QUESTIONS & ANSWERS from "Ask-the-Wizard":

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Nelly:

Please note: BE VERY CAREFUL working around your boiler, as the water can be SCALDING HOT. 

I'm assuming you have air in your baseboard hot water system and it's making noise, which is a common complaint this time of year. Regarding the procedure for bleeding air from your baseboard heating system, first shut off your boiler and make a note of the water pressure. Next locate the self-feeding (auto-makeup) water valve and ensure that the make-up water supply is connected and water is available. Then open up all of you valves that go to your various heating zones. Then close all of the shut-off valves. Next, attach a short piece of garden hose to one of the spigots coming off of the return line that goes back to your boiler. While manually opening the auto-makeup valve, open the spigot and let the water run in to a bucket or a drain. BE VERY CAREFUL, as the water coming out of the hose will likely be very hot. Let it run until you no longer see any air bubbles, which could take several minutes. While you are doing this, keep an eye on the water pressure and don't let it get above 25 PSI. If needed to control the pressure, release the auto-makeup valve momentarily. After you have stopped seeing air bubbles, release the auto makeup valve and close spigot. Allow the water pressure to return to normal. You then repeat these steps until all of your zones have been bled. When done, close all of your zone valves and open all of your shut-off valves. Then check the water pressure, which should be the same as what you noted at the beginning. And then finally, turn your boiler back on.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "Gene in Maine": 

How does a baseboard heater boiler replace water after heating up?  In other words, how does the boiler know how much water to replace?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Gene in Maine:

When a baseboard heating system heats up, the water in the system expands, and since it is a closed system, this expanded volume of water has to go somewhere. This is why baseboard heating systems have an “expansion tank” that accommodates this additional water volume. Note however, when the boiler heats up, the water expands taking up MORE volume, rather than water needing to be replaced.

But your question seems to be about how water is replaced, so let me describe how this works. Water needs to be replaced if the baseboard heating system has a leak somewhere in the system. The system handles this by a pressure regulator that allows fresh water supply from the house to replace this lost water. Water will come into the system until the pressure that is lost from the leakage of water is brought back up to the setting on the pressure valve. The water is replaced essentially instantaneously. If there is a significant water leak in your baseboard heating system then you will hear water being replaced, which will sound like someone has briefly opened a faucet somewhere in the house.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from momothemonster

Our lakehouse uses water baseboard heating. We recently had a pipe burst which resulted in alot of water damage. We were wondering, what would happen if we turned off the valve from the main water supply? (So that if it every burst again, we would only have a leak equal to the amount of water in the system). Would we then be introducing air in the system? (as I understand it the system normally may lose water due to small leaks and it automatically compensates for this by adding new water - but if no new water is available, then I figured I'd have air in the system.) Thanks for your help!

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Momothemonster:

Sorry to hear about your burst pipe in your hot water baseboard heating system at your lakehouse.

I assume that since you say your pipe “burst”, that your lakehouse is a region of the country where it gets below freezing (when water freezes, it expands, and the force of this expansion is so powerful, that it can cause even steel pipes to rupture).

To answer you question, yes, you can shut off the main water supply valve, BUT you will also need to DRAIN your water system completely (BOTH hot and cold). If you don’t completely drain the water our of all of your pipes, then the trapped water in the pipes can freeze and burst one of your pipes, and then when you turn your main water supply valve back on you will have a mess on your hands.

And then in the Spring when you turn your main water supply back on, you will need to bleed the air out of your hot water system. For a description of how to do this, you can go to Home-Wizard’s online Maintenance Library, to the page on “Baseboard Heating System Maintenance”: http://www.home-wizard.com/maintenance/baseboardheating.asp

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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FOLLOW-UP QUESTION from "momothemonster": 

Thank you for your response! And you assumed correctly about living in a cold region. We think we must have lost power and therefore the water was no longer being heated (as it is powered by electric) and therefore froze.

But just to clarify on your comments.....if I wanted to keep the heat on (at a low setting), I should keep the main water supply valve ON? (Otherwise my other choice is to do as you suggested and turn off the water (and have no heat) and drain the pipes.)

Thank you!

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

momothemonster:

You have some good follow-up questions.

Yes, it sounds like you lose power from time to time, and then get freezing in your baseboard water heating pipes. And since it sounds like you have electric water heating, you not only lose the water being heated, but you also lose the electricity for running the water circulation pump for your baseboard water system. In other words, even if you switch to oil or gas for your boiler, when you lose electricity, you still would not have power to circulate water through your baseboard water system, and therefore your pipes could still freeze and burst.

