Room is too hot!! baseboard heat


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Old 01-18-07, 11:17 AM
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Room is too hot!! baseboard heat

hi all,

my second floor is one zone, forced hot water baseboard heat.

we have a small room that gets too hot.

I think the problem is there is too much linear feet of baseboard heat for such a small room.

any suggestions?

can i cut off some of the radiator fins? (can you even do that without trashing the piping?)

can i insulate some of the radiator fins?

thanks in advance
 
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Old 01-18-07, 01:50 PM
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You can remove the fins (it does seem wrong however)... closing the louvre at the top might be easier. Has that room always been hotter?
 
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Old 01-18-07, 04:18 PM
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Room too hot

Another trick is to wrap part of the fins with heavy duty aluminum foil. Since baseboard heats mostly by convection, the foil prevents air from going thru the fins.
 
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Old 01-18-07, 04:45 PM
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Grady's solution is much better... someday you may be trying to get more heat out of them!
 
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Old 01-19-07, 06:26 AM
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Hi all, thanks for the replies

yes, i closed down all the louvers, it didn't really help much.

the room has always been warmer, but it was a seldomly used (so we did nothing about it), but now it's used on a daily basis

i had a good look at the fins, no way to remove them without trashing the whole thing

I wrapped a portion of the fins using Pipe wrap insulation tape.
it's foil backed, 1/8 foam by 2" wide insulation tape (think fat foamy spongy duct tape)

i laid a long strip of the tape down along the top of the fins and another along the front of the fins.
i taped the "seam" between the two strips of tape using foil tape.
couldn't really wrap around the whole fins/pipe, but it did seem to make a difference

maybe i'll try to get the full wrap with aluminum foil too

thanks again
 
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Old 01-19-07, 08:20 AM
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Foamy doesn't sound good... well it sounds like it could stink in the future. The key thing with fin-tube to remember is it works by convection. If air can't flow up through the fins, the heating capacity is greatly impaired. That's all you really want to do here is stop the air. The foil will also reduce the small radiant factor of the tubing as well.

I'd just use straight foil and minimal foil tape to keep it on ...

Man I wish I would have thought of the foil.


Grady rocks!
 
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Old 01-19-07, 10:09 AM
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yes, i wondered about odors too.

but, the tape is made to wrap/insulate how water pipes, so i figured it would be okay.

if it does get stinky, i'll go for the foil...
 
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Old 01-19-07, 11:16 AM
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Exclamation

One caveat...

Depends on what you mean by hot water pipes. If its domestic hot tap water then the temps are generally 140 and less. Water used for heating can top out at 180-200.
 
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Old 01-19-07, 01:30 PM
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What Are The Measurements Of The Room ? (lenth,width,hight) What Is The Brand Of Baseboard ? ,should Be On The End Caps
 
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Old 01-19-07, 01:48 PM
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Get a fan

I run a fan with an 18 inch blade 365 days a year to cut down the outside noise, be cooler in the winter and cooler in the summer. May solve your problem.
 
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Old 01-19-07, 05:27 PM
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Foil

Who:
I wish I could take credit for thinking of the foil but I can't. I learned that trick back when I was a greenhorn from a guy I called "the old fart", now that title is mine & I try to pass along such tidbits to the next generation.
 
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Old 01-19-07, 06:16 PM
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Grady, I still wish I knew 1/10th of what you do... any more than that and I'd be worry about getting the title passed on to me. ;-)
 
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Old 01-20-07, 04:08 AM
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Wink Ok, Old Fart!

Hope you don't mind me calling you that from now on! (JK) Is it possible that this room is the first room on the loop and the check valve is leaking by, causing gravity feeding into this room when there is no need for heat? Where is the thermostat located? Do you have a triple aquastat and/or tankless coil? Does the room get heat in the summer when nothing is calling? How old is the system? What type of boiler do you have? If you are able, we like seeing pic's (of the boiler).
 
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Old 01-27-07, 06:54 AM
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I have the opposite problem. to little heat

I have a Santa Fin baseboards. One room has a 20 foot run but only 5 feet has fins. The room is always cold. Where can I get more snap on fins so I do not have to break the existing lines and add new sections with fins?
 
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Old 01-27-07, 05:04 PM
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Fins

Sorry, you can't buy snap on fins. The fins are pressed on from the end at the factory.
 
 

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