How do Hot Water Baseboard Heaters Work?

Baseboard hot water heating systems are typically installed at the baseboard or low on the floor. This is to take advantage of the fact that heat rises and therefore the heating being at the lowest point in a room the heat rises to evenly heat the air in a room. The hot water in the system is obtained from a boiler in a utility room, and this boiler is heated by gas, oil or electricity. The hot water is then conducted through pipes that are installed in the baseboard through a pump. The heat from this hot water is transferred to the room and the water going back to the boiler or tank would be cooler and need to be reheated to maintain the heat in the home. The pipes carrying the hot water are generally of copper and would be additionally fin shaped to ensure faster dissipation of heat from the surface of the pipe. The structure of such radiators is similar to the construction of radiators in automobiles. 

Adjusting Baseboard Heaters

Quite often the pipes or radiators are installed in a room or rooms in series and it follows that the first radiator would take the maximum heat. To get over this problem, flow of water to the radiators is controlled and the quantity of water to the first radiator is controlled, with quantities for successive radiators being increased progressively. To ensure equal heating in all areas a certain amount of adjustments have to be made and quite often this is also influenced by the furniture or other thing as in the room that would absorb heat. This may mean a series of trials and errors till the heating system becomes satisfactory.

Expansion Problems

There is a problem of expansion caused by the heated water as it occupies more volume than the original cool water. This problem is circumvented by allowing the returning water to go through an air vessel which takes care of the increased pressure which compresses the air till pressure gets equalized. Problems can still be caused if the air vessel gets full of water, and as water, unlike air, is not compressible the build up of pressure from the hot water can cause leakages. An expansion valve preset to the designed pressure can take care of this problem.   

Controlling the Heater

The quantity of water in a baseboard hot water heating system needs to be kept at a constant volume and any loss of water has to be compensated from an overhead tank that contains the water storage. The functioning of the boiler is connected to thermostats in the room or rooms being heated and when the temperature reading on these thermostats are increased a signal is sent to the thermostat or controls of the boiler which heats up the boiler and activates the pump to send water to the area demanding the heat.

Problems in a Baseboard Heater

Problems in a baseboard hot water heating system can be caused by failure of the pump, shutting down of the boiler, leaks in the system, air entrapment from the heated water, excess pressure which triggers the pressure valve and clogged radiator or fin units. Each of these problems can easily be solved and regular maintenance of a system should keep such a baseboard hot water heating system running for a long time.

Conclusion

Baseboard hot water heating systems are completely noiseless. As there is no forced ventilation the dust that travels with air is minimal and therefore the system is a much healthier method of heating a home. Such systems however cannot be linked up with air conditioning, filtering or humidifying systems, and such systems would have to be additionally installed.