Pipe Leak and System Changes - HELP

Weezbo

our country has wide variations in material costs, labour. and quality of products ...for the most part there are a lot of choices each one makes as to the most reliable efficient system to install...therefore we generally don't discuss prices.

i live in Alaska, shipping is a charge that is tacked to everything and anything...some areas of the country have government bureaucratic over burden that has a greater or equal effect on materials delivered.

divination is not one of my fine points however, you might get a second opinion from someone in your area as to what they might charge and the control strategy and material s availability and when ... if the contractor is replacing the baseboard with some other product and if these products cost more then that is likely what it cost. if the control system of the system is changed or new zones etc. are added or mixing devises with outdoor reset the costs might be signifigantly different from one contractor to another....

may life go well for us all.

i hope that helps you ....

John_174

Looking for advice

I have a couple of issues with my baseboard hot water system looking for .
1) I have a leaking pipe joint that will need to be fixed before the heating season gets going.
2) I'm also re-doing the kitchen and would like to remove two baseboard units (each is 4 feet long) and replace with an under cabinet unit.
3) System assessment. My 2-bedroom house is only 800 sq. ft but we must have 100 feet of baseboard heating. Isn't this a lot? The units are unsightly and get in the way of funiture etc. Had an estimate from a contractor who is asking $6,000 to replace the baseboard units. Is that reasonable?

ALH_4

Options

Any possibility of installing radiant floors in the kitchen? Do you have access from below? Radiant in the bathrooms might be nice also if you have access from below.

With that much baseboard relative to the size of your home (only a heat loss calculation can verify this), I think the entire system could be run at temperatures that are reasonable for radiant floors. This means that a mixing valve for the kitchen zone would probably be unnecessary.

What is your heat source? If you replace the baseboard, I would lean toward steel panel radiators because of their relatively compact design.

Paul Fredricks_3

My thought is: Is it 100' of radiator or just radiator cover with a pipe in it. Without knowing the house 100' does sound like a lot to me. Look inside all the baseboard and make sure there is fin tube in it. Maybe the original installer just ran the pipes around the house and used the radiator covers to hide it.