And yes, if you want to leave the heat on, you can still shut off the main water valve. 

The risk, however, is that if you lose power for long enough period, you could still get freezing in your baseboard heating pipes (plus freezing in your toilets, household water pipes, sink drains, etc.) and get damage from the frozen water expanding. But you will have limited how much water spills out by closing the main supply valve.

If you do decide to turn your heat off, remember that you not only need to drain your baseboard water heating system, but also your water heater tank, the household water system, etc. And if you cannot drain water completely out the traps in your sinks and toilet bowls and tanks, then you will need to put a small amount of RV antifreeze in them. And you should also leave open all faucets and showerheads. And if you have a refrigerator, it should be cleaned out, unplugged, and left with the door propped open. 

If you have any questions about how to completely drain the water out of the equipment and plumbing for your particular lakehouse (since this can be rather tricky), then I suggest that you should consider using a trained professional who can come out and do the appropriate service.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "Confused in Bristol": 

I'm a bit confuse about which valve should remain open after I'm finished removing the air from my baseboard radiators. Do I leave the valve above the circulation pump open or closed, or do I leave the valves below the circulation pump?

Thank you!

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear Confused in Bristol:

If your question is what positions should your the valves around you boiler (both before and after the circulating pump) be in after you have finished bleeding the air out, the answer is that the valves should be in the same position as before you started the air bleeding procedure.

Just remember, what you are trying to do, zone by zone, is to let make-up water come in to replace the water (and air) that is currently in the piping for each zone. The fresh water coming in will not have any air in it, and you will let it flow in until you see the water coming out no longer has air in it.

Hope this is helpful. If you still have questions, just let us know.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "sagehervan":  

I live in a apartment and the radiator baseboard was not working and now it is, and the fumes are all through the apartment.  Will it go away soon?  Or will I have to get a repairman?

ANSWER:

Dear sagehervan:

Regarding your question about the smell from your baseboard radiator system, since you said that you are in an apartment and had not used the baseboard system before, there are two things that this could likely be:

1) if the landlord painted the baseboard heating system (either directly, or if paint dripped on the baseboard radiator when the walls or ceilings were painted), then when you turned on the system, the increased temperature could be causing "outgassing" of the paint as it warms up on the surface of the radiator; or

2) if dust has built up on the surfaces of baseboard radiator, then this can have a "musty" smell when your system comes on for the first time in a season.

In either case, if these are the problem then it should go away over time. However if it is because of paint on the radiators, you might want to open the windows to help air out your apartment, rather than breathing the paint fumes. And if it is due to dust build-up on your radiators, you might try using a vacuum attachment to clean off the built up dust.

If the smell does not go away soon, then you (or your landlord) should contact a professional.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "Larry":  

What to do after a frozen pipe bursts on a hot water oil burner baseboard?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear Larry:

I'm very sorry to hear that you had a frozen water pipe burst in your hot water baseboard heating system. Hopefully you did not incur much water damage, which can be a real mess and the damage can be extensive.

Regarding your question of what to do after a frozen baseboard heating system pipe bursts, here are a couple of thoughts:

1) Obviously, shut off the water supply to your baseboard heating system immediately.

2) Do NOT try to heat your pipes to thaw them out with anything stronger than an electric hair dryer. Using a stronger heat source (such as a torch or propane heater) can cause the trapped water to boil and explode.

3) Unfortunately, you might find that when your baseboard heating pipe froze up, that in addition to the section of line where most of the water came out, that there may be other sections that were also damaged, and will therefore also need to be replaced. This is because when one one section of baseboard pipes freeze, it can also freeze upstream and downstream of this section of the pipe (including inside the walls). And further, unfortunately you should also check your toilets and their traps, to see if they show any cracking from the same low-temperature incident that caused your baseboard heating pipe to burst.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "Brent":  

My baseboard radiators make a loud bang when the heat comes on in the bedroom. I suspect it is like water hammer. How do I fix it?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear Brent:

You say that you hear the bang noise when your baseboard radiator turns on. As such, the noise is probably not coming from a water hammer (which more typically occurs when a valve suddenly closes).

Here are some potential causes of the bang noise that you are hearing:

1) A pipe to or from this baseboard radiator that is running through a hole in a wall, etc. that is too tight, which doesn't allow sufficiently for the pipe's thermal expansion.

2) Pipes not supported properly, such that when they turn on, they bang into one another or into other things.

