Hello and a question....

Dan_G

My first post, and question on what seems to be the most educated heating forum out there...



I have a bathroom, 40.9 sq. ft., 7 ft. Ceilings. Contains a bath tub, single sink vanity and toilet. There is currently a SlantFin 30 2 ft. HWBB unit powered in a circuit by a Munchkin 80M. There is also a ceiling vent fan and a standard size door that opens into a hallway shared by several other heater rooms.



I have been investigated whether or not it might be worthwhile to change out this 30A for a MultiPak 83A unit to help increase the heat output.



I'm contemplating a similar change for my living room, but that may be a separate thread depending on where this one goes. That project is in the hopes of replacing 20+ year old baseboard with a more efficient design so as to reclaim some wall space and still be toasty.



Also, I'm located in NJ and hate winter ;) I tend to keep the house t-stat set between 64-68 F.



Any advice is of course appreciated!

icesailor

Bathroom heat:

Its my experience that with most bathrooms, 3' of baseboard is too much for a bathroom and that's adding 20% for an extra. When figuring 180 degree water, 3' of #30 does it fine. 2' is a little close if you are running 180 degree water and if you run it lower than 180, in a design day. it can be cold. But you really need to do a heat loss calculation and see how the other rooms balance out with the bathroom. I round off. If it's #15, I figure 550 BTU's per Ft. #30 is 600, and #80 is 740. #80 is much higher and not as pleasing. If you find that you need more, I suggest you just add the same type and just extend the pipes along the floor. #80 sticks out into the room more and the element is higher. I never find it is useful.

They also make some element that has a much higher output rating than what is there. It will fit into standard baseboard cabinets.

What I am trying to say is that after you go through all these gyrations, you mat not notice any difference for your efforts. You may find that it is cheaper to install a heat lamp fan light. You only need the heat lamp seldom. 

But do a complete and accurate heat loss on the building. Then, add up the radiation in each room.Then, compare each and every room and compare. It won't be perfect because of what each designer uses for a program or his personal "fudge factor".

If the bathroom has a heated space above it, and only one outside wall, it may only have needed 1.3' or less of baseboard. You're not going to cut a baseboard down to 1'3'. I only install 3' in bathrooms. I don't cut them down, and no one has ever complained about a cold bathroom.



For your information.

JStar

Baseboard

Can you run a small radiant floor zone in the bathroom? Or install a towel warmer that heats the space as well?

Dan_G

Thanks

I appreciate the advice! Due to the layout, the 2' long HWBB is all that will fit. I will look into heat lamps and towel warmer. The vanity has an arched bottom opening, so a kick heater might not install to nicely.



I'm not sure if there is enough floor space (about 28sq. ft.) to give adequate performance if I swapped out the HWBB and ran loops of PEX under the floor in the crawl space. I really don't want to rip up tile yet to put in a dedicated electric radiant system. I have a second full bath that I'd like to apply similar improvements too.