[prhime]

Hello,
I currently have these heaters throughout an apartment. The heat is a Green Mountain steam boiler (eventually would like to replace).

I would like to change these to something more efficient, ties better into the room and any other gains. I am doing a kitchen renovation (yellow walls) that will be the first room that I look to tackle these old heaters in.

This is a first for me and would like to find out what is possible. I've looked at radiator/panel options but open to other suggestions as this is a new space for me in terms of heating and this type of change.

 

[roughneck]

Do you want to stay with steam or go with something else?

 

[prhime]

Stay with steam is the plan. I am open to other options as this is brand new to me. I've done other work but never HVAC. So willing to learn and think about others.

A goal would be to eventually replace the Green Mountain boiler as it has been leaky and causes an issue at least twice a year. I've considered waterless but that is on the list of possible things. Not looking to overload the question.

 

[user_12345a]

I would pull the plug on steam if you're changing the rads and boiler, provided you can do whatever piping mods are required without opening all the walls.

Hot water is far more efficient and easier to control especially if you get a condensing boiler with outdoor reset.

Steam is old, inefficient technology - blowdown required, the boilers don't have as good heat transfer due to needing to be at boiling temperature, systems are slow to react, there's more pipe heat loss, steam traps can go bad without you knowing and waste a lot of energy, steam boilers are natural draft and waste a lot of indoor air.



Even with a new boiler I doubt the real world efficiency of steam is much higher than 60%-70%.

 

[prhime]

I must apologize all as I realized I have a lot of things mixed up as I am doing this work.

It is a gas fired water boiler. Green Mountain GMGWB195-FVA. This is the model on the sticker on the boiler, however I cannot find any more info on it online. The boiler is about 9years old.

 

[user_12345a]

ah - that changes everything.

9 year old boiler could last a long time.

 

[prhime]

yeah. I was doing too much online research and noted a steam boiler on my list for some reason.

so the boiler will remain as is- it may be upgraded to one that doesn't give much headaches. I replaced the expansion tank last year and now going to replace the pressure relief valve this weekend with the hopes of stopping it from leaking.


So back to figuring out if there are options for the current heaters to make them flush with the wall also I think they end up blowing a lot of dust into the room.

 

[user_12345a]

they have no mechanism for generating dust.

for replacement, i think heat transfer at a given water temperature needs to be the same.

 

[prhime]

understood re the dust. It may be the metal cover and inside needs a good cleaning.

so would it be best to keep the current setup then? I know a lot of this dates back to the original build of the house (1945) so I am seeing what can be done within the apartments. It is a two family house. The gas boiler and water heater were both replaced in 2011.

 

[user_12345a]

What problem are you trying to solve?

My top priority for a 1940s house would be energy efficiency.

 

[prhime]

the kitchen is getting remodeled and I would like to have one flat wall that runs flush and was looking to replace the heating setup (from the first picture).

There are other things that will be done that are outside of my ability for now such as new windows. Insulation will be added where possible in the kitchen. Door was already replaced 7 years ago.

 

[57TinkerMan]

If you replaced an expansion tank I'm pretty sure it's not a steam boiler.
195,000 btuh input is quite large, is this boiler serve 1 apartment or is it for a multi-family unit? Link below is not the exact unit you have but it does have some info that may be useful.





https://www.ecrdocuments.com/secure/upload/document/4366.pdf

 

[prhime]

If you replaced an expansion tank I'm pretty sure it's not a steam boiler.
195,000 btuh input is quite large, is this boiler serve 1 apartment or is it for a multi-family unit? Link below is not the exact unit you have but it does have some info that may be useful.





https://www.ecrdocuments.com/secure/upload/document/4366.pdf

It is a multifamily unit (two family + basement). Gas Fired Water Boiler from Green Mountain