As I begin this entry, we are in fact in the middle of our current house crisis. I guess I'm using the blog to focus my nearly debilitating anxieties at the moment.
About an hour ago, I noticed that the thermometer reading on the thermostat was weirdly lower than where we'd set the thermostat, and that although the little icon said the furnace was on, it was clear from the behavior of the radiators (i.e., the lack of steaming and banging) that it was not in fact on.
A trip to the basement confirmed that the furnace was not on, and a shiny red light indicated that the water level was too low. That green box on the left is the shutoff for low water -- there's a tiny red light on the top of it.
The home inspector, those long many months ago, told us something about draining the boiler, but we don't remember what it was. There is a red lever on one of the water pipes that we suspect might be the way to add water to the system.
But we're not entirely sure this is what we should do. And given that this is a steam boiler, which, apparently can cause all kinds of horrifying damage to persons and property (if you read the right sources), I'm worried about a) hurting ourselves and b) doing something that completely fouls up the boiler.
At the moment, we're waiting for the pipes and system to cool down. When they do, we will try the red lever. And see if things work. After that, we call for help.
Outside, it is snowing madly, with temperatures below freezing.
We are heading to the basement right now.
Updates forthcoming.
Update: 1 pm:
We drained the system of its dirty water (gross!) and slowly added new water. We had read that we needed to raise the water level to between 1/2 and 2/3 or between 2/3 and 3/4 (depending on the source). Here you can see the gauge at its (we hope) correct level.
We turned the thing back on...
and nothing happened.
For about two minutes.
Two long minutes of (my) panic.
Then the thing fired, and at this moment, it is heating up all that water.
Hopefully, soon, the steam will start heating up the radiators.
Update: 1:15
It seems that everything is in order. Radiators are heating up and the temperature is rising. And the furnace is still running and the water level looks OK.
We are tentatively declaring victory.
We would like to thank:
The Lost Art of Steam Heating, a ridiculously comprehensive book we bought just last week.
There's precious little good information available on how to do these things, so it was all a bit nerve-wracking. We'll just need to keep a close eye on that water level. Some post-emergency researching has helped us find some good online information in a few places.
If you're wondering how steam heat works, here's a handy and informative page I just found via the BBC. We have what's called a one-pipe steam system, where just a single pipe feeds the radiator with steam and carries away the water.
My ongoing online research has also uncovered this terrific site -- a "Homeowner's Library" that has lots of great information on steam heat.
Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day. May your heart and your home be warm!
good sleuthing! i'm glad you solved the boiler mystery in time! i remember watching my dad bleed out all the icky old water in our icky old boiler when i was a kid.
ReplyDeleteWow, I'm glad that you got the heating system back up and running. Reminds me of the time I was living in Bethlehem when me and my housemates accidently depleted all the oil for the furnace before we had the tank refilled. Unfortunately for us, by then the line from the tank to the furnace had to be bled, something that we didn't know (let alone how) to do. So, for two days in January, while waiting for our landlord to get back into town, we had to wear our coats inside the house. I remember sitting around watching TV and being able to see my breath at the same time. But because of that event, I now know the importance of not letting the oil tank run dry, and if it does, how to bleed the oil line.
ReplyDeleteSo, after all you've gone through with your house, you guys are quite the experts now. If and when I get a house I will be sure to seek your wise counsel.