Polyethylene Thermacel Pipe Wrap on Hydronic baseboard?

n75040

Hello,

In an apartment building with a hydronic system which gives off way too much heat in the winter. Landlord cannot lower the heat b/c the other tenants complain .

I wrapped the slant fin tubing with Thermacel pipe wrap over the fins to mitigate the heat in the bedrooms. Should I be worried about the temperature rating/melting off-gassing in a bedroom environment?

It's sort of 'loosely' covering the fins but touching on all sides and keeping the fins from radiating heat but not so tightly covering them as to damage or bend the fins.

The thermacel I purchased here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007X6Y8WA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

says it's rated to 200F. I doubt the water going through the fins ever gets that hot and if it does at the end of the fins where the the wrap is touching, it surely wouldn't be that hot?

Should I wrap them in aluminium foil and then put the wraps over that? Am I worrying too much?

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Ironman

Why don’t you simply close the damper on the baseboards?

JUGHNE

As Iron man says close the damper.
If still too much heat cover element with aluminum foil.
You just need to stop the air flow thru the fins.

I have seen similar foam pipe insulation, after some time, start melting with 165 degree water flowing. This could create a real mess that you would be liable for.

n75040

Thank you for the responses.

The baseboard covers are the Baseboarders slip-on type since this old cover had rusted out and was on its last legs, and these don't have a damper.

I had wrapped the fins in aluminium foil before, but needed to remove it when temps got down around 15 degrees F.

I was looking for a solution that was an easier slip-on/slip-off type thing, for when temps get real cold - probably about 15 days of the year, rather than wrapping and unwrapping 14 feet of slant fins every 2 weeks.

Could I use something like a light wooden bracket/ledge that was 2.5" wide to just slip over/rest on the fins (cover them on 3 sides), that could easily be lifted off when it gets cold?

Ironman

I know all too well how landlords don't wanna fix anything, but the law requires him to provide a properly functioning heating system. Why don't you approach him about putting a TRV on the radiator?