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What is this thing?

3K views 35 replies 14 participants last post by  techpappy 
#1 ·
We just moved into a new place in Boston, and each one of our rooms has one of these in it:

http://tinypic.com/r/2ef5bno/6

Of course, it looks like a heater. However, I don't know what this thing is called exactly, what the model is, or how to use it. There is a dial on one side and a smaller dial thingy on the other. Turning the main dial doesn't seem to do anything (there's no hissing sound or anything as if gas or hot water would be flowing through it).

Anyway, anyone know that this is? I can't even find pictures of these things on the internet, probably because I'm searching for the complete wrong thing.

Thanks in advance!
 
#3 ·
Assuming I'm looking at the right pic, it's a radiator. I can only see the one pipe connected to it, in which case I believe it would be a single pipe steam system (around here we only have hot water heating systems, steam is rare -- I don't have any experience with them, except that I think the radiators look about the same). If there's another pipe on the other side it would probably be a hot water system. The radiator gets warm/hot when the boiler is running, thus providing you with heat. I have seen people change heating systems and leave the old rads for decoration, though. Here's a pic of one of mine for comparison:
 

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#5 ·
yes this is called a radiator and the small dial is for bleeding the radiator, some times when you first turn on the system (when it starts to get cool outside) you have to get all the air out of the rad. you simply get a bucket and open the small dial side until the hot water comes out. the water will probably be yellow or brown run the water until it gets clear it gets all the guck out of the system.
 
#9 ·
Missouri Bound said:
I have never seen a single pipe system....must be very old technology.:eek:
Heh...I've only read about them on here, actually. There are a few old threads on them... I think BeenThere was helping a guy out (maybe it was another member). The setup looked really complicated, having the steam go up the pipe to the radiator, condensing, then running back down the same pipe to the boiler. All sorts of elevation and rise/drop requirements. I'll stick with water and a pump, thanks.
 
#24 ·
I don't think it's a problem at all, that was the design and it has proven to work over the past many decades. As previously mentioned, if all piping is graded properly and pipe is sized correctly for number of rads etc. these systems have been in service for a long time.

My post was submitted at the same time yours was, so I was making comment to the same post you were.
 
#32 ·
Sorry, but I just read this post. To back-track for a minute..... ARE YOU SERIOUS?? I do not mean to insult the original poster, but who doesn't know what a radiator is?? Were you raised in the forest by wolves or something? I think this post was a joke. If not, I am sorry.

p.s., that bright shiny thing in the sky is the Sun..... :jester:
 
#34 ·
Sorry, but I just read this post. To back-track for a minute..... ARE YOU SERIOUS?? I do not mean to insult the original poster, but who doesn't know what a radiator is?? Were you raised in the forest by wolves or something? I think this post was a joke. If not, I am sorry.

p.s., that bright shiny thing in the sky is the Sun..... :jester:

And you apparently know everything about everything? I"ve never lived in a home with a radiator, and yes I know what one is. And I also know what a smart :censored:is.
 
#4 ·
Thank you both for the comments. It's amazing that endless google searches of "floor heater", "metal pipes heater floor", etc. don't turn up anything useful, but then I use the word 'radiator', and wala!

I turned the knob and am wating to see if anything happens (now that I feel fairly confident that it's not going to leak natural gas).

And yes, there is only one pipe attached to one side. The other side has a little bullet-like looking knob.

It doesn't seem like anything is happening, but maybe my apartment manager doesn't turn on the boiler until it gets *really* cold out? Guess we'll find out. Anyway, thanks for the word. Now I at least know what to ask about when I call them.
 
#20 ·
You don't. Inefficient in that as the moisture that is created when the steam cools, as it is running back to the boiler, it is in turn also cooling any steam in the piping, along with the piping. So in turn the system has to work harder to make up for any heat loss, caused by the steam not being as hot as it was when it left the boiler.
 
