Toe kick heater installed in zone

Dave P

Our zone in the downstairs area never seems to heat up very fast. Last year I thought it was poor insulation along one of the walls (there were actually some openings where the sill had rotted away). That was fixed. Now I am thinking it is the toe kick heater that was installed about two years ago when we moved in and re-did the bathroom. It is installed inline with the zone and I noticed it drops down to 1/2 inch copper where it connects. The other zones seem to heat OK, so I don't think it is the circulator.

If there is a problem with the flow being restricted, this should show up as a low return temp for the zone, right?

Unknown

Look at the kickspace heater coil

if the coil has manifolds down each side, like Slant/Fin's Kicker, You can pipe it like you have shown.

If it is made up with U-bends instead of manifolds, it might be better piped differently.

Noel

Steamhead

When I install kickers with 1/2-inch pipe connections

assuming the loop is 3/4-inch, I split the flow with a tee having a 3/4-inch inlet and two 1/2-inch outlets. One outlet goes to the kicker and the other bypasses it. After the kicker, the two 1/2-inch lines come back together into a 3/4-inch pipe thru a similar tee.

Since one 3/4-inch pipe has about the same capacity as two 1/2-inch pipes, this method maintains the flow rate in the loop and provides enough heat for the baseboards located downstream from the kicker. And if you're Pumping Away, the kicker will not need an air vent- it will purge itself.

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kid plumber_2

toe kick piping

when i install a toe kick heater 3/4 x 1/2 monoflow tees and space them 12" or more apart to reduce turbulance they work good like that as well , check your heat loss as well to see if there is enought heat in the area

Dave P

Thanks!

Thanks for all the advice. I was originally thinking of a diverter valve, since the inlet and outlet for the toe kick are very close, but that may be too complicated. The tee's seem like a much better way to manage the flow.

Will add this to the growing list of changes I need ... "pumping away" is also on that list.

Dave P

Didn't mean to ignore Noel's advice, I still haven't identified lack of flow as the problem. But there is almost 5 feet of 1/2 copper before it even hits the toe kick heater and at least I have some ideas to work with.