Anyone ever use EcoRad? Electric Cast Iron Radiators.

TheRooster

Hey so I have an addition that was built in the 40's on to the original 1923 building. No one bothered to run steam pipes to the (then new) addition. Fast forward 70 years, eventually electric base board heater were installed (I am guessing in the 90's). The current baseboard heats the rooms sufficiently.

I am planning on doing a renovation to architecturally tie the whole building together and I really wanted to add some cast iron radiators into the three rear rooms, two are bedrooms and the third is a mudroom. I was thinking about trying to get steam pipes to the rooms but I dont think it will work, there is not enough height to have the pipes slope without some major work being done.

So I had this idea of... what if there was an electric cast iron radiator. I know they make the steel, oil filled ones.

A quick google search and I found EcoRad. They are a Canadian company that takes old cast iron steam and hot water radiators and makes them electric. It looks like an easy solution to my problem. Has anyone heard of this or have any experience?

vaporvac

Those are cute, but have you considered taking a hot water loop off of your steam system? This is often done and utilizes the pick-up factor built into the boiler capacity. Do a search on this site and you'll find many posts referring to it. I'm not sure what slope you need, but if you're redoing the flooring you could even add in-floor radiant.

TheRooster

I really wanted to have the whole house have cast iron radiators so in-floor radiant was out. It is not an issue of just heating the rooms but to tie the look of the whole building together. (Besides that, I hate the feel of in-floor heat in any room other than a bathroom)

A hot water loop could work. I hadn't thought of that option and I am not sure if it is possible on my boiler but it is totally worth a look.

Another thought that I had was if they were electrically, and independently controlled, I could lower the temperature or even turn off the radiators since it is only two bedrooms and a mudroom.

icesailor

Those radiators are only cast iron radiators with a water heater element screwed in and a thermostatic control inside a cover. There is nothing unusual in the concept. I just don't see how you can make it look spiffy with a wire running across the floor from the wall.

Regardless of the size of the end fitting, if you bush it down to 1" IPS, a standard water heater element will screw in it.

In no way am I advocating a home made solution. Just that it is how it was done.

TheRooster

Yeah, I kind of figured that was the way it was done. I am sure it has some sort of built in safety because only a heating element and a thermostatic control would NOT be safe without some sort of pressure safety device.

As far as a wire across the floor, I am sure that it could be made to look better than that. An experienced electrician would do a nice job using a short piece of conduit from the back side of the junction box to the wall.

icesailor

Sparky has access to things that look far better than a nasty piece of conduit.

Remember, Sparky is in "The Chosen Profession". They get all the new good stuff like cool tools. We're lucky to get throw away screw drivers. Or 6 & 1 screw drivers that if you break a bit, you can't get a replacement. Only the whole driver.

Jamie Hall

They'll work. They look pretty decent. Make sure you have enough heating capacity -- they have nowhere near the radiating capacity of the same radiator fed steam.

They won't save any money or electricity...

vaporvac

Anyone here have personal experience with a HW loop that can advise? My understanding is that all steam boilers can have one added with a heat exchanger or using a coil.. Here is a great article from The Library that explains how to do it right: https://heatinghelp.com/systems-help-center/how-to-run-a-hot-water-zone-off-a-steam-boiler/

Dave0176

I did it for a customer just using a loop off the boiler condensate. You need an all bronze 100 series B&G pump, two B&G flo controls, two loop isolation valves, a bypass loop with a valve to control mixing, a seperate water feed to bleed the loop, a boiler drain to bleed,and a Aqua stat.

Here is said system...