Header pipe sizing in water system

RoosterBoy

one might be the size type flow rates of the heat source and perhaps the other thing that might be slightly important to you would be the useage and the load you intend to bolt up to the header.

maybe you could post a small picture of the boiler and header.most everyone here want you to get things done right or would like to have some accurate information before embarking on a similar project.

there are other aspects of pipe sizing that also come into play,distribution of btu's is our "Road Game" so if you suggest say how many btu's you need (load) for your project, someone will be able to give you an honest answer.

perhaps you could even get an answer from the product manufacturing agents as to the boilers ability to produce enough BTU's to deal with the current useage and the intended useage.

if you like really short answers, this is America,you can try anything once.*~/:)

John Di Lauro

Header pipe sizing in water system

I currently have a single-zone system coming off of a 1" header. This is piped into a 1" copper main feed/return which has CI radiators piped in parallel using 1/2" copper off the main.

I am considering splitting this into two zones and am wondering is it would be necessary to up the size of the header, to 1 1/4 for example. The system is set up to pump away so I was thinking perhaps of adding another circulator along side the existing one. Any help is appreciated.

John Di Lauro

Thanks for the response. I don't have a picture but I'll work on that - haven't yet made the jump to digital photography.

The system is small, output capacity about 75k BTU/hr. My concern is that having 2 1" feeds coming off a 1" header/manifold setup might cause flow restriction when both circs are running. Not sure if this is a valid concern, though.

don_170

I see

John all pump up about zoning..pun intended.

John only 75000 btu boiler..either it's a modest home or has
a very tight envelope.

So I'm also wondering why do you feel a need to zone? If its
because one end is overheating where the other end is cold,
then that could be something as simple as a balance problem.

However if its to reduce the load to a certain part of the home then..I say look into the new control that really help control the heat output of the boiler to the heatloss of the home..better comfort all around.

John Di Lauro

Don, thanks for the response and the pun!

Yes, it is a small house, about 1100 sq ft. Basically six rooms, one CI radiator per room plus one in the basement.
Currently it heats pretty evenly, perhaps slightly warmer on the 2nd floor under certain conditions. I thought perhaps splitting it into upstairs/downstairs zones might allow fine tuning and maybe reduce fuel consumption.

Are you referring to the Beckett Heat Manager or some control such as that?