Extending basement FHW zone with new loop

mdl

I have a contractor renovating part of my basement to make an in-law suite, and had him add two FHW kick heaters to the space, tapping into an existing zone. The plumber did this by tapping into the return pipe for the zone and running a separate loop to the kick heaters, but he didn't put them in series as I expected. Instead, he put two tees into the 3/4" return line and ran 1/2" pipe to and from the kick heaters, in parallel with the original loop.

I don't see how this arrangement is going to work, since there's nothing stopping the water from going straight past the two tees and ignoring the kick heater zone altogether. Am I missing something? I'll add a picture of the two tees in just a minute.

mdl

Here's a picture of the new connection to the existing zone. The water flows in from the top right pipe and goes to the top left back to the boiler. The two pipes coming down from the return line are the new ones the plumber added. I don't see any flow restriction in between the two tees, so I don't see how any water is going to choose to go through the new loop.

mdl

BTW, I can't figure out how to put this post into an appropriate category, so moderators, please move it as appropriate.

rx7145

They look like monoflow tees. They have a scoop inside that directs the water down.  My house uses them a lot.  Not very common now but they work fine.  

mdl

rx7145 said:

They look like monoflow tees. They have a scoop inside that directs the water down.  My house uses them a lot.  Not very common now but they work fine.  

Oh - I've never heard of those before. I will have to look them up. If they have a diverter inside, that would make much more sense than just looking at the pipes without knowing that

Thanks!

Erin Holohan Haskell

mdl said:

BTW, I can't figure out how to put this post into an appropriate category, so moderators, please move it as appropriate.

I've moved it. Thanks!

EdTheHeaterMan

Here is a detail on the diverter tee and how it works
You can find more information in this text
http://media.blueridgecompany.com/documents/ZoningMadeEasy.pdf
Mono-flo tee starts on the bottom of page 21.

Alan Welch

You said heaters,  are there more than one? Are they  wired in?  Turn up the thermostat and see if they work.

EBEBRATT-Ed

I can't tell if they are monoflow or not. If they are you might be ok

mattmia2

Might being the operative word since the water is cooler on the returns and those kickspace heaters don't have a whole lot of output and they have less output with cooler water and a monoflow tee may or may not give you enough flow in that application.

mdl

I asked the plumber, and while they're not monoflo brand tees, the principle is the same. These tees have a flow restrictor in them so that the straight-through path doesn't get all the water flow, which pushes about half of the flow down into the new loop. Thanks for the tip!