3) The zone valve is installed backwards.

4) Air is trapped in the line, which needs to be bled out.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "renedye":  

I manage an apartment complex in Colorado that uses the EXACT same Baseboard Heating System that you have displayed in the pictures on this page of your website: http://www.home-wizard.com/maintenance/baseboardheating.asp

My dilemma is that I need replacement parts for some of the heaters in our building - - and have NO clue as to where to find these parts. I have searched and searched and searched the internet, but the only thing I've been able to come up with are obviously much NEWER versions.

Any suggestions on where I can find what I'm looking for?

Thank you for your time.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear renedye:

I wish we had gotten your posting two months ago!  The house in the picture on the baseboard heating page of our Maintenance Library was completely demolished down to the foundation, and the baseboard heating fixtures were either donated to an inner-city building resource charity, or they we sent to recycling.

But here's a link to a site that has a list of names and contact information for suppliers of baseboard heating fixtures:

http://www.traditional-building.com/article/radside.htm

One thought is that you might want to make a copy of the picture from our Maintenance Library webpage, and then email it to the companies that you talk to from this supplier list. Once they see it they could not only tell you whether they carry this model, but if they don't, they may still recognize it (from being in the business), and could hopefully direct you to the manufacturer who makes it.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "Kenneth":  

I notice that my low water light will come on sometimes and my furnace will not heat up the house even though the water level show sufficient amount of water.  But when I flush out the water and reestablish the water level the furnace will kick in and the baseboards will began to heat up again.  It does not happen often, but sometime I have to flush water out more than usually when the water light come on.  I would like to note that I do not have an auto feed and that every once in a while I would have to fill and flush water out of the furnace.  Could this be from a build up of rust in the pipes that cause the low water indicator to come on and shut the furnace?  If so can this be clean out other then continuing to draining and flush water out of the furnace?  What do you think is causing this to happen. Your information is greatly appreciated.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear Kenneth:

Yes, your problem with the your furnace shutting down could be caused by rust and sediment affecting your low water level cut-off gauge.

If the boiler and the low water cut-off gauge are not flushed of sediment, the low water cutoff could hang up on the sediment. You should follow the appropriate procedure for your particular furnace system to drain and flush your boiler. And as part of your annual inspection and service, a trained service technician should take the low water cutoff apart to manually scrape and clean the walls of it, and to also clean the sight glass.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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FOLLOW-UP COMMENT from "Kenneth":  

Dear Home-Wizard,
The explanation you gave me for my furnace yesterday is right on point.  The sediment in the glass and water level gauge is just as you describe. I will have a technician come to clean it out.
Thank you very much.
Kenneth

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear Kenneth:

Thanks for the feedback!

Glad that we could help you with this.

If you have other home maintenance questions come up, just let us know.

Regards,
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "sue in pa":  

We just moved into a very old home.  We have baseboard gas heat and the first floor is quite cool, while the second floor is very warm.  The thermostat is set at 62 degrees.  Ssomeone told me to bleed the heater, but I can't find a valve.  Can you help me?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear sue in pa:

Regarding your question of how to bleed air out of your baseboard hot water system, you can find the answer to this on our Baseboard Heating System Page of our online Maintenance Library:

http://www.home-wizard.com/maintenance/baseboardheating.asp

However, the fact that you say it is a very old house, and that the second floor is warm and the first floor is cool, makes me wonder if part of your problem might be due to poor insulation.

As you probably know, heat rises. So if your first floor is drafty (for example, from poor weatherproofing and sealing around external doors), and there is no insulation in the flooring/ceiling between your first and second floors, then the heat could be rising up out of the first floor (making it feel cooler) to the second floor (making it feel warmer).

So you might also want to consider weatherproofing and caulking your doors and windows. And if the doors and windows don't have storm doors and windows, you might want to add these. And finally, if they are very old, you might even want to consider upgrading them to higher insulation ratings.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "germil84":  

How to thaw frozen water pipe?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear germil84:

The first step in thawing out the frozen water pipe in your home is to locate the main water shut-off valve for your house. It is typically locate just inside your house near where water supply first comes into your house. If you are on public water supply, then this valve will be right downstream from your water utility’s meter. Make sure you have clear access to this valve, and that it is not obstructed by boxes, storage materials, etc.

The reason you will want to locate this valve is that if during the thawing process of your frozen pipes, that the ice blockage turns out to be upstream of where the pipe has cracked, then you will want to be able to shut off your main water supply ASAP.

