Steam to hydro-air conversion

[nwg]

Any thoughts or comments on the following would be greatly appreciated:

We live in an 1800 sq. ft house in New England that currently has one pipe steam heating and no AC. We're strongly considering a Unico AC setup with separate systems for the first and second floors.

Apparently our 3 year-old Burnham Independence boiler can be converted to a hot water boiler, so we would also be able to use the Unico ducts for hydro-air heating in addition to AC. I was excited to learn this because steam heating strikes me as archaic and inefficient and, unsurprisingly, I'm not very keen on it. Hydro-air seems the most cost effective conversion route (radiant would be lovely, but it's too expensive).

Does anyone have any experiences or opinions on the relative merits of hydro-air and steam. Am I correct in expecting slightly lower gas bills with hydro-air? What is the heating experience going to be like with Unico hydro-air compared to steam.....more even, more variable? Any other thoughts or considerations? Thanks!

[tinknocker service tech]

have done unico hot water systems many time. you will find if done properly you will have many years of comfort and they are very dependable also
good luck and enjoy you system

[markwolf]

If piped properly the boiler can be kept steam & used to supply hot water for a hydro coil too,without the use of a heat exchanger.If the hydro fails for some reason you would still have heat.

[simpleman]

Originally posted by nwg
Apparently our 3 year-old Burnham Independence boiler can be converted to a hot water boiler, so we would also be able to use the Unico ducts for hydro-air heating in addition to AC. I was excited to learn this because steam heating strikes me as archaic and inefficient and, unsurprisingly, I'm not very keen on it. Hydro-air seems the most cost effective conversion route (radiant would be lovely, but it's too expensive).
B]

Wrong!!! Archaic and inefficient WOW, very bold statement to
make and would love to hear more about your experience with steam.

Question if we may...

Is their noise when the system is running? Do you hear air being vented at the rads and if yes how long?
Do you know if your distribution system is insulated?
Do you know if the main comes back wet or dry to the boiler?
When the last time any of your airvent been replace?

Thanks.

[casturbo]

You'd be most wise in retrofitting the boiler to hot water instead of steam for heating purposes. After servicing many boilers in the past 20 yrs, I too dislike steam heat. Your plumber should check with Burnham to see what is necessary (if anything) to do the conversion. The controls for a hot water boiler should be implemented, don't just jury-rig the boiler for circulator control. Have it done right the first time. I bet you'll save a tank of oil the first year using hydro-air. Wise choice there. But if you can do a conventional A/C configuration instead of the high velocity Unico you'd be better off too. Those high velocity systems kill SEER and require too many vents for my taste. But if you can't accomodate the needs of a conventional A/C configuration, by all means having A/C via Unico is well worth it.