We Got Steam Heat!: A Homeowner's Guide to Peaceful Coexistence Paperback – November 10, 2015

Helps the reader better understand steam heat. Reading the book is actually fun. Many readers of my review will think I am lying. Since when is a technical book fun to read? Well, Dan Holohan is that sort of a writer. He has that talent. Dan is a gift to those of us who are like me with a bit of a short attention span and install and service wet heat. Sometimes, I dream of Dan showing up where I work with his tools and his own 21 drawer Snapon Tool Box asking if I need a good boiler technician in the field. And, then the dream goes on; after a light conversation, he settles on $20 per hour with no days off during the heating season. Ahhh. Yes, just dreaming.

Well written and amusing primer on steam heat for homeowners. The info here is solid enough to teach a homeowner enough about steam to be able to assess their steam heat system and evaluate plumbers they hire to service it. I would recommend this to anyone who has a steam boiler.Holohan has another larger and slightly more technical book that covers a more detail (that one is "The Lost Art of Steam Heating Revisited")

I'll tell you a story about steam. I own an 1892 duplex. Side by side units, exact dimensions, each unit 4000 sq ft. A laboratory, if you will. Long before I bought it, in 1965 one unit was converted to a regular forced hot water system. The other remained steam. I came along in 2002 with a water boiler from 1965 and a steam boiler from the 30's or 40's. They both used a lot of energy, but the steam side was 40% more than the water side. Several years later I saved enough money to replace both boilers at the same time. Guess what?The steam boiler still consumed almost 40% more energy to heat the same square footage in the same building. They both consumed less than their predecessors, but the imbalance between steam and water remained. It was exasperating. I seriously contemplated taking out the steam (very invasive and expensive). I asked everyone I knew, every heating contractor who came by. They all said the same thing: "It's steam heat, what do you expect?"But then I bought We've Got Steam Heat.As a result I got the boiler piped correctly, fixed the venting, insulation, and pressure, and guess what?The steam side is now equal to the water side in energy consumption! A 40% savings from a $25 book.Moral of the story: It's a complete myth that steam heat is inefficient. What is inefficient are steam heating systems that are incorrectly installed and maintained (no wonder). Get the book & find a pro on Dan's web site, -your steam troubles will be over.The best part aside from the savings? Dan is a wonderful writer with a gift for making the complex understandable to homeowners, and making it engaging and enjoyable. This is no techno tough slog. It's actually fun to read. Some complain about the $25 price tag for the size of the book (not big). Fair enough, as books go. -But the savings that will result? -Priceless.

Haven't finished the books, the author seems knowledgeable. His tone is that of a speaker, so I find it difficult to read in some cases. Also, he is morbidly hung-up on dead people. For instance, he calls the original pipe installers "Dead Men (Why? Cause they're all dead!)" Seems to be a reference to how steam heat is no longer installed in modern building applications. Maybe he could just call them the installers. If you can get over the author's idiosyncrasies, and the price, this book is a great place to start if you are newly responsible for a residential steam heat system.

Dan Holohan has listened and learned from the Dead Men. The men who designed and built your heating system are dead. They have left their knowledge and creations behind. In old books, trade journals and of course the homes and structures built between the mid nineteenth century to WWII. He has worked on some major projects and consulted on the repair and maintenace of these old system. This book is written for the home owner and apartment building manager. With great humor and anecdotal stories he explains how to maintain and troubleshoot your steam heating. Most importantly he tells you how to find and recognize a competent contractor. What questions to ask and recognize the knuckleheads. He makes a mundane subject into an interesting read.

I ask PSEG NJ to start-up my boiler each Fall and this year (2023) the Associate recommended this book. It was very easy to read with content made simple for the layperson. I now understand our heating system well enough that (at minimum) I'll be sure any future contractor has the competence required.

For those of us that have Steam Heat it is a MUST HAVE / READ book.It is written in Laymans terms and full of info by a knowledgable person.

Steam heat management truly is a lost art. I'll wager 90%+ of the plumbers out there really don't fully understand this old, but underrated way to heat a home. After years of putting up with various 'idiosyncrasies' of my steam heat system, I came across this book recently, and read it cover to cover. Using this book, I was able to resolve most of the various issues myself. The most noticeable difference was made after reading how important it is to insulate the steam pipes. It never occurred to me that pipe insulation is integral, if not crucial, to the engineering and performance of the system. Most houses these days have had all the asbestos insulation removed (for very good reason), but the exposed pipes are almost never adequately re-insulated, as was the case in my house. I beefed up the insulation of the pipes that were insulated, and added insulation where the pipes were bare. Lo and behold, all my annoying water hammer pipe-banging problems vanished. Gone. My steam heating system is now dead quiet. I was astonished by the simplicity of the solution and the impact it had. If you have steam heat, you need this book. Three cheers to Mr. Holohan.