I think I should remove some aluminum fins from my baseboard

Bill_55

Try the easy stuff first.. that's my vote too!

I live in a circa 1955 neighborhood-- four bedroom Cape Cods, about 1200 square feet. HW baseboard, series loop, one or two loops downstairs, depending on layout, one loop upstairs. One thermostat, one circulator.

In the colder rooms, like someone says below, be sure the carpet/padding isn't so high as to block the opening at the bottom of the baseboard. Had a neighbor with thick carpet totally blocking the opening in a bedroom. It was cold as ice in there, even though the baseboard got hot. Made sure the opening was clear and now she has plenty of heat.

In warmer rooms, the aluminum foil trick is great if dampers are lacking or insufficient. Take off the cover, wrap a portion of the fin tube assembly in doubled up aluminum foil and put the cover back. Adjustable and easy, compared to taking off the fins. I think my baseboard was made by National Radiator, although I'm not sure. The fins are steel rather than aluminum, and it's almost impossible to get them off. Found that out when shortening a piece of baseboard. On the bright side, they don't get bent and crushed easily either!

Dan Houston

aluminum fins

I live in a two story row-home that was built in the 1960's. A Weil-McLain, oil-fired boiler feeds baseboard finned tubes throughout. The first floor is usually pretty comfortable (borders on too warm), and the second floor is always cool (borders on too cold). Using the Slant-fin software, I ran the numbers and found that there is FAR too much aluminum on the lower floor. Would it help to - carefully - cut some of the fins off of the copper on the first floor in order to balance the heat distribution in the house?

Thanks for the Wall - it's a really great service!
Dan

brucewo1b

First you might try

Closing the adjustable vents in the warm area and if that fails then rap some of your fin tube in aluminum foil, better to try safe then to cut too much and be sorry.

J.C.A._3

Why not....

Uni R_3

Obstructions?

Is there much obstruction of the fintube upstairs?

Dan Houston

There is very little obstruction upstairs.

G Lyons

The key here is a thermostat.

Call in a heating Co. to install a thermostat and zone valve for each floor. The end switches will then control the boiler.
George Lyons

Keith M

wall to wall

Many contractors used to install wall to wall baseboard and run the baseboard loop around the perimeter of that floor level. If the wall was 10'long, 10 ' of baseboard was installed. While I must admit these systems used more baseboard, these systems often lead to unbalanced heat distribution.

Make sure the air inlet opening at the bottom of the front cover is clear and not blocked by a layer of the floor, a layer of carpet can restrict air flow. (sometimes a carpet is installed where is curls back and blocks the bottom of the finned tube element). Slant/Fin model Fine/Line 30 has a bottom opening of 1 13/16". Check and make sure your baseboard airflow is not blocked, bottom & top & inside. Make sure material such as dog hair is not clogging the fins.

Zoning is certainly desirable. Removal of some fins is also an option in balancing a system.

Water flow or lack of water flow could also be a problem. Does your system have balancing valves? I suggest you enlist a professional and get their advice.

Weezbo

a few good ideas were..

open the dampers on the baseboard upstairs and close or dampen the ones down stairs,put zone valves on them and run them on seperate thermostats...and something about balancing valves..i think you might be able to try some mixing devise on the lower floor,and mix down...

one other thing that can confuse the heating ability would be long drapes or curtains that cover the elements...

Dale

trv

You need to see how the floors are fed, if there's 2 series loops, one for each floor, then a trv valve on the inlet to the first floor first rad should be all you need, just set it to a temp and you're done. The room normal stat can then be set higher to force the system to heat the second floor.