Baseboard heating dillema

Scott Larabee

There was a time when they were experimenting with using 1/2" piping for heating systems (possibly the early 70's) I have one system out there that is all 1/2" off the boiler manifold. They have no problems with heating at all. This particular house has four zones, I don't know what would happen if they were trying to heat the entire house on one zone!

The problem here sounds more like an air elimination problem. Perhaps an improperly installed air scoop? No air scoop? Auto vent not working? Another possibility is that the system pressure may be too low. I would imagine that the 1/2" pipe would cause more resistance to flow, so mayby the "standard" 12lbs isn't enough.

What is the pressure on the boiler? Have you tried raising it?(No more than 20lbs when cold) I have had cases where another pound or two of pressure on the boiler made the noise problems go away.

Scott

frank_53

Base board heat

I have base board heat, the only problem is in the basement.The piping leaves the boiler for the loop at 1" then reduces to 1/2" for about 3/4,s of the house.The pipe runs to my secnd floor as 1/2" then returns and proply upsizes back to 1" then proceeds to reduce at the next base to 1/2" then runs back upstairs at 1/2" returns to the basement and upsizes again to 1" back to boiler.My problem or ? is 1. i have gurgling in the lines but get very little air from the bleeders.
2. can the cause of the air be the diffrent size piping?
3.Ican't make the piping bigger leading to the baseboard due to the fact it spans 2 floors and under the floor.

ANY IDEAS WOULD HELP

Brad White

Has that system ever worked?

Unless you have a very small house (The American Girl dolls come to mind), with a small flow rate, I have trouble seeing that system working or the word "comfortable" coming to mind.

Baseboard as traditionally conceived, works with higher water temperatures and maybe a 20 degree drop for the most part. Your 1/2" piping might get you 15-20,000 BTU's per Hour on a good day at those conditions.

I have to question your description, are you sure that there are not other branches off of the 1" main (a more appropriate size for an average small house). What you describe as a series of rises and drops may well be different parallel branch circuits.

Can you post any photos?

Bob Hutchinson

base board heat

I have baseboard castiron wot water heat. I have wall to wall carpet installed. The carpet goes under the baseboard and leaves very little room for air to get under the baseboard. Am i losing heat because the cool air from the room cannot get under the baseboard.

Brad White

I would

post this as a New Thread so that it gets the attention it deserves. Right now it is at the tail end of someone else's question and may not be seen by as many.

But yes, air in = air out. Lack of airflow will block the convective portion of the baseboard output. The radiant portion, (about 30% if I recall correctly and it depends on temperature) will not be affected if there is nothing between you and the baseboard.

frank_53

I have base board heat, the only problem is in the basement.The piping leaves the boiler for the loop at 1" then reduces to 1/2" for about 3/4,s of the house.The pipe runs to my secnd floor as 1/2" then returns and proply upsizes back to 1" then proceeds to reduce at the next base to 1/2" then runs back upstairs at 1/2" returns to the basement and upsizes again to 1" back to boiler.My problem or ? is 1. i have gurgling in the lines but get very little air from the bleeders. 2. can the cause of the air be the diffrent size piping? 3.Ican't make the piping bigger leading to the baseboard due to the fact it spans 2 floors and under the floor.

ANY IDEAS WOULD HELP

Tony_25

Noise in Pipes

Sounds like you have air in the system. You should check out if you have an air vent and if its working, or if not install a good air separtor, spiral vent makes a god one. Also check to see if you boiler feed valve is working properly it should feed the boiler with 12 PSI