000utback
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I have 3 adjoining rooms sharing a radiant floor system controlled by a Tekmar 521. The t'stat is in room 3, the largest room, NW exposure, lots of old glass windows. The t'stat is controlling to ambient T within floor limits, also have a floor T sensor. An antiscald valve limits the floor water T to 150F. Little Taco recirc pump supplies 4 floor radiant zones, each zone with his own thermostat and fed through a Taco zone valve. 4-zone Taco control board. That's a bit of info about the total house there, not just the 3 rooms.
The t'stat also controls a second stage loop for the same area, supplying fin tube baseboard directly from the boiler. A separate pump, controlled through an Argo 4 channel board. (each of my major 4 zones in the house has their own thermostat and pump). Diverter tees are used in a single pipe system.
So, room 2 is way too cold. If I turn up the t'stat in room 3, and reduce the mechanical thermostatic valves on room 3 baseboard, the boiler just runs a lot. I am looking at replacing the 7' basic fin tube with a high efficiency unit with 75% higher output. But that's only helpful when we're in stage 2 heating (meaning 1.5F below setpt in room 3).
Now we get to my question. What if I ran the fintube baseboard in room 2 on floor system water most of the time (since the floor system runs a lot), giving me a low operating temperature but almost continuous heat output; then linked control valves to the stage 2 command, so that it switched to boiler HOT water whenever stage 2 was activated? Would a pair of 3-way valves accomplish this, one in supply, one return? I have easy access under the floor for changing the PEX tubing.
Any assistance appreciated.
The t'stat also controls a second stage loop for the same area, supplying fin tube baseboard directly from the boiler. A separate pump, controlled through an Argo 4 channel board. (each of my major 4 zones in the house has their own thermostat and pump). Diverter tees are used in a single pipe system.
So, room 2 is way too cold. If I turn up the t'stat in room 3, and reduce the mechanical thermostatic valves on room 3 baseboard, the boiler just runs a lot. I am looking at replacing the 7' basic fin tube with a high efficiency unit with 75% higher output. But that's only helpful when we're in stage 2 heating (meaning 1.5F below setpt in room 3).
Now we get to my question. What if I ran the fintube baseboard in room 2 on floor system water most of the time (since the floor system runs a lot), giving me a low operating temperature but almost continuous heat output; then linked control valves to the stage 2 command, so that it switched to boiler HOT water whenever stage 2 was activated? Would a pair of 3-way valves accomplish this, one in supply, one return? I have easy access under the floor for changing the PEX tubing.
Any assistance appreciated.
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