morning to say he was going to drive to Billy’s office and punch him in the face. It seems that Mario the Baker’s steam boiler had just spit about ten gallons of dirty boiler water into the oven along with the steam. That, of course, ruined the rolls, and... more info»

Bell & Gossett sells a special fitting called the Monoflo tee. You'll find these in thousands of heating systems, and they've been there for decades. If you ever have to move pipes around within one of these systems here are a few tips that should save you some time.... more info»

Mike always wrote his initials on the pipes with a wax crayon. Next to his initials, he wrote the date and next to the date he drew an arrow that pointed toward heaven. He didn't write on all the pipes, just the one's that he himself had welded. It didn't matter that the other trades would soon bury his pipes behind the walls and beneath the ceilings. Mike knew what he had done, and he knew that it would be there forever.... more info»

I have a lot of old engineering books. They’re all weathered and worn and the pages come apart in my hands if I’m not careful. They smell like they’ve traveled all over the world. I could sit here for hours and just look at them. I often... more info»

Here are some tips that I thought you might want to file away somewhere for the next time you encounter an old steam heating boiler. Base the size of the replacement boiler on the connected load, not the building’s heat loss. The boiler’s ability to produce steam must match the system’s ability to condense steam... more info»

Over the years, I've written articles about hydronic systems for Old-House Journal magazine. It's mostly homeowners who read OJH, folks who are involved with restoring beautiful old Victorian money pits. OHJ readers never throw away that magazine... more info»

If you're a contractor, you may use this (with whatever additions or deletions you'd like) as part of your proposal when you visit with a potential customer. Who knows? It just might help you land the job!... more info»

There are some things you can’t help but notice about Denmark. They have windmills, but not of the Don Quixote sort. No, these are huge, three-bladed, high-tech monsters that whoop in a wind that never seems to stop blowing across this low-lying land. You can spot these graceful behemoths from miles away. The people of Denmark turn the wind into light... more info»

A Hartford Loop is an arrangement of piping between a steam boiler's header and its gravity-return piping. The end of the header drops vertically below the boiler's waterline and connects into the bottom of the boiler. We call this pipe the "equalizer" because it balances the pressure between the boiler's steam outlet and condensate-return inlet... more info»

The couple had lived in the old Victorian for five years and it was their hobby as well as their home. They'd been restoring it and they didn't want to part with the old one-pipe steam system, but it had been acting up lately... more info»

Billy was having a bad day. Mario the Baker had called him first thing that morning to say he was going to drive to Billy's office and punch him in the face. It seems that Mario the Baker's steam boiler had just spit about ten gallons of dirty... more info»

When you look in a boiler manufacturer's catalog you'll see that there are several types of ratingsfor each boiler. There's the Input rating, the Gross Output rating (which some call the D.O.E. Heating Capacity) and then... more info»

Never gloat over someone else's stupid mistake. Make it better if you can, but don't laugh. Just let it slide and do your best to make like you never saw a thing. I say this because there's a BIG ONE waiting for you down the road, my friend, and when you slam into it, you're going to need all the understanding you can find... more info»

I recently came across this circular sent out by the US Department of Commerce's National Bureau of Standards on July 19, 1935. It's fascinating stuff and I thought you might want to keep it on file. Here 'tis... more info»

If an engineer takes the train to work, he is likely to keep track of the miles traveled and the time elapsed between each station. He will keep these records for years in spiral notebooks and drive people crazy by sharing this useless drivel with them at a moment's notice... more info»

Our problem is that five out of hundreds of univentilator coils freeze up on a regular basis. They are part of two pipe steam systems with pneumatic control valves and condensate pumps. The F&T traps have been replaced and the coils are grading down to the returns... more info»

An engineer called the other day to ask if I had any output ratings for some oddball steam radiators he needed to measure before he could specify a replacement boiler. These radiators were a bit strange but I managed to find a rating for them in one of my old books... more info»

Some buildings just live on and on in my mind. Some are old and some are new, but each began as someone's idea and then became real only by the power of imagination and engineering... more info»

When you take an old house under your wing you sometimes also get to take possession of an old steam heating system and an awful lot of asbestos insulation that goes along with it... more info»

With hydronics, you use water instead of air to move the heat around the building. Water holds more heat than air. Everybody knows that. Water allows you to use small pipes instead of big ducts. Since small pipes take up a lot less space than bulky ducts, you wind up with more living space... more info»

If an engineer takes the train to work, he is likely to keep track of the miles traveled and the time elapsed between each station. He will keep these records for years in spiral notebooks and drive people crazy by sharing this useless drivel with them at a moment's notice. Contractors are different... more info»

