Baseboard noise

Wellness

Any of you pros have tips on reducing expansion and contraction noise? I recently replaced some steel Sterlling 700 series Suntemp radiators with lower profile units from the company's Designline radiators, which have a more rigid aluminum housing. However, that housing makes a huge amount of noise, not so much from the pipe risers or radiator fins expanding and contracting but, seemingly, from the enclosure itself.

DanHolohan

Outdoor reset helps

Lessens the big temperature swing hitting the radiator. 

Big Ed_4

Heat cycles

Knock those heat cycles down , gain even comfort , save 20% off your energy bills and kill the expansion noise to get a better sleep . instal an outdoor reset control ..

remodel

baseboard noise

I have fin tube vectors.  Do a search on the site for noise reduction in fin tube.  What I did which helped but did not eliminate the noise, and I do have a reset with a fairly large curve, is put milk carton pieces where the fins touched anything, I went through and straightened out all the bent fins as well.  Helped a lot but I still have some clicks on my longer baseboards.  I will say on design day the clicks where non-existent as the system was almost running all day.  Good luck, if you find something that works let us know.   

Wellness

Thank you all

...for your responses.



I'm going to try some isolation and cushioning as "remodel" suggested before I try outdoor reset. My system doesn't cycle much at all now after a recent rebuild: both my thermostats and boiler setback curve prevent the boiler from coming on repeatedly in a certain time frame. I think because the radiators sit up against a cold wall they cool much quicker than the room overall.



This is only an issue at night when the thermostat temps are set lower and the contraction noise becomes more noticeable amid the silence. 

taz

Noise

Add some return water with the outgoing feed will help on the temp swing.

icesailor

Aluminum Vs. Steel:

The Sterling Designer line baseboard is made from aluminum extrusions. Aluminum has a much higher expansion rate than steel.

Did you consider that the Designer Line output per foot is considerably less than the baseboard you replaced? You might have a problem mixing it up with other rooms on the same zone unless you put it on a separate zone.

Wellness

Aluminum Vs. Steel

@Icesailor. Knew about the lower output; the Designer Line is zoned separately. However, I didn't know about the dramatic expansion rate difference between steel and aluminium. That's probably what accounts for most of the noise because the steel wasn't nearly as bad.

icesailor

Quietness:

You can probably quiet it down with some silicone grease. Take off the covers. Lightly grease under the slides and where the front covers connect to the brackets. If it gets quieter, then continue. You can use silicone spray with Teflon but it might be stinky for a while.



But if it works,,,,,,,