Steam heat has gotten an undeservedly bad reputation over the years due to high heating costs, unbalanced heat, and strange (and sometimes quite loud) noises. As we shall see, these are all symptoms of neglect rather than actual properties of steam heat. Steam has been around for a long time, and the very fact that all those steam systems are still going today (despite that neglect) is a real testimony to steam heat’s resilience. There’s no heating system yet devised as robust, long lasting, and free of maintenance issues as steam. It is simplicity itself. So what happened? Read on dear reader, for the afflictions poor steam heat has had to battle: