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Steam heat gets blamed for a lot that is not its fault. The building that is ninety degrees on the second floor and sixty on the fourth does not have a boiler problem; it has a venting and balancing problem, and it can usually be fixed for a fraction of what a replacement costs.
The other thing worth saying plainly: a new steam boiler installed with the wrong near-boiler piping will carry water over into the mains and it will hammer, surge and short-cycle from the first day. The piping is not a detail. It is most of the job, and it is where cheap installations are cheap.
What we work on
Steam and hydronic, residential and small commercial, from a two-family house to a six-storey walk-up.
One-pipe steam
The classic New York system. Main vents, radiator vents, pitch and the balancing that decides whether the top floor is comfortable or roasting.
Two-pipe steam
Traps, orifices and returns, and the trap failures that let steam into the dry return and wreck the balance of a whole building.
Hot-water and hydronic
Circulators, zone valves, expansion tanks, air elimination, and the purging that fixes the radiator nobody can get hot.
Radiant floor systems
Manifolds, mixing valves and controls, and the low-temperature design that makes them work well.
Boiler replacement
Sized by connected radiation for steam — not by heat loss, which is the error that ruins most steam replacements — with near-boiler piping built to specification.
Low-water cutoffs and safeties
Tested, serviced and replaced. The safeties on a steam boiler are the reason it is still a safe appliance at ninety years old.
Fixing an unbalanced building
Before anyone quotes you a boiler, this is the work that should happen. It costs a fraction as much and it solves the complaint most of the time.
Main venting first
Undersized main vents are the single most common fault in one-pipe steam. Getting the air out of the mains quickly is what lets steam reach the far risers before the near ones cook.
Radiator vents, sized by position
Slow vents on the near radiators, fast vents on the far ones. This is how you balance a building, and it is a morning's work with a box of vents.
Pitch and hammer
Radiators pitched back to the valve, sagging returns supported. Most banging is condensate trapped where steam is trying to go.
Pressure set correctly
Steam systems want ounces, not pounds. A pressuretrol wound up to five psi is burning money and pushing water where it should not go.
Skimming the boiler
Oil from installation floats on the water and makes it surge. Skimming a new boiler properly is tedious, and it is the difference between a quiet system and a wet one.
Signs a boiler is genuinely at end of life
Steam boilers last a very long time. These are the four things that actually end them.
A cracked section or a leaking block
Water in the burner compartment, or a section leak that appears when it is hot. Not repairable in practice.
Flue gas failures
A cracked or blocked flue, or combustion figures that cannot be brought into specification. A safety matter, not a comfort one.
Chronic wet steam that survives skimming
Where the near-boiler piping is wrong and cannot be economically re-piped.
Efficiency far below what is available
An eighty-year-old converted coal boiler at fifty-five percent is a genuine case for replacement, and the running-cost difference is large enough to show you on paper.
If you smell gas, leave the building and call your gas utility's emergency line from outside — do not operate switches on your way out. If a carbon monoxide alarm sounds, get everyone into fresh air and call 911 first. General guidance on this page is not a substitute for a licensed technician looking at your own equipment.
Questions
Boilers & Steam Heat — the questions we are asked most
Do you still service steam heating systems?
Yes, and it is a large part of what we do. Woodside and Sunnyside are full of one-pipe steam and it is a perfectly good heating system when it is vented, pitched and balanced correctly. Most of what gets blamed on an old boiler is a balancing problem.
Why is my top floor freezing and my second floor boiling?
Almost always venting. Steam takes the path of least resistance, so if the mains and the near radiators vent fast and the far ones vent slowly, the near end cooks before the far end sees steam. Correcting the vent sizing is a morning's work and it usually fixes it.
Why do my radiators bang and hammer?
Condensate sitting where steam wants to travel. A radiator pitched away from its valve, a sagging return, a failed vent or too much boiler pressure will all do it. It is hard on the pipework, and it is normally a cheap fix rather than an expensive one.
How much does a new steam boiler cost?
From about $9,800 installed, and it depends heavily on the near-boiler piping and the access. We size by measuring your connected radiation rather than by heat loss, because a steam boiler must be able to fill the system it is attached to.
Can I replace my boiler with a heat pump?
Sometimes. An air-to-water heat pump can feed a hydronic system, and where the radiators are generously sized it works well at lower water temperatures. A one-pipe steam building is a much harder conversion, and we will tell you honestly which one you have.
How often should a boiler be serviced?
Once a year, before the heating season. On a steam system that visit should include a low-water cutoff test and a skim if the water is dirty — not just a combustion check and a sticker.
Related
Often needed alongside this
Heating
Furnace Installation
High-efficiency gas furnaces sized, installed, vented and commissioned properly — with combustion analysis, not just a flame you can see.
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Heating
Heating Repair
No heat is an emergency. We answer the phone at any hour and prioritise households with children, elderly residents or a medical need.
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Heating
Water Heaters
Tank and tankless water heaters installed, repaired and replaced — including the orphaned-flue problem a furnace upgrade leaves behind.
Read moreSame-day service in most cases
Book a visit, or call the 24-hour line
Tell us what the system is doing and we will tell you honestly whether it needs somebody tonight or whether it will keep until the morning. Diagnostics are $119 and credited in full against any repair you approve.