Adding baseboard loop - Bleeder question

Mhmmofro

Mhmmofro

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Hello

My name is mark i have a 100 year old colonial. I am finishing my basement and have a few questions on the baseboard heat i am putting in.

I ran 3/4 pex behind the walls to the places i want to baseboard. MY question is this:

Can i now hook up the pex and baseboard or do i need to add bleeders? if i need to add bleeders where should i put them? Rite now the set up is to have a loop system. However if it is advantageous i can switch it to two out and backs pretty simply.

Thanks, i am feeling a little in over my head on this one.

Mark
 
As the water cools off through each baseboard, the heat output drops, so the last baseboard would be putting out less heat than the first one (which would have hotter incoming water if they're all in a loop). So, depending on the room layout and size, you may want to break the loop into more than one. There are other ways to plumb them, say monoflow T's that gets around some of that. 3/4" pex has just slightly over the internal diameter of 1/2" copper. Are you sure that can supply enough volume to do what you want in the first place?
 
I am not sure of anything. I simply put 3/4 pex in the walls before i put up the rock. The boiler i was told when it was installed that it could create the heat i need. Are you saying that the 3/4 pex will not cary the volume of water i need? I am running 24 linear feet of baseboard.

mark
 
What size pipe are the baseboards designed to use? How much heat are you expecting to dump into the room? While you can likely use pex, it must be the proper size to get the flow to provide the necessary heat. 3/4" may not be the proper size.
 
3/4 is deff. The correct size. I also am certain I need to put some way to get air out of this system, I just have no clue how to do it.
 
Loop baseboard systems are typically "vented" by using a hose faucet at the boiler and "purging" it by flushing water through the loop until all the air is extracted. WIth the proper pump velocity, you probably only need ONE loop.
 
Let my try to describe my system a bit more.

On the return I have 4 ball valves branching off. 2 for the 1st, 2nd floor 1 for the domestic hot and one for the basement (currently not hooked up yet).

On the bottom of this set up I have a hose bib. Is that sufficient? or do i need to add bleeders in addition to that?

Do i need to add a separate bib for this run? or can i simply close off the rest of the system using the valves then purge just the basement section?

thanks
mark
 
The wall thickness of pex is thicker than copper, so 3/4" copper verses 3/4" pex ID's are not equal...3/4" pex is closer to 1/2" copper. If anything, the head on this loop will be higher, and that will affect the flow especially if you only have one circulator. Balancing the loops will be tougher.
 
i am aware of the id difference with pex. However i am certain that 3/4 is the size i want. The thing i am unsure on is the bleeding.
 
I bleed my my domestic using this method last year. But my memory is a bit foggy. Do I have The procedure rite?

I turn the heat on for the basement, shut the valves to the other zones both on the return and output, open the hose valve and let it flow until there is no air sputtering?

Thanks mark
 
Assuming one of the valves isolates the drain valve from the boiler itself, then it SOUNDS right, but that is just an assumption using your description. Put the end of the hose underwater in a bucket and you will be able to SEE when the bubbles stop and not depend on "sputtering".
 
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