zoning valves and or repiping

jerry scharf_2

Peter,

If you are ready to repipe the system, I would look at TRVs (thermostatic radiator valves.) I really like TRVs in general and recommend them anywhere they fit. IMO, they are much better than thermostats for controlling the heat from radiators. If you are repiping, I would repipe for TRVs for sure! The comfort from these are awesome.

The valves work by measuring the temperature in the room, and adjusting the flow to the radiator to keep the heat where you want it. This requires that the water for the radiators cisculates continuously. The boiler then starts and stops to keep the water at the desired temperature. Add outdoor reset and you have a great system out of a rough start.

jerry


jerry

Peter_8

Unbalanced boiler

Hi I inherited a heating system with 4 heating loops in it, and no zoning valves. Two loops are over 100 ft and of 3/4" copper and one loop is only 30 ft and 1 1/2" old galv pipe.
This last loop has an old radiator in it. I want to repipe it, tying most of one of the loops to this line but will the old radiator make the water give up most of it's heat before it reaches the other 8 and 12 feet of radiators. I think i could control the evenness of heating much better with some zoning valves too.

Weezbo

hello....

you have a great idea about zoning...really that is a good way to get a handle or some sort of control on a system.to me it sounds like there are some other difugalties already present ..that you might want to deal with at the same time. There are possibly some professionals in your area who you can find on find a professional.at the top of this page.ever heard of outdoor reset? ask about it ...there are just a few new type things that might not have been around when your system was first installed.things that you pay for once and pay for themselves in short order.and continue to do so over the life of the system....zoning is a good place to start.

Steamhead

100 feet of 3/4\" baseboard

is way too long. You want to keep the baseboard lengths under 60 feet on each loop. Keep in mind that these lengths refer to the amount of actual fin-tube in the baseboard enclosure, not the total length of the run.

If I were doing that job I'd split the loops so each had 60 feet of fin-tube or less, and locate a thermostat in each zone which would control an individual circulator for each zone.

That old radiator would probably overheat since the rest of the system requires water at higher temperatures than the radiator does. Do a heat-loss and change it to the proper amount of baseboard.

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