Installing New Steam Boilers Throughout Rhode Island

Although steam boilers were built to last indefinitely with proper maintenance, there are two primary reasons for installing a new boiler on a steam system. First, without proper maintenance, old steam boilers can crack, making them both dangerous and inefficient. Second, new boilers have improved efficiency and other features that make them desirable when properly installed.

About Veteran Steam Heat of Rhode Island

At Veteran Steam Heat of Rhode Island, licensed Master Plumber Doug Goss and the team know how to correctly replace an old boiler. They know that it is not enough to swap one boiler for another. Rather, the new boiler needs to be installed so that it works at peak efficiency with the rest of the existing system. As with all work on steam systems, installing a new boiler is subject to our ironclad guarantee, which states that if your steam heat system doesn't work correctly after installation, you owe us nothing.

Why should we install your new steam boiler? First, we have more than 30 years of experience helping home and business owners in Rhode Island maintain and replace their steam heat systems. Second, we know what needs to happen to make sure your new boiler works with the pipes, valves and controls, radiators, and other parts of your heating system. We have attended the trainings, read the books, and have installed many boilers throughout the region. You can be confident that we know what we are doing.

How We Install New Steam Boilers

Veteran Steam Heat takes extra steps to ensure that a new steam boiler works perfectly. Some of the steps include:

Making sure that the steam is dry when it enters the piping. Wet steam just doesn't work well or at all. Wet steam can't get to the radiators because it will revert to water before it gets to where it needs to be. Modern high-efficiency boilers don't include the steam boxes that were present in the old cast iron boilers specifically to dry out the steam. How do we fix that?Depending on the situation, we will lower the water level, install dual risers coming out of the boiler (allowing moisture to drop out), we use oversize pipes coming out of the oiler for the same reason. These and other tactics allow us to ensure that the steam coming out of a boiler is as dry as possible, which is usually below two percent.

Making sure that the system is set up to keep air out of the pipes.If there is air in the pipes, steam can't get through. When the old coal boilers were still running, they ran constantly throughout the heating system. Today, new oil or gas boilers turn off periodically to improve efficiency. That's great, except when they are not firing, they are not creating the vacuum that allows the steam to move through the pipes and into the radiators. If the steam can't get to the radiators, the house will be cold. We plan for this by installing large air vents—much larger than were installed on an old boiler that ran continually. This allows the air to escape and create the vacuum needed to make the steam flow properly.

Making sure all pipes are properly insulated. If uninsulated pipes carry steam to the radiators, they will lose heat quickly, increasing the moisture content of the heat or allowing it to condense to liquid.In either case, the heating ability of the steam is reduced or lost altogether, making the system extremely inefficient. We include all necessary insulation when we install a new boiler.

Making sure the system is as safe as possible. One example of this is installing added fail-safe devices and other features.

Making sure the system is as easy to maintain as possible. Any heating pro will tell you that the boiler needs to be cleaned out regularly to maximize efficiency. However, cleaning the boiler can be challenging—if there are no drains. We install multiple drains so that flushing and draining the sediment is easy and that there is no excuse for not doing it.

Replacing old parts that are no longer needed or effective. For example, if the original header pipe is still present, it is almost obsolete and will not work properly with a new boiler. We replace the old header with the correct functionality and size.It takes some doing, but our team has the knowledge and experience to get the job done.

Contact Veteran Steam Heat of Rhode Island About a New Steam Boiler

For more information about replacing your steam boiler, please call us at 401-369-7076 to schedule a consultation. You may also contact us online. Rest assured that we will integrate your new equipment into the existing steam heat system to improve operating efficiency, comfort, and safety.