A better way of controlling one-pipe radiators...

摘要

I had a chance to look at an interesting steam problem with a local service manager.His company had replaced a steam boiler over the summer for one of their customers.The building was a large apartment building with a one-pipe steam system.While they were going through the apartments,counting the radiation load to size the new boiler,they consistently heard comments from the tenants about how hot the apartments would get during the heating season.Therefore,when it came time to quote the Management Company on the replacement boiler,the Oil Company also included a price to replace the existing radiator vents with one-pipe thermostatic radiator valves.They explained that by installing these thermostatic valves on each radiator,the tenant could now control the output from each radiator,no longer needing to open the windows for relief and thus prevent the overheating condition.The Management Company accepted the proposal including the thermostatic valves.The boiler and valves were installed this past summer and everything looked great.However,once the system was turned on,the tenants experienced the same problems.The service manager assumed there must be something wrong with the valves,which is why I got the call.