I have an old boiler in my house, with the old cast iron radiators. The system is a gravity fed system as far as I can tell. There is an expansion? Tank in my stair well near the ceiling. I live in a bungalow. Here's my question, on one side of the house the pipes run along the beam and go to their respective radiators. On the other side, they drop below the beam (boiler is on one side of house) and run to their respective radiators. Here's my dilemma. My basement doesn't really have high ceilings to begin with, and I'd like to put in a drop ceiling. But on the one side of the basement with the pipes coming below the beam, that makes the pipes almost so low, I have to duck. And if I put a suspended ceiling in, I will have to duck for sure. On the one side, as I say, they are above and along the beam, which is perfect. So can I somehow move the pipes up into the space above the beam so to speak, in order to give me better ceiling clearance? Thanks guys!

This is an item that really cannot be determined on a help board. If your system is gravity the pipe location and pitch is CRITICAL for proper and safe boiler operation. I suggest you contact a local HVAC contractor who specialist in gravity boilers and allow them to make a personal visit to your home to see if the pipes can be moved to accommodate your wishes.

Okay, thanks. Actually it turns out that a coworker of mine has done some of this type of work and said basically the same thing you did. He did mention about changing it over and using a pump? He's not 100% pro, so what do you think of that option? Obviously I'll still need the help of a local, but since we're on the topic...

Adding a recirc pump would be a great idea in my opinion. However, you still need to have a pro into look at your system and piping before doing anything. Even with a pump, you don't want to create any traps that can hold air and effect pump or gravity flow. Sorry we can't help you out on this one.

No problem, thanks again guys!