Reports on the experience of a district steam utility company in St. Louis, Missouri, in connecting existing buildings with gas-fired boiler plants onto the city's district steam system. Included is the reasoning behind the design of a new district steam rate structure that included a price for district steam that would approximately match the cost of natural gas through a gas-fired steam boiler plant to produce steam. A discussion of the major factors affecting seasonal boiler efficiency is also included. Compares the actual metered heat energy consumption of eight existing buildings operating with district steam to the same eight buildings operated with in-house gas-fired steam boiler plants.

KEYWORDS: boilers, gas fired boilers, steam boilers, efficiency, district heating, energy consumption, buildings, natural gas, comparing, USA.