Removing fins on baseboard heating

adayton_2

please do NOT. I have had similar problems with 20 feet of baseboard right at the head board in master bedroom. Just what you need is a steam cooker at the head of your bed :-)..I covered 15 feet of the middle with high temp aluminum tape gently pressed neatly all around the fin structure with 30% overlap, then closed off (shut) the air vent door that comes on all baseboard set ups. there was still plenty of heat left for that bedroom and all the extra kept on going to the next room in the loop. That said and done, for long term improvements and efficiencies look into the comments others made above in this thread regarding loop temperatures and 3 way TRVs. Should you find you are generally over radiated you will get improved efficiencies by dropping you loop temperature. This means that you can go back and uncover SOME of those covered up fins which you could not do if you CUT them out........

Alfred

Vince_5

Removing fins on baseboard heater

When attempting to balance a loop hot water system. What would be the best way to remove the fins of the baseboard heater?

Brad White_9

Might you try

closing the air damper first? Secondly, instead of removing fins, cover with Armaflex tape over aluminum foil wrap to block airflow.

If the fins are the loose kind (stamped "x" with a pipe poking through) they should just be snipped. But then the contact pipe to fin is so bad it makes me wonder how they could be over-capacity in a reasonable installation.

My thoughts: Try to reduce flow through those circuits first. Then try to reduce the water temperature (be glad you have too much radiation!)
Then try closing the air dampers. Then wrap the fins in foil and Armaflex. Last resort? Remove the fins with tin-snips, but why oh why do that?

My $0.02,

Brad

Uni R

Removing fins

If best means most spectular then my vote would be to use the Sawzall on them fins. :-)

Actually to add one thing to what Brad said, you can and may already have thought of it - look at changing the direction of the loop if that might help for balancing the heat. If you could find those 3way TRVs that someone here has installed and have some space to add a bypass that might be a really nice solution.

Vince_5

fins on baseboard

I was looking for an easy way of contolling the amount of heat. The system is imbalaced because the first room in the loop is hot and the last room in the loop is much cooler.

At this time of year I did not want to cut into the plumbing
So I was looking for something simple that I can do.

I'll try wrapping the pipe as suggested. Seems easy enough.

I like the 3 way TRV because I can then do each room individially but it will need to wait until warmer weather.


By the way this loop is uppper level bedrooms where the air flow from room to room is restricted.

Ron Schroeder

As Brad

said first close the air damper in the too hot room, make sure the too cold room is fully open. 2nd block off sections as Brad stated. Last resort if it comes to fins I usually snip three at a time with tin snips and pull them off with vise grips saves a lot on the fingers. Another thing is delta t what is temp at inlet of baseboard vs outlet, you might do better to change circulators if the delta t is too broad. How many feet of element in the loop?

mark smith

don't pull those fins ...

take some flat stock, cardboard, anything, and stop the flow of air over the fins in a section

try adjusting what you have in this manner..

you can always go back ...

soot_seeker_2

Metallic tape along the top - n/m

Brad White_30

AMEN Brother!

Unknown

Have you checked the pump?

Many times a boiler gets changed, and the pump with it, without making sure that the new pump can do the job.

Sometimes, this happens on a service call to replace a pump, using a different model, and the boiler doesn't get changed.

Anything along those lines a possibility?

Noel