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Hot Water Radiators

Warren Frederick
Warren Frederick Member Posts: 2
in THE MAIN WALL
Hello,
I am in the process of finishing my basement in Brooklyn, NY. My house is heated with steam but i have installed a Taco 007 pump to run the hot water from my boiler thru a small closed loop system in the basement (about 40 feet of linear 3/4 copper pipe to supply (1) 2 foot radiator and (1) 3-4 foot radiator). My question is about the radiators i need to install. Are baseboard radiators my only option or could i use the cast iron version similar to what i have in the rest of the house? If I can use the cast iron variety, are they still being made today or do i need to find a used one, in any case how do get my hands on one of these?

Also- i would like to install a thermostat in the basement and set up the hot water loop as its own zone. How do i do that?

Comments

  • heretic
    heretic Member Posts: 159
    CI Rads

    CI rads are still made, but new ones are brutally expensive.

    In my neighborhood, old ones often sit on the curb for weeks, waiting for the junk man. These folks are paying to get rid of them. The junk haulers must make some good scrap dollars on these beasts.
    Sad to see them go, but my wife would leave me if I started stockpiling them with my other old house 'collectibles'.

    It's too bad. There is a ready supply, and some demand, but the weight is a dealbreaker. They do not make a very good Ebay item!

    Drive around an older neighborhood and look for recent dumpsters. Knock on the door. Odds are good that the rads are on their way out with any big renovation.
  • Warren Frederick
    Warren Frederick Member Posts: 2


    Great- Thanks -Ill keep an eye out for renovations in my neighborhood. Does that mean I can use an old steam radiator for my hot water heat? Would a CI Rad perform better than copper fin?
  • Mike T., Swampeast MO
    Mike T., Swampeast MO Member Posts: 6,928


    As long as the radiators are connected across the top as well as at the bottom they can be used for both water and steam.

    Those connected across the bottom only work only with steam.

    If getting them when being removed around the neighborhood make sure you get the other half of the valves/unions as new ones won't mate properly and will leak.
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