kickspace heater installation questions

zlrig

Hi All
I want to add a zoned kickspace heater to my existing hot water heating system. Right now it has two zones, one for the air handler unit and one for the hot water tank.
My question is, the existing manifold is made up of 3/4" copper and the kickspace heater connections are 1/2" .
Can I just go with reducers on this or do I need a more elaborate setup?
Also, will it be a problem for the circulator with the back pressure of the pipe size reduction?
Again, it will be a separate zone with its own zone valve and t-stat. Also it will be a fairly short run from the manifold to the kickspace heater unit.
Thanks, JohnB

delta T

Well, there are a lot of things to consider. What size is the kickspace heater? (what is its output in BTU/Hr?) The reason I ask, is that if you put a small load (likely less than 6000 Btu/hr) on your boiler, it will cause it to short cycle (unless you have a very small modcon). This will cause more wear and tear on everything. Why do you want to zone this seperately? could you install some monoflow tees on the existing hydroair zone to feed it and have only one zone?

BTW you may want to move this to the 'Gas Heating' section to attract some more attention.

zlrig

Thanks Delta T
I will try to move my post.