Reason for heating pipes in attic

[Inspectorjoe]

The original portion of today's house was built approximately 1850 and the addition was built maybe 100 years ago. A 175,000 BTU boiler was recently installed. The distribution is currently circulated hot water, but judging by the diameter of the pipes, it was originally a gravity hot water or two pipe steam system. The radiators don't look like any that I've seen used with steam, but there is a Hartford Loop of sorts behind the boiler.

There are heating pipes running around the perimeter of the attic (no radiators in the attic. There is a riser with an air vent at the top.

I can't figure out what the purpose of this attic loop is. It's got to be an ice dam maker in the winter.

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[kurt]

Or, an ice dam eliminator......it might give you enough radiant heat to keep the eaves melted.

Very odd, though......never seen anything like it.

[Jim Morrison]

Hey Joe,

Where you goin' with that gun in your hand?

(sorry, I couldn't help myself)

I still see remnants of a few old gravity systems with open expansion tanks in the attic each year. I don't recall seeing one run a lap around the attic, but I wonder if that might be what you saw.

Jimmy

[Bill Kibbel]

It's an "overhead system" of hot water heating. While it's not the most common type of gravity heating, it's not that unusual. Let me know if you'd like more detail.

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[Bain]

I never see this stuff and know very little about it. But . . . it's always fascinating to learn what's normal, what's rare, and what's up.

[Inspectorjoe]

Thanks Bill. As usual you nailed it.

I don't recall ever seeing an overhead system before.

And thanks for the offer of more detail, but I won't need it. I feel kind of stupid, but I had the info available to me all along in my library (courtesy of Dan Holohan). Your diagram jogged my memory. I knew I'd seen it before. He called it a "first class" system.

It seemed to have made the transition to circulated pretty well, judging by the uniformity of radiator temperature. I still wonder about ice damming, given the fact that the soffits are close to 18 inches wide. No signs of it though.

[Terence McCann]

I've never seen that either. How old is the home Joe?

With 18" soffits you may be right about the ice damns - any sign of damage in the attic?

I feel stupid saying there is asbestos on the pipes (as I'm sure you know that).

Picture #3 shows an example of a bucket trap [:-paperba

[Inspectorjoe]

Terry:

Approximately 1850 and 1910.

Surprisingly, there were no signs of ice damming.

No worries about the asbestos - it was in excellent condition. [:-crazy]

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I think your mistaken about the trap. It sure looks more like a pitcher trap to me. It must be a lot newer than the rest of the system, because it's made of plastic.

Speaking of traps, lying next to the 'pitcher trap' was a victim of a bear trap. How sad that he spend his lonely days looking forlornly out the floor-level attic window.

It sure was an interesting house.

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[Tom Raymond]

It's an "overhead system" of hot water heating. While it's not the most common type of gravity heating, it's not that unusual. Let me know if you'd like more detail.

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That's very cool, got a bigger image?

[Chad Fabry]

Now that Tom asked, I'd like a bigger image too. Chad@structuresmart.com

[Les]

I am quite comfortable with my image. It is plenty large enough, thank you. Send my share to Tom and Chad.