We own a large Victorian house, 5500 sq ft, 3 floors, full basement. Thirty years ago the previous owner removed the hot water cast iron radiators and installed hot water baseboard, which does not heat the house well at all. I contacted several HVAC companies and received quotes to fix/replace the current system as high as $25K. So I am on my own. Over the past 2 years I have installed 2 cast iron radiators replacing the baseboards and intend to eventually replace all of it. I have acquired a collection of 10 hot water radiators of various shapes and sizes. I found a web page that gave me the BTU rating for the "skinny tube" style. Where can I find the BTU's for the "fat tube" and other styles of radiators? The county courthouse was remodeled this summer, and I purchased all of the steam radiators, over 50. In my ignorance I thought I could use them for hot water but they are strictly steam, as the top of the sections are not connected. I read on your page about converting from steam to water and back. The article mentioned return lines for the steam and condensate. The system in the courthouse had no returns. One big pipe was connected to a large vaccum controlled valve that was connected to the bottom of the radiator. Half way up the opposite end section was a small conical valve with numbers on it. Since there is no return how did this system work? Since I have so many steam radiators, shoud I convert my system to steam? What about steam just on the first floor? Can I use the existing 3/4" pipe, a mix of iron and copper, or will I have to replumb with the 2" iron pipe? Does a steam system heat better than hot water? Is a steam system more efficient than hot water, meaning there would be an eventual return on investment? Thanks for your assistance. John Lavell

With the heat here in SoFla, the ac has been running a lot, but the bill seemed higher than normal so I called a repairman to take a look at it. He says the coils are really dirty -- but says to clean them he needs to take out the freon cut open the plenum remove the coils give them an acid bath and then put it all together again, all for the 'reasonable' price of nearly $700! The unit is probably as old as the house, maybe 20 yrs old -- and I can't see an access panel to the coils myself, (considering this came with a gas heater, would they still be just above the blower?) So two questions, is that a fair price -- and is this something I could conceivably do myself? Not remove the coils to clean them -- but remove the plenum, spray with coil cleaner, etc. and then put it back together with metal tape??? Thanks in advance, Phil