The next step is locating all the locations where pipes have frozen. Go around your house and open up each faucet, flush each toilet, etc. If water does not come out (or just comes out in a dribble), then you likely have a frozen pipe located in the line coming to this faucet. Even if you have found one area of frozen pipe, it is a good idea to take an additional minute to check to see if there are other areas that have been affected by the same freeze.

The next step is to try to find the specific area in your piping where the frozen blockage is occurring. Open up the faucet where you have found that water is not coming out. Follow the pipe back from the faucet to where it runs through cold areas such as an exterior wall, unheated crawl space, cabinets, or in some cases an unheated basement if the pipe is near an outside wall. Sometimes the frozen area of the pipe will be frosted or have ice on it. If the situation is getting critical the pipe may be slightly bulged or look slightly cracked.

There are two kinds of situations that you might have to deal with: 1) the frozen pipe is exposed, where you can work on it; or 2) the frozen pipe is behind a wall.

If the frozen pipe is exposed, then there are several techniques that you can use to thaw it out. We recommend that you do NOT expose your pipe to anything hotter than you would put on your hand. Heating up a pipe too fast, for example using a torch, can actually cause the pipe to rupture from the steam that is produced and is potentially trapped between frozen sections of the pipe.

A couple of good choices for heating up your frozen pipe are:

- Hair dryer.
- Hot towels (just keep replacing them as they cool off).
- Space heater.
- Light bulbs, or better yet, a heat lamp.
- Well-grounded heating pad.

On trick you can use to speed up the process is to place tin foil or a cookie sheet behind the pipe to help reflect back the heat from your hair dryer, heat lamp etc., to the back side of your pipe.

If you find that you frozen pipe is behind a wall or ceiling, then you’ve got a little different problem on your hands. But you’ve got several options here:

- Place a space heater or fan near this section of your wall or ceiling, and allow warm air to circulate around this area.
- Use lamps or better yet, heat lamps to warm up this section (keep them back at least 8-18 inches from the surface).
- Turn up the heat in your house and wait (but if its cold outside and the frozen pipe is on an outside wall and inside of a cabinet, it may be a very long wait).

Note that the techniques that we described above can be used regardless of whether you have plastic or metal pipes in your home.

Hopefully this helps you with safely thawing out your frozen pipe.

Regards,
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "confused":  

Upstairs radiators are cold and down stairs are hot. Just repaired recirculation pump and still no heat upstairs. Bled all radiators and no heat upstairs.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear confused:

Since you have already repaired your recirculation pump, bled all radiators, and you are not getting heat in only one zone of radiators, then here are a couple possible causes of why you are not getting heat in your upstairs radiators:

1) It could be possible that you have dedicated circulators for different heating zones in your home. If so, you should check to see if the circulator for your upstairs radiators has failed.
2) If not, you should check the zone valve that serves your upstairs radiators. The water pipe should be hot both upstream and downstream of this zone valve. If the valve is bad or stuck, it will be hot upstream of the valve, but then cool downstream of the valve. (Upstream refers to the piping that is in the direction of the boiler)

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "Daleytwo":  

Help!  Bathroom baseboard (right next to the toilet) and three boys in the house, need I say more?  Have cleaned outside and inside as much as I can and was able to take somewhat apart.  Cleaned all the copper pipes, but the metal fins are impossible to clean since they bend right up.  I am wondering If I can spray some odor eliminator, or cleaning products right into it.  I realize I will have to do this many times, and yes it will probably rust a bit, but I can live with that.  And hopefully will eventually get better.   Do you have any ideas or tips?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear Daleytwo:

Having baseboard heating right adjacent to the toilet does make for some problems. But here are some suggestions that hopefully will help you.

First regarding cleaning this area, as you know the most difficult part is cleaning the "fins" on the radiator pipe. You will want to be very careful cleaning around this area, so as not to bend the fins. They work best when they are spaced evenly, and allow air to flow unobstructed through them. Rather than spraying cleaning products into the fins, which you won't be able to wipe completely out, a better alternative is to use a steam cleaner with a wand attachment. Here's a link to a company that shows how this works (we are not familiar with this particular company, but their website shows the technique): http://refreshyourhome.com/new-steamer-windows/a-Before-and-After-Pictures.html

The other thing you might want to think about, if you haven't already, is installing a "splash guard" above this section of the baseboard heating system.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "chris carolan nj":  

