Forced HW

[Deleted User]

The baseboard I was planning to use is the Embassy System6 SCE-633 with 820 BTU's/Linear Foot @180F and 1GPM. I'm thinking if it's only 1 GPM I can use 1/2" but after looking at the brochure I noticed that it's not offered in 1/2". But just out of curiosity lets say I DID have a 1/2 inch baseboard, could I feed the 1/2"baseboard with 3/4" and return with 3/4"

[Deleted User]

forced HW piping

I have (4) 3/4" pipes in each corner of the house extending to the second floor of a 24X40 colonial to heat the second floor. I plan to feed two of the 3/4" riser lengths of the two corners (of the same gable end),then run it to 1/2" baseboard upstairs and join the two 3/4" decending risers to the basement with a tee and bring a common 3/4"return back to the boiler. I plan to pump away but the load is only about 23,110BTU/hr. with 18,300 on the south side and the balance on the north side. I'm thinking of getting 1/2" baseboard BUT not sure how the 3/4" returns would like that...Basically its running a strip the length of the front and another strip the length of the rear of the house if you can picture that... I'm thinking that it may experience a pressure drop...on the outlet side of the baseboard. I'd do it all in 1/2" but the corner pipes are already run behind the sheet rock.

Steamhead (in transit)

You need to know

how hot the water needs to be. With cooler water you need more heat-transfer surface to get the same result.

Do the same heat-loss on the existing part of the house and compare that to the amount of baseboard in place there (it's baseboard and not radiators, right?). For example, if your existing baseboard is rated at 550 BTU per foot with 180 degree water, but you only need it to emit 425 BTU per foot, find the water temp at which it will emit 425- let's say that's 155 degrees. You would then size the second-floor baseboard to emit 23,110 BTU per hour when the water is at 155 degrees.

Steamhead (in transit)

You could

but the water would only flow at the rate of the 1/2-inch baseboard. That said, if the pipe run between the boiler and that run of baseboard is long, there would be much less resistance if the pipe was 3/4-inch.