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ART
TEC
Guy
Marsden
SOLAR HEATING SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION LOG
PROGRESS
REPORT:
October
29, 2002: Installing 2nd floor radiators
Last
year I never got around to installing the 2 10 ft. radiators
that
I had purchased for the 2nd floor where my office is located.
I
was a bit chilly in the mornings upstairs as I had to wait
for
the heat to rise before the 2nd floor would be warm.
Installing
the radiators was fairly simple. I ran Rehau flexible
tubing
(that I had left over from the radiant floor) from the
manifold
up to the first radiator:
Then
I ran a length of the tubing to the other radiator at the
far
end of the building, and a return line from the end of the 2nd
radiator
back to the manifold. The exposed tubing will lose
heat
into the building and will warm the upstairs floor a bit.
The
radiators were simple to install; just mount the case to the
wall,
then plumb up to the pipe. I was surprised that the radiator
just
clips into the frame, but it seems sturdy.
When
I first ran the (separate) pump for radiator loop, I found that
the
water going to them was not hot (by feeling the pipe).
I
discovered that the pump was pulling cold water in a reverse
flow
from the floor loop! OOOPS!
I
ordered a couple of
check
valves from Grainger that would
force
the water to flow only in the right direction! I added them
right
next to the circulation pump outflow:
Now
when I turn on the upstairs thermostat the radiators
get
140F water right away and the temperature up here rises
by
about 6 degrees per hour! I am warm all day long,
and
the temperatures outside are now in the 20's at night!