Radiant heat question.

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monz78

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I have a radiant heat system in my 27x30 shop. Due to the high costs of Propane in this area I don't want to turn the system on this year. I'm also not in the shop everyday so I really don't need it right now. I installed an electric heater to just heat the shop when I use it.
Now my question is it only has water in the lines. I need to flush that out and replace it with antifreeze so it doesn't freeze. It gets real cold here in NY.
How would I go about flushing out the water and putting in the antifreeze?
 
you need a pump and some anti freeze along with wome knowledge as to where the shutoffs are and the purge valves.
 
I know where all that stuff is. I need to know how to pump out the water. Theres only one valve that was installed to fill it. It's a closed loop system so it only has one.
 
So what would I do pump in the antifreeze and let the water come out of? The purge valve? Thats the only other stop that could be opened up to let it out.
 
OK thanks for the help. One last question. How much antifreeze would I need to flush out the system? As I said before it is a 27x30 shop.
 
Most of the systems want something like a 50-50 mix. you normally wouldn't want more than that...check the instructions.
 
I know how the antifreeze works. I wanted to know how much I should buy.
 
You have to do a bit of calculating for length of run and diameter of pipe. You remember, volume of a cylinder?
 
This could be though then. I know we used 1/2 pex. We also used a full roll. But I don't remember how many feet were on the roll.
 
100, 300 or 500. Your best quess I quess. Me however, Id mix 2 gallons anti freeze with 2 gallons water and start with that.
 
Thank you sir, you have been a great help. I wasn't sure if it would hold 5 gallons of 20 gallons.
Is there a special kind of antifreeze for heating systems? Or any brand that works better?
 
Last edited:
I had an ideal I couldn't. I do not most aspects of the heating system. But I'm not an expert in any means.
Thanks for the help.
 
Just a thought. Why not use a compressor and blow the lines out? Same technique as blowing out sprinkler systems for the winter? Saves all that calculation and antifreeze.
 
edlentz said:
Just a thought. Why not use a compressor and blow the lines out? Same technique as blowing out sprinkler systems for the winter? Saves all that calculation and antifreeze.
Click to expand...

You will never get it all out. some will stay in and puddle in the low spots.
 
I want to keep the lines full. That way if I need to do a project out there I can start it up a day before I need to use and and have heat.
 
nhmaster said:
You will never get it all out. some will stay in and puddle in the low spots.
Click to expand...

But it's the easy way to figure the system's volume, close enough:

compressor hooked up to one valve, system draining into a barrell. When you get to only mist coming out, the volume of water in the barrell is a pretty good approximation of the system's volume.

Dump half, replace with antifreeze, pump back in.

Added bonus: the old water is already de-oxigenated, reduces corrosion compared to using new water.
 
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