Hot Water Baseboard System

Radiant Heat using a Hot Water Baseboard System

Radiant heat provides comfort and efficiency in your home. Sometimes homes have existing hot water baseboard systems. Practically, you can upgrade your comfort by taking advantage of your hot water system and install radiant heating underneath your floors. You may be able to install the radiant heating system without tearing up your floors. Depending on the design of your flooring, its lower levels and its basement, installing radiant heat will require you to access the underside of your subfloor. Check you subfloor and determine if you can install the radiant heating system on it.

What you need to have:

• PE pipes or Polyethylene pipes
• Pipe fittings
• PVC pipes and valves
• Mixing valve
• PEX tubing tracks
• Zip ties
• Power drill
• Screwdriver
• Eye protection

The Procedure

1. Begin by exploring the subfloors of the main rooms you want to install radiant heat. Some house designs may not require crawl space underneath floors since it can be access from its basement. For houses designed with crawl spaces, crawl underneath and expose the joists and bays underneath the subfloor. Remove the underneath insulation in order to install the radiant heating system.

2. Ready to install, begin by stapling and screwing secure the aluminum PEX tracks to the exposed bays underneath the flooring. Make sure they are spaced about 6 inches apart but not more than 8 inches away from each other. Using a hand power drill, bore a hole through the joists and install the PE pipes through the floor joists. Connect each of the bays to each other.

3. Then begin installing the PE tubing through the PEX tracks. Use zip ties or staples to secure the tubing in place. This allows the PE pipes to stay as close to the subfloor as possible as it winds through the bays and joists. The tubing must snap into the PEX tracks to be secured. Do not leave the pipe wobbly.

4. Once that pipes are in place, begin connecting the PE tubing to the mixing valve. Then connect it to the circulating pump from the hot water baseboard system. You may need to acquire a larger pump to increase its capacity and supply your additional installation.

But you can also install a secondary pump plus an independent switch system designated for your floor radiant heating project. This will give you the advantage of using your radiant heating only when a room is cold and allow you to switch to using only your baseboard heating with minimal gains and losses.

5. When everything is done, you can now turn on the radiant floor system. Turn the valve and allow the hot water to circulate to the pump and through the radiant PE tubing. You can check and feel around your subfloor pipes to make sure that they are conducting the heated water.

6. Lastly, set your mixing valve to 140 degrees Fahrenheit only. This prevents your wood floors to warp from the heat. Enjoy your upgraded comfort using your existing hot water baseboard system with its newly installed radiant heat system.