Slantfin Kicker installation


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Old 05-18-09, 08:33 PM
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Slantfin Kicker installation

It's the old age question over again.

I have an old house (150+ yr) with baseboard heat in the kitchen. We are redoing the kitchen and need to put cabinets where the baseboard heater is. The baseboard heater is 12 feet in length which means that it should put out the same amount of heat as a slantfin Kicker. The Kicker seems to get fairly positive reviews, but my main question is regarding the water flow.

The kitchen baseboard is the end run of the downstairs zone, so does that mean I can loop through the kicker, and simply remove the baseboard? Is there a pressure problem with removing 12 ft of water flow, and substituting the kicker? Finally does the Kicker put out an uncomfortable amount of heat, such that I want to make sure that it isn't under the sink, or somewhere where I might normally stand.
 
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Old 05-19-09, 01:25 PM
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Yeah I dont think you want to be standing on top of a radiator.
 
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Old 05-19-09, 02:27 PM
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the kicker

I installed a kickspace heater much the same way you plan to. Since the heater has a 1/2" line, I used 2 flow fittings on a sub loop off the 3/4" main loop. The unit has 2 speeds and puts out enough heat on low. As my house is small and the kitchen is inthe same space as the LR , when it is quiet, you can hear it slightly. It's about 12 years old it runs fine. It cycles on and off as the system heats up. People nowadays might opt for a radiant system under the kitchen floor if the floor is going to be opened up. You will need a heat exchanger and the other goodies. Sidny
 
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Old 05-19-09, 02:43 PM
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Kicker

I forgot to say that the kicker does not get so hot that you can't stand it it actualy feels good after coming in from the cold of winter. S
 
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Old 05-19-09, 07:45 PM
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Thanks

Thanks sidny. 12 years is a long time without trouble, that's very encouraging!
 
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Old 05-20-09, 04:11 PM
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One thing that I'd like to expand on that sidny said...

If your main loop piping is 3/4", and the piping to the kicker is 1/2", then you do NOT want to pipe it 'in series' as the kicker will present a restriction to the flow. You want to pipe it so that a portion of the flow bypasses the kicker.

To do this, you would use what sidny called 'flow fittings'. Also known as 'diverter tees', or 'monoflo tees'.

Here's a basic diagram of how they work / what they do...



Sidny is recommending using a diverter tee at BOTH connection points to get enough flow through the kicker, and that's probably a good idea. One standard tee and one diverter tee can be used, but you may not get enough flow.

One thing that is VERY important to plan for if using diverter tees is an air bleeder valve that is accessible in order to remove the air from the side loop, particularly if that loop is ABOVE the rest of the piping. Air trapped in a diverter tee loop can be very difficult to remove if no provision is made to do so.

Here's another pic showing where I believe that air bleeds should be installed... on the 'downstream' end of a loop... and bleed with the circulator RUNNING.



Last, make sure that the BTU output of the kicker is enough to heat the room! Study the specs on the kicker so that you understand that it will put out less BTU with cooler water... and the water at the end of the heating loop WILL be cooler after giving up all the heat in the other previous rooms. Let's say that you run 180* water... previously through 65' of baseboard... the water coming out the end is going to be maybe 20* cooler, maybe more... so size the kicker based on the water temp you expect it will be seeing.
 
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Old 05-20-09, 05:23 PM
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Flexible hose

Thanks for the diagrams NJ Trooper. I didn't fully comprehend what sidny was saying, but it makes sense now.
One additional question, I noticed that the equivalent product offered by Beacon Morris has optional flex lines that would allow me to pull the unit out from under the cabinet in the event of maintenance. Would it be fairly simple to make up something like this for the Slant/Fin product? Is it necessary? How does the Beacon Morris compare?

O.k., maybe that was more than one question....
 
 

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