How to Install a Hot Water Baseboard Heater

Learning to correctly install a hot water baseboard heater is a technical skill that requires a lot of practice, precise instructions and expert guidance. Most home owners are unable to carry out the entire process on their own and given the dexterity required to be able to complete the task properly and without any flaws, the general opinion is that one should hire the services of a professional for installing a hot water baseboard heater in the house.

However, if you are handy with tools and have some fundamental technical know how and have undertaken other do it yourself projects around the house of similar difficulty levels it might be a good idea to try this out as well.

One can ask a professional to oversee the process to ensure that nothing goes drastically wrong- giving one a chance to complete the project on your own and save a lot of money without incurring any serious damages.

Step 1: Deciding the Heater Location

Choose the position of the heater. Ideally these kinds of heaters are best placed on walls that are devoid of any big furniture pieces such as sofas, pull out beds or even regular beds with headboards.

Step 2: Finding the Studs

The next step is to find the studs in the wall. This can be done by using a stud finder. Once the studs have been located, use a pencil to measure the dimensions of each stud.

Step 3: Extracting the Face Plate

The baseboard heater has a face plate attached to it. This has to be extracted so that one can reach the screw mounting holes that are found at the posterior end of the heater.

Step 4: Aligning the Holes

Place the heater such that the screw holes lie in the same plane as the wall studs. The holes should be arranged in a line directly with the wall studs and the baseboard heater should be mounted into position such that every foot of the heater’s body is supported by one screw.

Step 5: Input and Output Pipe

The fifth step is to use a pencil to note the positioning of the input pipe and the output pipe. The 1 inch hole saw should be used for making a hole in the positions of these 2 pipes.

Step 6: Installing the Heater into Place

The last step is to hold the baseboard heater into place and use the 2 inch drywall screws for securing it into place. Experts advise installing the screws directly into the wall studs for heightened support.

Remember that before fiddling about with anything of an electrical nature, it is wise to turn off the power supply at the circuit board. Test the heater correctly after installing it and should everything be fine, keep an eye on it for the next couple of days. If after a few days, everything works fine, you can consider the job complete.