I keep getting air in my system.  Its a 4 zone system and only the top floor 1 zone gets it.  I do have another zone on the top floor, but that one is always fine.  I bleed it and then a month later it gurgles and sounds like a faucet again, so I bleed it and its good for another month.  What is happening to be allowing air in?  Thanks

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear chris carolan nj:

If you keep getting air in your hot water heating system, it sounds like you might likely have a small water leak somewhere in your system. You should check all of the bleeder valves on your system, as this is a common place for water leaks to occur. And you should also check all of the piping, valves and fittings around your boiler for signs of water leakage. Hopefully, there are no water leaks occurring in any of the piping anywhere inside of your walls, as this can cause major problems related to pests, etc.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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I have hot water baseboard heat with only a bleeder valve on the boiler..I had a professional come out a month ago and he said it was just air and made the system work great but a month later its loud again i bled it today and it had alot of air but now its whisper quiet...No signs of leaks anywhere..All 3 other zones all are quiet and work great..just this one zone...

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear chris carolan nj:

It sounds like you have a stubborn problem with air in one of the 4 zones of your baseboard heating system.

A couple of thoughts for things that you might want to check:

1) In the zone that you are having problems with, it sounds like it is on the second floor. Can you find any bleeder valves anywhere along this zone, where you can bleed the air out of this zone?

2) When you are bled your system using the valve at the boiler, was your boiler cold (that is, that it had been off for at least 3 hours)?

3) Are you able to bleed air out of the top of your boiler, for example through a pressure relief valve. Remember, always be very careful whenever you are bleeding air out of your heating system, as the water can be scalding hot.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from "chris carolan nj":  

I did bleed the system hot not but was not running for 20 minutes..I did just open the zone valve and the drain and pushed the little lever to allow more water to rush in around 25 psi...you could hear the air coming out of it but its still running quiet day 2 as for any bleeders i haven't seen any on the baseboards thru out the house.....

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM:

Dear chris carolan nj:

Well I guess the good news is that your problem zone has been quiet now for 2 days.

If your system was only off for 20 minutes when you last bled it, then it probably had not had time to cool down completely. So if the problem comes back, then one option that you still have is to try to let your system cool completely down (off for at least 3 hours) before you bleed it.

And I assume that when you inspected the problem zone for leaks and bleeders, that you removed the baseboard covers to see if there were any bleeders that might have been hidden by the covers?

If you still have problems after trying the above, please let us know, and we'll try to figure something else for you.

Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from CHRISTINE on 4/18/2008:

HOW DO I SHUT OFF THE HEAT FROM THE HEATER?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 4/19/2008:

Dear Christine:

To answer your question about how to turn off your heater, I'll first need to know what type of heating system that you have.

For example, is it a radiator or baseboard heating system? Or is a forced air distribution system?

And does your heating system have separate thermostat controls from your air conditioning system (if you have central air conditioning)?

Just let me know, and then I can hopefully give you the correct advice for your particular type of heating system.

Sincerely,
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from Leesa on 4/14/2008:

I'm looking at homes to buy in iowa the ad says utilities shut off over winter. this has baseboard heating can anyone tell me what that does to the system? would there be pipe problems because of this?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 4/14/2008:

Dear Leesa:

Assuming that the water from the pipes in the house's baseboard heating system was completely drained properly, then this should not be a problem. 

By draining the water from the baseboard heating system during the winter, they were trying to eliminate the risk of losing power, for example, and having the pipe freeze and then potentially burst. Shutting down the baseboarding heating systems and draining the water out is actually a good idea when a home is going to be left unoccupied for a sustained period over the winter.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from john in ny on 4/10/2008:

My baseboard heat downstairs will not stop running (giving off heat) even though I turn it completely off. What might be causing this problem?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 4/10/2008:

Dear John in NY:

If your baseboard heat will not shut off in just one zone, here's a couple of things you might want to check:

1) if this zone is thermostatically controlled, have you checked to see if the thermostat is operating properly.

2) if the thermostat is operating properly, then another thing to check is whether the zone control valve at the boiler is operating properly.

Home this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from Michelle on 3/30/2008:

I have a baseboard heating system in my apartment. While I was out of town, I was informed by my landlord that the pipe froze and burst. One window was barely open. My apartment is always very warm and as a result I have never needed to put on the heat, and always have a window slightly open. The window was open for 4 months of winter without incident and my apartment remained warm. I noticed after the repairs, some sort of valve was replace approx 5 feet down the pipe from where the pipe burst. I have never seen the burst pipe and I was wondering if there could be any other reason for the pipe bursting.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 3/30/2008:

Dear Michelle:

Was the pipe that burst in an outside wall or behind a cabinet that was on an outside wall?

