Provident Pilgrims: Not-So-Rad Radiators

Happy Daylight Savings Day! Sue's currently taking advantage of the extra time in bed. She has to work (at the hospital) this morning.

I'm a tad stiff today. Yesterday Jonathan and I did a whirlwind of work on our not-so-rad radiators. Sue and I turned on the heat last week. Every time it clicked on, I'd sort of run around the house trying to see if everything was working right. I was worried that we'd go to work one day and get home and something would have cracked or flooded. Even if that didn't happen, of course, heating oil is expensive, so at the very least we want the heating system to be efficient. In the process, and from snooping around online a little, I learned about the parts of radiator.

Thankfully, it's pretty simple. Far right side is the supply, supplying the steam to the cast iron radiator in the middle. That radiator probably weighed 80 or 100 pounds. The knob on the supply can turn off the radiator entirely. On the far left is the vent. Some vents can be adjusted to moderate the amount of steam they vent, and thus, the heat a radiator gives off - so small rooms don't get super hot. Good vents let steam pass without making a sound (whistling like a tea pot) and without dripping water.

After several cycles, we figured out that we had three bad air vents, and three bad supply valves. Our dining room supply was the worst. Steam was leaking from the supply valve so that no steam was entering the radiator. Anyway, the vents are super easy to replace. Twist out, apply "pipe dope", and reattach. The supply replacements were the hard part. (I wasn't so orderly about my picture-snapping.)

1) If any of the supply valve fittings won't easily disconnect (and many won't), heat that connection with a blowtorch first. Be careful because cast iron, though it heats slowly, holds heat well (makes sense they used it for radiators).