Hydronic Heating

Posts Tagged ‘piping’

I live in a small house with hydronic heat. The original homeowner moved a radiator from the master bedroom to the basement bathroom directly below. All the original piping was used, just diverted downward with tees and vent plugs installed in the upward facing tee outlets.

Can I install another radiator in my master bedroom fed from the same tees? (removing the air vents since the second radiator has them built-in and running pipe back upward) This would mean the same supply and return would feed two radiators on two different floors.

It’s a single zone house. It’s a "monoflow tee" type system with both supplies and returns feeding into the same loop.

I have had great success with a small passive solar window heater in my bedroom. Now I would like to go alot bigger. I would like to build a big solar heater for an entire living space. The problem I have is the only spot where I can get enough sun is covered by a sun room. My question is.If I were to insulate some piping, would there still be enough heat to make it about 15 feet. from the solar heater to a window to enter the house?. I cannot put it any where else, so this is the only spot. I live in Maine where it can get down into the teens and single numbers during the day. Thanks for any input you may have!

where can i buy thermal board wholesale for hydronic heating also all items boiler , piping,manifolds etc. I would like to do my own system.

One month ago I purchased a patio home with hydronic in floor heat. Recently as the electric mini boiler was running and feeding newly heated water through the pipes I noticed that the tiny triangle of my city water gauge was moving ever so slightly. (No other water was being used during this time). Is this indicative of a leak in the piping somewhere or is a miniscule use of water normal? If this is indicative of a leak what should I do next?
The gauge will sit motionless for a while, then it will move a hair or two, then sit motionless again. It keeps doing this while the boiler runs. Also, I've tried turning off the valve to the toilet and it has no effect.

An associate of mine loaned me a book a few years ago on hydronic heat.

Not very thick, but very informative about how radiant heat actually works. Included common piping strategies.

The author made several references to Levittown, Pennsylvania. He apparently did a lot of service work on those home's heating systems.

For example, he related how he was trying to find a broken pipe in a Levittown home. After explaining to the lady of the house what he was looking for, she showed him were the pipe was broken by mopping the floor and pointing out the big spot that dried quicker than the rest of the floor.

Wasn't a very old printing either. I believe there was an entire chapter on PEX piping.

He has at least one other book published. A reference book that listed BTU capacities and other specifics on old cast iron radiators.

Can anybody put a name to this author and/or the book's title?
Thanks dadcat, but no, that isn't it.

It wasn't an engineering or text type book. It was more of an informal discussion of the author's experiences and observations of hydronic heat mixed with technical references and schematics thrown in for practical applications.

Siegenthaler as the name doesn't ring any bells either.