If so, these are areas that can get much colder than other parts of your apartment. Especially behind cabinets where they can be very little air circulation.

Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from jamesbarlow8 on 3/20/2008:

I have a fully pumped domestic heating system and after I drained it (cleaned out with Fernox)I cannot get it to pump through the radiators,hot water is OK, I have fitted anew pump and zone valve and bled all points.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 3/20/2008:

Dear jamesbarlow8:

Have you checked to se if the zone valve had gotten installed backwards? This happens sometimes.

Regards,
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from David Liddle on 3/13/2008:

We live in an old home - built in 1860 - which has hot water baseboard heat. The problem is that some of the covers and ends are missing. Do you have any ideas where we could get replacement parts?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 3/13/2008:

Dear David Liddle:

Here's a link to a site that has a list of names and contact information for suppliers of baseboard heating fixtures:

http://www.traditional-building.com/article/radside.htm

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from anonymous on 3/10/2008:

how to stop knocking of hotwater baseboard heat pipes

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 3/10/2008:

Dear anonymous:

Regarding stopping the knocking of hotwater baseboard heat pipes, potential causes of the bangs you are hearing are:

1) Air is trapped in the line, which needs to be bled out.

2)A pipe to or from this baseboard radiator that is running through a hole in a wall, etc. that is too tight, which doesn't allow sufficiently for the pipe's thermal expansion.

3 Pipes not supported properly, such that when they turn on, they bang into one another or into other things.

4)The zone valve is installed backwards.


Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from tom on 2/18/2008: 
how to properly drain and refill sealed hot water baseboard system

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 2/18/2008:

Dear Tom:

You can look in the Question and Answer section of the Baseboard Heating page of our online Maintenance Library (www.home-wizard.com/maintenance/baseboardheating.asp).

If this doesn't help you, and you still have questions, just let us know.

Regards,
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from carr1818 on 2/7/2008:

We are looking for the metal clip that holds the heat louver in place. Our home was built in 1960 and many of our clips are missing. Do you know where we can purchase these and other related parts for these older baseboard heating elements? Thank you for your time.

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 2/7/2008:

Dear carr1818:

here's a link to a site that has a list of names and contact information for suppliers of baseboard heating fixtures:

http://www.traditional-building.com/article/radside.htm

If you are still not able to find what you need, just let us know, and we'll see if we can find something else to help you.

Regards,
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from barbev on 2/4/2008:

which radiator valve is better ? automatic or manual for baseboard heating system

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM ON 2/4/2008:

Dear barbev:

I'm not sure exactly which radiator valve that you are referring to for your baseboard heating system, so let me run down all of the valves for you:

o Bleeder valves (for purging air out of the system): these should be manual valves.

o Make-up water valve (for allowing water to come into the system to replace lost water): this valve should be an automatic valve.

o Pressure relief valve (for releasing water when the system pressure becomes to high): this valve should be an automatic valve.

o Zone valves (for shutting off water to a particular heating zone): there are the automatic valves that are controlled by the thermostats for the various zones, and then there are also manual valves which allow you to shut off zones independently.

If this doesn't answer your questions, just let us know.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from jim t cuff on 5/20/2008
I have an oil-fired furnace/with hot water baseboard for my ranch house. I am quite handy, and would like to vaccume out the soot from the inner furnace. is their any special type vaccume/shop-vac i need to use and bag. thanks jim
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ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM on 5/20/2008
Dear Jim:

For difficult jobs where you need strong suction, like vacuuming out a sooted up oil burning furnace, I would suggest that you look at the "Sootmaster" furnace vacuum:

http://www.cgfproducts.com/prod5frame.htm#01

I've heard some good things about the DeWalt DC500 vacuum:
http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/tool_detail.asp?productID=6220

But I've heard many complaints about the Stinger brand vaccum.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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QUESTION from jim t cuff on 5/20/2008

I have a regular 3 gallon sears wet/dry vac could i use that? thanks

jim
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ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD.COM on 5/20/2008
Jim:

The main concern that I would have with using a small Craftsman wet/dry vacuum for vacuuming out soot from a oil-fired furnace is that the filter system may not be fine enough to keep the soot from coming through and making a mess in your house. I've heard of cases where the tiny soot particles got churned up in the air and actually setting off the fire detectors in the home.

Part of the reason that the bigger (and unfortunately more expensive) furnace vaccums have more suction power, is so they can force the air through the finer filtering system.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com
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