Baseboards

[Solid]

Hi folks! It's been a while, hope everyone is doing well. I haven't had many plumbing projects to report on, but I can tell you a lot about Carpenter Ants!

Anyway, I'm putting things back together now that the ants have been taken care of, and I'm looking to replace this old baseboard (or whatever you call it).

These things are in every room of my little Cape, and they all look equally terrible. I would like to replace this with a standard baseboard, and in this room (dining), I would like to add one below the other window in the room. Someone told me that I can do this, but I need a baseboard that has an air bleed valve, so I can purge air from the system. Anyone have any experience with this job? I know that I'm going to have to drop pressure, and maybe drain down this zone (first floor), but it really doesn't seem that bad.

 

[Solid]

Wanted to update this with a couple images of the plumbing in the basement leading to these heating units. Originally, the entire house was on one zone, and at some point, someone split the house into two zones - first and second floor. Here's one of the old feeds that's been blocked off:

I would like to try to use this again for the additional baseboard that I want to add under the other window in that room. Here's another image:

Has anyone out there ever dealt with this before?

 

[Solid]

Johnjh2o, liQuid, havasu, phishfood - please help! I'm your friend, remember?!

 

[havasu]

I wish I could help but I live in Southern California and have no idea about them!

 

[Solid]

Bummer. Thanks for replying!

 

[johnjh2o]

You would need a lot of baseboard to equal the BTU output of that convector.

 

[Solid]

You would need a lot of baseboard to equal the BTU output of that convector.

Johnjh2o,

Thanks for the reply - I knew I could count on you!

You wouldn't be the first person to tell me that, but I'm having a hard time understanding why that is. Here are a couple more pictures to add to this post:

This unit is 41" wide. The plan is to replace this with a 5' baseboard, and add another 3' baseboard under the other window in this small room (120sq ft.). To me, the heater in these pictures looks like a normal baseboard, with a giant metal box around it. I see that the pipe makes 3 loops through the fins before heading on to the next register, is that why I need more baseboard to replace this single unit?

If baseboards just won't cut it, what are my options? At the very least, I need to get this off the wall (cut copper lines) to insulate and dry wall. I suppose I could attempt to restore the cover and re-attach?

 

[Solid]

Hmmmm, I've been doing some reading on this, and I am learning a thing or two. This system appears to be something called Monoflo, with those strange diverting tees on the first floor zone. I will keep reading, but any help would be appreciated.

 

[DFBonnett]

We had convectors like that in the house I grew up in. My father, a plumber for over 50 years, installed them in 1948 when he updated a half-assed, coal fired hot air system to oil fired hot water.

 

[johnjh2o]

The BTU output on 1 ft. of baseboard is just 580 per ft. That would give you 4640 BTU's to heat the room. I would suggest you have a heat loss calculation done before you make any decisions on installing baseboard.

 

[Solid]

John,

I think you're right - I will definitely run that calc. I notice that there are a few manufacturers that make something like a convector, do you think that would be a better option for replacement?

 

[Solid]

I wanted to post a few more details to this thread. I'm constantly reading about this stuff, so there's always something to add. Here's the new info:

The Tuttle & Bailey Inc. vintage convector I have is 41" long, 5 1/2" deep (3 row) and fed by a 1/2" copper. The monoflo loop is 1", with 1/2" feeds to convectors. I did a quick heat loss calculation for the dinning room, and it gave me a required 1805 BTUs per convector (or, 3610 BTUs for one). I don't think this room is cold, but I have no info on the T&B convector that is currently in use. Could this one convector product 3600 BTUs?

Boiler is a Pensotti S1-26 - 117,000BTU/hr with a Taco 007-F5 Circulator.

I'm looking to replace this with a new convector (maybe Myson or Runtal) instead of Slantfin baseboard. Why are convectors so expensive?