Steam radiator heats slowly (heating, conversion, radiators, plumbing)

[ansky]

I have a two-pipe steam radiator. We had new air vents put on it last week and now the radiator heats much more slowly than before. How do I get the radiator to heat up more quickly? Is it simply a matter of opening the air vent more?

[Rickers]

Are you sure it is a steam system or is it a hydronic system. If it's a steam system it could be full of water and locked up, hydronic systems need air to be bled out so they don't become air locked.

[ansky]

It's definitely a steam system. The air vents that were put on can be turned one way towards 'Automatic' and the other way towards 'Manual'. Right now the vents are set right in between automatic and manual.

[nhmaster]

Open the vent up wide and see what happens. It may be a bad vent, right out of the box.

[al_roethlisberger]

The size of the vents, both on the radiators and on the mains, can make a huge difference in how the system responds. Additional consideration must be given to radiator pitch, traps, etc especially after changes have been made and/or the system has gone a long time without a real "tune up".

Steam and hot water(which BTW are both "hydronic systems") are relatively low maintenance as long as they *are* maintained, but if they do get out of "whack" they can give very unbalanced and noisy heat.

I would suggest visiting Heating Help with your question. They are a website dedicated to hydronic issues in particular. Post your question on their "Ask a Question" section and you will no doubt receive a lot of helpful answers from Professionals. Also, you can use their "Find a Pro" database to find a professional specializing in hydronics in your area.

Good luck!
Al

[windtimber]

Two pipe steam with an air vent on the radiator? Not unheard of, but unusual in my experience. How old is the system? An old coal to oil/gas conversion on 2 pipe steam may have resulted in short firing cycles and ineffective main venting. A trick was to add a vent to radiators distant from the boiler. Normally you'd have a thermostatic [steam] trap on the return side of the radiator - it lets air and water, but not steam, pass into the return and that suffices. Ask your installer why he put a vent on a 2 pipe steam radiator. Massive main venting and good steam traps are preferable. Air vents on 2 pipe steam are not good practice - Bad Practice on 2-Pipe Steam - G.W. Gill Plumbing and Heating, License #22183. Also take a look at Maximizing Your Venting - G.W. Gill Plumbing and Heating, License #22183 relative to venting. Note all the links on the left hand side of the page - they're for good general information.

By the way, Heating Help, noted above, is an excellent resource - particularly if you have an antique steam system. The old manuals and reference materials on the site have helped me immensely.