Piping Cast Iron Radiators

Rich_3

The job: To stop a overheating problem on the second floor bedroom area of a home heated with cast iron radiators. The piping is two-pipe reverse-return, and the radiators are supplied on the bottom and returned on the bottom.

Concern: Can we use thermostatic radiator valves to address the second floor radiators? We plan on using a Buderus 215 and keeping the two-pipe system in place. New near boiler piping and pump, but that's it. The radiators do not have tappings on the tops.

Thanks in advance!

Respectfully,

Richard Fox

Ken_8

Sounds like an

Old gravity system?

How many zones?

No valves on each rad?

Anything else you can share with us?

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Mark Eatherton1

Yes...

TRV's are the perfect solution. Just make sure you don't dead head the pump. Depending upon design, you may need to include a pressure activated bypass to your plans.

The non electric TRV's will make a world of difference.

ME

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ScottMP

Here's what I did

I have the same setup and used a Buderus with a Tekmar four way mixing valve. Adding the Buderus ecomatic control with outdoor reset allows the four way valve to temper just the right amount of water to to the rads. No more over heating, by blasting the cast iron with to hot a water temp.

My mother-in-law says she's never been in a more comfortable home . Beat that.

Scott



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Steamhead

Rich, those TRVs will work great

I have them on my old gravity system too.

I wouldn't put them in the bathroom though, or in the main living area where the thermostat is. The bathroom is a "wet" room and needs full heat input to dry it out and prevent mold, and the main living areas are already regulated by the thermostat so TRVs there would throw the whole house off.

If the whole house is one zone as most old systems are, there will be enough flow thru the radiators without TRVs to avoid dead-heading the pump.

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Eric Peterson_3

TRVs solved my second floor overheating problem and also made it easy to shut off heat in a room if it is not being used, they work very well. Three points: 1) if existing rads have a valve, it's not necessarily on the supply pipe - check to make sure; 2) swapping in a TRV for an existing valve or radiator elbow can be a tight fit depending on how much force was applied during initial installation; 3) getting old valves/elbows out of the rad can be difficult.

I did not put TRVs in the bathrooms because no one has ever complained about a bathroom being too warm.

--Eric Peterson