Adding Radiators Question

[b]

We are about to add radiators to our basement. I have bee told that we may run into a problem because the radiators will be below the boiler. First of all, is this true?

The way we are thinking of doing it is to have two trunk lines running across the ceiling of the basement and branching off from there to the radiators and back. The ceilings are 12 feet high. We will use thermostatic radiator valves at each of the radiators (5 in all). The rest of the house is control by one thermostat. Can anyone forsee any problems?

I appreciate the help.

[Andy Hall]

No.

You don't say what size the radiators are or the intended heat output.

Bear in mind that the flow rate through 15mm pipe is such that 6kW is about the limit for heat transfer. Therefore, you may well need to make th trunks 22mm at least past the first couple of radiators. I would suggest looking at the manufacturer's data for the heat output. Have you calculated the heat required for the space and sized the radiators? Is the boiler output enough?

In any case you may well need to rebalance the system.

.andy

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[Christian McArdle]

You should seriously consider running this off a separate zone valve. Then you can control totally independently from the rest of the house using a programmer/thermostat. (i.e. set it for 5C at all times, and use boost when you expect to be working down there). It depends how you are planning to use the space.

Christian.