javaavril t1_irlq2ex wrote
Reply to comment by uniqualykerd in Your annual reminder that if your apartment has a radiator, don't open and close the valve. This can create condensation in the system causing a knocking sound. Radiators are designed to be used with a series of open windows to balance heat. by emeyer94
There's a class of systems that were built during the 1918 flu epidemic that are steam and crazy to live with. There's no water hammer capable in them, as they steam and boil out at their top nozzle.
If you don't leave your windows open in the winter the systems don't work correctly, and if you do keep your windows closed or turn off the radiator valves you will die from heat stroke or an explosion of some sort? Whatevs. It's a ridiculous mystery and we all just live in millions of apartments that have free heating while needing to leave our windows open all winter with exhaust fans in the window sashes to blow out the insanely hot steamed air.
It's calamity! It's so ridiculous it barely makes sense explaining it to anyone that doesn't live in a building of this specific age in this specific location.
Otherwise heating systems, in most American homes, have similarities to European systems, but NYC around 1920 was ridiculous and a bunch of us are still living in that.
mule_roany_mare t1_irmkqhx wrote
Steam hammer is absolutely a problem
I’ve been trying to fix it on one of the lines in my building for a few years.
One drop of water makes a liter bottle of steam. That a lot of displacement. If your condensed water return line isn’t pitched properly anywhere it can be blasted back and forth with tremendous force.
Someone replaced their big cast iron radiators with pressed sheet metal ones & the hammer knocked it right off it’s wall mount.
The problem with steam IME is they were designed around slow rise & long cycle coal boilers & the valves for air to escape are way too small.
Unfortunately a lot of the companies in the industry just follow conventional wisdom passed down the generations. When my building had to replace it’s boiler I asked the organization that drafted NYC code for recommendations.
Bigger valves at the top of risers, TRVs on the radiators & pressure just low enough to reach the furthest radiator from the boiler & everyone will be perfectly pleasant. Insulating risers can also help a lot if a unit is still hot.
Getting all the residents to allow that to happen is the real hang up.
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