Radiant Loop Manifold Design

z28camaro1973

Hello! Thanks in advance for taking the time, I'm looking for a little help.
I'm installing staple up radiant in my new build. 2 story, 1800sqft, 2 zone, 6 loops first floor and 5 on the second, all 1/2 inch. I will be using heat plates and a Bosch Singular 5200 boiler, Taco 007 pumps, and 02 barrier pipe.

In the install instructions with the boiler, it shows a zoned setup using a primary/secondary loop, so I intend to use close T's, then off that loop, pump out to my 2 zones. In all the information I can find, the loop manifolds are in the boiler room with the zone manifolds. Due to the poor planning on my part, the boiler room is not centrally located and I'll end up using a lot of pipe going to and from the boiler room, especially on the second floor. My question is this, aside from not wanting connections buried in the ceiling, is there any reason I couldn't run a 3/4 supply from the zone manifold through the joists, t's into each loop, and a 3/4 return with t's from each loop. Essentially taking the typical manifold that is say a foot long, turning that into a 20ft long manifold with t's spaced where the zones start and end.

If that will work, I would be able to have just the 3/4 runs from the boiler room into the separate zones and loops taking off from there, instead of burning up 35ft of each loop going back and forth.

Any insight or advice is appreciated. Thank you!

hot_rod

Loop tails are sometimes hard to avoid when you want a central manifold location.

Yes you could build an extended manifold. It could be as long as the building!

However you would like to have accessible valves on the ends of every loop at the manifolds for adjusting, or ease of purge. So don’t bury those connections.

z28camaro1973

Thank you for the response, I hadn't thought about the desire to adjust each loop, or air purging. It looks like I'll stick with the typical and deal with loop tails, although I will pipe the loop manifolds toward the center of the building to mitigate the loss in the tails. Thanks again!

hot_rod

An inverted manifold saves some tube, or you can mount manifolds up on the ceiling of the basement below to save a few feet on each loop also.

I applaud the patience and workmanship, but a lot of tube burned up in this install.

z28camaro1973

Wow, Bob that is an impressive install, but yes there's more tube in that photo than I have in my entire project! I don't feel so bad about the "waste" I have now!

And Peakedtoosoon, a cabinet is a great option, due to the flush beam supporting my second floor (and not wanting to drill through it) I think I'd have to have 2 upstairs, and at that point it seems I'd be better off using up the pex. I guess I was just dreaming of a way to better use the piping but it seems the reason it's done the way it is in most cases, is that it's most effective. Thanks again everyone for the insight! I'm certainly not a plumber, but I'm playing one on this week at my own house in VT!