converting forced air to radiant heat (steam/convectors)

[Guest guest]

Thought this might be of interest to someone--a guy from a local plumbing and

heating co told be about an amazing alternative for converting a house with

forced air to radiant heat using mini-tube steam and convectors.

Bottom line--it would still cost 12K to convert our 3BR house, so not cheap by

any means and I don't know when/if we'll be able to do it. But converting to

radiators could cost 3-4x that and just knowing about this alternative gives me

hope!

A new gas boiler would supply steam through small diameter, flexible copper

tubing to convectors in each room. The convectors have an enamel metal cover

and a grill to let warmed air flow into the room (no fan, just natural

convection). Under the cover are metal fins that the steam runs through that

would need to be vacuumed regularly for those with allergies.

One reason it's so much cheaper than radiators to install in an existing home is

that the flexible copper tubing can be fished through walls with minimal

drilling/small holes, while installing regular pipes requires taking down much

larger sections of the wall.

The guy said this was an innovation in steam heat that came about right when

forced air took over the market. He said if this had been available 5 years

before forced air it might be the dominant type of heat today because it's

efficient, clean and cheaper to install and operate than other forms of radiant

heat.

It's not a system he normally sells. He does maintenance on a few systems like

it and learned about it that way. He proposed it as a solution to our problem

of how to convert from forced air to some form of radiant heat in an existing

home.

Amy