not enough heat???

Hello people-- I have a question I hope someone can give me an answer too-- I have steam heat- you know the one with the boiler that has a sight glass that the water moves up and down in when the heat is on. The rooms are all heated by cast iron radiators and each one has I think what is called an air vent that is screwed into the middle of all the radiators. Now the house is a small cape cod house in Long Island,NY. Now when the heat goes on - the living room and kitchen get pretty comfortable as well as the small den and small bedroom on the main floors. But there are 2 rooms upstairs - and only one gets warm- that is my sons room because his room is even though upstairs- is directly over the furnace in the basement. whereas my daughters room is on the other side of the house and I guess by the time the thermostat hits its temperature her room is just starting to get the heat- I guess because of the configuration of the pipes to where the furnace is?? Someone told me to close the air vents somewhat on the radiators that usually get hot faster so that less heat will get to them and then to open my daughters radiator vent all the way so that hers would have no blockage for the heat to get to hers?? is this correct - and if so I checked my daughters air vent and it is a clock shaped item with no lever for me to either open the vent or close it?? What do I need to do???

 

What you were told is essentially correct although it left out the details. A steam radiator only heats when the air has been expelled. But first of all, there should be some large air vents in the piping, most likely in the basement near the ends of the main distribution piping. These main vents are important to getting the air in the piping out quickly.

ALL radiators should have adjustable air vents and the radiators farther from the boiler need the air adjustment open wider than radiators nearer to the boiler. Adjusting the vents is used to get all radiators to heat at about the same time OR for certain radiators to emit heat for a longer time. The latter is dependent upon radiator size and location.

 

I checked all the air vents and they are all shaped like a pipe (barrel) and have a sliding piece of metal towards the top that can be slid from right to left - i guess that opens and closes the vents?? But my daughters vent is a clock shaped vent with the knob on top and it is sealed- I tried to turn it but it seems that it is one sealed unit?? So her vent has no opening?? Is that right??

 

It has been decades since I saw any residential steam radiator vents, all I can tell you is that they come in non-adjustable and adjustable models. I understand well the principles of residential steam heating but I am most certainly not an expert on the subject. Now if you were to ask me questions on commercial/industrial steam heating I could probably answer them as I spent more than 30 years in that industry.

But to actually answer your question, ALL steam radiator air vents have a means for the air to escape, a hole of some sort, they can't work without it. Air vents are relatively inexpensive so if it doesn't work it should be replaced. I personally would only use adjustable vents for replacements.

We DO have members that work with residential steam systems so keep checking for additional replies.

 

Did the system ever work properly with uniform heating upstairs?

Is the knob supposed to turn? If it should but does not then it might be rusted. If rusted shut then the air in the radiator will never come out and steam will never come in from below.

A vent with no opening is an oxymoron and is not right.

The air valve regardless of other adjustable parts has (or should have) a built in plunger that swells or otherwise closes when most of the air has been expelled and steam is about to come out. The plunger should re-admit air when the steam is shut off and whatever steam is still in the radiator condenses leaving a (partial) vacuum. Steam that keeps pouring from the air vent will excessively humidify the room and force frequent replenishing of the water supply in the boiler.

Try closing the air vents in the warmer radiators a tad more, or put blankets over part of those radiators. This will slow down the temperature rise in the room with the thermostat giving the colder room more time to heat up. This will not waste heat because the covered radiators will get to the point where steam stops condensing inside them and in turn less new steam will go into them, There is no danger of fire because the temperature at the radiator will never go much above 212 degrees F. even if the radiator is completely covered. (How far above 212 degrees depends on the system pressure.)

 

There are 2 types of air vents. Adjustable and non adjustable. It sounds like you have both. By your description your adjustable are vari valves and are a good quality valve. The non adjustable come with different hole sizes so you can place them where needed. You are much better off with the vari valves if you must replace them. What you can do to check the vent in the cold radiator is to remove it completely and if the vent is the problem the radiator will heat right up. You my have to use a wrench to remove it if king kong put it on. When you replace it don't forget the pipe dope on the threads and it doesn't have to be extremely tight. You could have other problems but this is to check the vents.
Hope this helps a little.