Stop in for a cup of coffee

Mopar Tim said
They just need a boiler, that can blow up.....No problem that I can see.....:lol:

Ddaddy said
The original 1889 boiler steam radiator system in our old Victorian house near Widener University was converted to a gas fired burner in the 1970s and it was still working great when we sold the house in 1990. Water feed system was converted to an automatic float valve when we lived there so no more periodic checking of the sight glass and turning valves to keep the water level right.

3800 sq ft of living space with 18 rooms on 3 floors being heated by 17 radiators. It was very efficient and worked well.

It's closed loop. Quite efficient.

Mattax said
Either my parents or the previous owners had replaced the living room tall cast iron radiators with baseboard versions. They never worked great - I think not enough mass, less surface radiation and not as efficient in getting natural conduction of the air to spread the heat to the room. Might have been a little better when the furnace was still coal fired.

The fin tube baseboard units need a higher boiler temp to run efficiently. Cast iron can run as low as 120° where fin tube needs 160° or so.