A New York City contractor called me last winter to tell me about a situation that he had gotten himself into. We'll call him Augie because that's close enough. "The old steam boiler was up on this pedestal," Augie told me. "The new one, I put down on the floor because that's where the engineer wanted it."... more info»

When water turns to steam (at 0 psi) it expands 1,700 times. That's what moves the steam from the boilers to the radiators. High pressure goes to low pressure - always! What stands... more info»

Piping pitch is crucial to steam heat, whether the system is one pipe or two pipe. The rule is that the pipe should always pitch in the direction of flow at least 1" in 20 feet. If you have... more info»

When confronting a lack-of-heat complaint, the urge to crank the pressuretrol up can be so strong as to cloud your mind and make you temporarily stupid... more info»

Long ago, a Dead Man decided to heat a big building with a steam system. Since it was such a big building, and since pipe, valves and fittings have never been cheap, the Dead Man decided to use a vacuum pump to suck the air from the system. By doing this... more info»

Always install a union and a gate (or ball) valve on the outlet side of an automatic water feeder. This will allow you to perform the "broken union" test if you have a flooded boiler... more info»

It had stood on this corner just off Wall Street in Manhattan for nearly a century. It stood witness to the comings and goings of countless people who never gave much thought to its many windows and its 25 stories that were served by one-pipe-steam radiators... more info»

Consider the smaller boiler. If you have a choice between a big boiler and a smaller boiler, give that little one a second look. I say this because I've been in boiler rooms on days when it was so cold outside I thought that the sunshine might freeze... more info»

When I was still young and very wet behind the ears I worked for the Bell & Gossett rep in New York City. It was my job to go out into the field with the contractors and look at things that had gone wrong... more info»

Vent the mains quickly. This will help the steam get to all the radiators at about the same time. Steam is a gas and it will always look for a way out of the system. When it leaves the boiler, it heads toward the air vents... more info»

Grownups sat in the shade of the latticed porch and waved off the summer heat with paper fans. If you close your eyes, you can still see them there... more info»

The people who sell Modular steam boiler systems promise ease of installation and energy savings. But how you pipe those boilers - both individually and then together - will either make or break the job... more info»

You have options when it comes to the tubing you bury or staple up on a radiant job. You may choose to go with a particular supplier and never question the type of tubing they provide. That's a legitimate choice, if you trust the supplier... more info»

I once got a call from this contractor who was at his local wholesaler. He had the wholesaler's heating man on the phone as well. The three of us talked about how far you can push a steam boiler... more info»

Primary/secondary pumping has become pretty popular nowadays, especially with boiler manufacturers. They love it because it offers a simple way to protect their boilers against low-temperature return water and the resulting flue-gas condensation that low-temperature water causes... more info»

When hot water heating was new (and this goes back to the turn of the century) the Dead Men installed gravity systems because Homer Thrush had not yet invented the circulator... more info»

In the beginning there was one-pipe steam, and one-pipe steam was pretty simple. The steamtraveled up the pipe; the condensate fell down the pipe. Size and pitch the pipes properly, don't over-fire the boiler, keep the wet returns clean, and you were in pretty good shape... more info»

More and more radiant systems going into existing homes as retrofit projects. On many of these jobs the tubing winds up getting attached to the underside of the wood floor. On other jobs, the tubing goes down on top of a subfloor, beneath the finish wood... more info»

I once looked at a problem job in an office building on Long Island. It can get pretty windy here on the Isle of Long. This building had a wide driveway that passed under the first floor to a parking lot out in the back... more info»

Ever notice how most of us head for the boiler room first? I figure this is a vestige left over the days when we all lived in caves. You feel safe when you can get underground and build a fire, right?... more info»

The guy was wearing clean Docker slacks, a wrinkle-free, red golf shirt and boat shoes. He didn't fit in with the plumbers and heating contractors who were waiting their turn to be helped... more info»

They built the place in the 1930s and heated it with steam. It's always been a commercial building - part office, part factory. They heat the offices with one-pipe steam radiators and the factory with steam unit heaters nowadays, but it wasn't always that way... more info»

Let's face it, sooner or later you're going to run into some tough challenges when it comes to heating. Instead of getting frustrated, try these 10 steps... more info»

The building management agent looked at me the way a cop would look at a con man. "You can't tell me how much we're going to save?" he said... more info»

There was a time in America when people were afraid of the air that they found inside their homes, and with good reason... more info»

First, those in which the pigment consists of small flakes of metal, such as the aluminium and bronze paints, most commonly used for painting radiators, which produce a metallic appearance and will be called metallic paints... more info»

Column radiators were perfect for steam heating because they had a lot of internal space and they allowed the steam to rise up and displace the heavier air... more info»

The more steam heating systems I look at, the more I realize that nearly all the problems can be boiled down (couldn't help myself there!) to these four areas... more info»