Steam to hot water conversion

[Miloslav Veytsman]

I have a three story home in the nyc area (basement, 1st, 2nd). The basement has baseboard heating, the 1st and second floors have steam. A bathroom on the first floor, which was part of an extension done by the previous owner, has an electric heater (no clue why) and it sits on the opposite end of the house from the boiler. I am planning on making some renovations and hoped to add a steam radiator to the bathroom, but i'm a bit hesitant because steam is very sensitive to pitching problems and most plumbers these days are not very experienced with steam systems given that the overwhelming majority of new and remodeled homes have hot water heat. If i'm planning on ripping up the floors, does it make sense to convert my system to hot water? What kind of cost could i expect to incur with a conversion? I believe my boiler can handle both steam and hot water, so that's something that wouldn't need to be changed. Thanks in advance for any guidance or advise.

 

[Fitter30]

Steam has more btu's than hot water. If your steam system is piped with two pipes not one it could be possible to change to water if your heat emitters can be converted. Being in NYC there should be some contractors that do steam work. Changing a steam system to water is a big deal involving removing all the traps, adding a pump, changing controls out on the boiler, expansion tank and temperature controls on the heat emitters. The electric heater that was added by the previous owner was done because of the cost.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Miloslav Veytsman]

thanks. sounds like i should either extend the steam or put radiant in the small bathroom

 

[Dana]

For the low heating load of a bathroom it's pretty cheap & easy to use the potable water heater for running a low-temp hydronic loop instead of cutting into.adding onto the steam system. Low water temp heating is generally more comfortable than steam too. (A perfectly balance steam system is pretty comfortable too, though rare.)