Eliminating a baseboard heat unit for doorway

I have natural gas fired hydronic baseboard heat. It is a one story house, and I believe it is just one zone. On one wall of my dining room I have a 12 ft long baseboard heat panel (two covers joined together.) I would like to eliminate 6 feet of it to make a doorway into the adjoining room. All copper runs under the floor in the crawl space. I would like to just take the copper that runs under the floor to the 90 degree upward turn 6 ft further and have it come up where I want it. I have no problems soldering copper, my big question is on the draining and refilling of the closed circuit. I know that I need to get all of the air out of the line, but am not sure the best method to do so. I don't believe there are any individual bleader valves on the baseboard units themselves. Any help would be appreciated, especially steps that I am overlooking!! Thanks

There should be an air bleeder somewhere on the highest point of that loop. If not you can put one in easily enough. You can't have too many. That will help you drain the system to make the modification and solder, as well as help you eliminate the air later on.

Keep in mind that by halving the length of the radiator in that room, you're cutting down the maximum amount of heat by 1/2 as well. It could be a recipe for a cold room.

For the heat you'll be loosing by cutting out 6' of baseboard, I've been successful with kick space heaters mounted vertically in those situations. I have installed 4 of them in my home so far instead of taking up so may feet of wall space near the floor with Slant Fin and have been happy with them.

Just a suggestion you may want to consider.

Sibi

Both legit concerns. I've found, however, that older homes can usually be better insulated, thereby reducing the length of baseboard heaters required.

baseboard

All you are doing is making two units out of a single one. Bleeding the air is done exactly the same as you did before you make the change.

Thanks for the tips. The room is over-represented by heating elements along with the gas fireplace.

How exactly will I know when all of the air has been bled out of the system?

1965 Ranch said:

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How exactly will I know when all of the air has been bled out of the system?

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Its a trial and error process. You get out what you can after you re-fill the system, then run the pump for a while and listen and feel. If you hear noise in the pipes or if you don't get even heat in all areas then you've got air. So you re-bleed and try again until its all out.

There should be a purge and balance valve in the return pipe, usually just above the circulator. Close the shutoff. Attach a hose to the purge valve and open it with the water feeder on. Wait untill you hear or see the air come out and then let it go another minute or so. Close the purge valve. Open the shutoff and fire it up. The boiler has an automatic fill valve on it so you should not have to worry about pressures. (it should be between 12 and 15lbs normally) Any questions take a picture of the boiler and post it.