hydronic heating design questions

heatseeker101

Hello Larry

Please bear with me because i still have a lot to learn about hydronic heating systems. A friend of mine has a two zone hwh system with each zone controlled by a zone valve apparently connected directly to each thermostat in his home because there is no zone valve control panel. He wants to install hydronic baseboard heaters in his 665 square foot basement. He also wants to install a small baseboard heater in the basement bathroom. This means I have to install a separate loop controlled by another zone valve wired directly to it's own thermostat in the basement.

I don't know how adding this basement loop is going to affect the overall pressure and water flow of the existing system. Do I need to add a circulator pump for the basement loop or replace the existing pump with a larger one? if I do install an extra circulator pump, do I need a switching relay control panel for the pumps, or should I install a control panel for the zone valves and wire the pumps into that panel? if the line was installed across the ceiling to pass over the entrance door, how would that affect pressure and water flow? What kind of calculations do I need to answer these questions?

If there's any extra information you need, please let me know. In the meantime, any information you can offer is appreciated. thanks.

EdTheHeaterMan

Probably no need for an additional pump in most cases. However when connecting wires to zone valves, You should try to get the same model valve, so they all match. if you have some 3 wire valves and some 4 wire valves, the wiring can get confusing. Even professional plumbers fet this wrong a lot.

Get a picture of the zone valves and maybe we can halp you with connecting a third valve to that system for the basement loop.