I am replacing a single tube hot water baseboard with a two tier unit unit in my kitchen. The supply comes from above on the right side and the return is on the left going down to the floor below. If I have a two tiered setup, should the supply be split to feed each tube simultaneously, or is it better to supply the top unit and then snake back to the lower tier? Setup is 3/4" pex and 3/4" copper fin tube element. I'm assuming if the supply is split then the flow to each tube would be reduced by half.
Fin tube Installation Help
- Thread starter Eric3872
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Tom Sawyer
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Makes no difference. Do whatever is easiest to pipe
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hj
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If you are feeding a 3/4" copper fin tube unit with 3/4" PEX, which is really a smaller tube. WHAT is going to induce the water to flow thru the upper coil when the lower one is already larger than your supply line? With your design, the ONLY way to insure flow through the second tier is to either create an "obstruction" for the lower one, (reducing the connection to 1/2" might not be enough because the PEX is not much larger than 1/2" copper), so water HAS to divert to the other one, or tie them together as a single run with the feed and return at the same end.
Thanks for the reply. I haven't gotten around to doing this yet. The existing supply is actually 1" PEX. Not sure what you mean by connect them as a single run. The supply is from the floor above, so the top tier would be fed first, or they'd both be fed simultaneously. My initial thought was to feed the top tier first from the existing supply and then connect the lower tier from the return of the upper. I'm going to replace the fin tube element so I can size them as necessary. Would you suggest a 3/4" element?
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