The Abominable Steam Boiler

One of my favorite holiday TV specials is Rudolf The Red-Nosed Reindeer. I love the part where Hermey tames the Abominable Snowman by fixing his toothache. It got me thinking about steam heating systems. (Yes, that’s the weird way my mind works.) Like the Abominable they’re often misunderstood and lonely.

Your steam heating system can seem mysterious and sometimes even a little scary or creepy. This large hunk of metal sits in the dark recesses of your basement making odd hissing, panting or clanging sounds. Every so often it rumbles to life and sends heat upstairs to the rest of the house, but mostly it’s the reason you don’t like going down “there.”

It doesn’t mean to be so scary. It’s just lonely and needs a little love and understanding ­— like the Abominable. Once you get to know him, you’ll realize he’s a softy at heart and he just wants to be helpful and accepted.

If we’re going to get to know this monster, we should probably start at the heart of the system. The boiler is where the heating cycle begins and ends. In its simplest form, it’s a hollow block of cast iron with a burner underneath. It’s partially filled with water that the burner heats up to a boil (hence, why it’s a “boiler” and not a “furnace.”). When the water starts to boil it creates steam. The steam exits the top of the boiler through pipes that distribute the steam to all of the radiators in your house.

The radiators give up the heat of the steam to your rooms, which cools the steam to the point that it condenses back to water in the radiator. The water now drains back through pipes to the boiler and gets heated back to steam in a cycle that continues until your house is warm enough and the boiler shuts down until your thermostat calls for heat again.

The combustion byproducts are safely vented through the chimney and out the roof. It’s a simple and elegant process that repeats itself over and over for many years —making you warm and comfy and not asking for much in return.

When things are working right it’s quiet and efficient. When they’re not, it can be loud, uncomfortable, inefficient and just plain grumpy. Like the Abominable, sometimes it needs some attention to keep it content.

We’ll talk more in future posts about some different types of steam systems and some simple things you can do to keep your Bumble humble.

Happy New Year!

Heidronically yours,

Wayne