#21 ·
You don't measure it? How cold do you think the water in the return gets? How is this different than a boiler that requires a pump to circulate the water? You need electricity to run that pump, on a steamer, you don't have the pumps, that's why I asked how its being measured. Steam boilers don't get a favourable efficiency rating until you start measuring the system as a whole, then it gets pretty close to the others.
 
#25 ·
A single pipe is slightly less efficient then a 2 pipe steam system. You don't get that last bit of heat from the condensate like you do in a 2 pipe. But the money saved on installation, and on repairs down the road makes up for it.
 
#26 ·
single pipe system

the pipe sizes are calculated for the flash of the steam condensate and they work fantastic. You have to have an air relief valve at each radiator location or you will definately hear the knocking of the condensate hammering into the radiator. Its a very simple system. Controls are simple and readily available. Pick up any heating and AC textbook and it will have diagrams of how the single pipe steam system operates.
 
#27 ·
the pipe sizes are calculated for the flash of the steam condensate and they work fantastic. You have to have an air relief valve at each radiator location or you will definately hear the knocking of the condensate hammering into the radiator. Its a very simple system. Controls are simple and readily available. Pick up any heating and AC textbook and it will have diagrams of how the single pipe steam system operates.
that page must off been missing in my book 30 years ago....
 
#28 ·
single pipe steam applications

We see them on occasion. The system actually works pretty good in a whole house application or in a commercial application where your heating an entire space. Its really not the greatest of applications for an apartment building. They are very hard to regulate temperature wise at each radiator location. Most of the steam design material recommends that this not be attempted. When the control vavle at each radiator location shuts off, It tends to trap air in the radiator which in turn requires a substantial increase in BTU's for that particular radiator in order to get the space back up to temp. Once the space is up to temp, the radiator is still hot which causes crazy temperature swings in the space. And then,,,,,,the cycle repeats itself. To answer the original question, with a one pipe system, the temperature is probably controlled at the boiler. If you dont have a hot radiator, the boiler is more that likely not fired up yet. Good luck
 
#31 ·
From the engineering toolbox website.

The simplest steam heating system is the
Single Pipe Steam System with Main Pipes Pitched Towards the Boiler


Steam and condensate use the same main pipes. The condensate flows in the opposite direction of the steam.
Air valves are necessary for evacuating air during start-up.
The system is simple but the heat emission in radiators or in heat exchangers are hard to control. Modulating the heat will cause the heating elements to be partly filled with air. The system can work properly in applications where the heat can be modulated directly in the boiler, as applications for warehouses, garages and so on. The system should be avoided where it is necessary to individually modulate each radiator or heat exchanger.
The condensate draines back to the boiler and during stops the system fills with air. This makes the design suitable for temporarily heated application working under water freezing conditions.
 
#33 · (Edited)
The simplest steam heating system is the
Single Pipe Steam System with Main Pipes Pitched Towards the Boiler


Steam and condensate use the same main pipes. The condensate flows in the opposite direction of the steam.
Air valves are necessary for evacuating air during start-up.
The system is simple but the heat emission in radiators or in heat exchangers are hard to control. Modulating the heat will cause the heating elements to be partly filled with air. The system can work properly in applications where the heat can be modulated directly in the boiler, as applications for warehouses, garages and so on. The system should be avoided where it is necessary to individually modulate each radiator or heat exchanger.
The condensate draines back to the boiler and during stops the system fills with air. This makes the design suitable for temporarily heated application working under water freezing conditions.
I see you can find schematics, too bad the info is incorrect. Both 2 pipe and 1 pipe steam should run at a couple of pounds of steam. pipe sizes are bigger on 1 pipe than 2, for obvious reasons. BOTH systems let air in at the end of a cycle but while its easy to see on a 1 pipe system because the vents are on each rad, the 2 pipe system venst are on the mains, with the heating unit. Properly maintained, there will be minimal difference between the two.
Here's a link to explain how TRV's work on 1 pipe steam
http://www.heatinghelp.com/files/posts/8569/TRVs.pdf
 
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