Slant/Fin Fine/Line 15 Hot Water Baseboard

Replacing Baseboard Heat on This Old House Video

Here is a link to a good segment fromThis Old House Television called Replacing a Baseboard Heating Cover with Plumbing and Heating Contractor Richard Trethewey

 Replacing a Baseboard Heating Cover with Plumbing and Heating Contractor Richard Trethewey from This Old House television.

FAQs' about Slant/Fin Hot Water Baseboard

FREQUENTLY ASKED HOMEOWNER QUESTIONS ABOUT HOME HEATING

1. I'm ready for a new house. Why should I choose a hot water baseboard heating system instead of accepting the more common hot air ducted system?

Most heating experts agree that a hot water baseboard system will provide your home with significant advantages in comfort, cleanliness, quietness, ease of control, health and safety.

Besides what most experts say, hot water baseboard heating is viewed as superior to hot air ducted heating by an average of 88% of homeowners who have experience with both.

This high level of preference, was determined through a blind mail survey to 3,000 homeowners in January 1997.

The preference percentages for hot water baseboard for each criterion are as follows: Comfortable from wall to wall, ceiling to floor, draft free, 87%; Clean, dust and germ- free, 96%; Quiet 83%; Easy to zone for separate temperature control of different areas, 79%; overall healthy and safe distribution of heat, 94%.

2. Why do so many homeowners have hot air ducted heating systems if hot water baseboard heating is judged to be much better and more comfortable?

Hot water baseboard heating systems, despite their clearly preferred rating over hot air systems, are not installed in the majority of new American homes. Homebuyers are not usually offered a choice by the builder as to which heating system they would like installed. Typically, builders combine hot air heating and air conditioning in the same ducted system to save in their cost of home construction. The ideal, efficient comfort system, however, would have a separate hot water baseboard heating system and a separate cooling system. In Europe, hot water heating is installed in over 95% of homes.

3. Which heating system will cost me less, hot air ducted heating or a hot water baseboard heating system?

The separate hot water baseboard heating system adds less than 1% to the cost of a typical house and proportionately less for higher priced houses. But hot water baseboard can actually save 30% of home heating costs every year for a quick payback. First, hot water baseboard distributes heat more efficiently. Second, you can set your thermostat 2° or 3° lower than with a hot air ducted system and still be comfortable. Baseboard introduces convected and radiant heat at floor level, does not create drafts that cool your skin and avoids excessive, wasteful stratification of air (hot near the ceiling, cold at your feet). Baseboard is also easy to zone so you can vary the heat level from one space to another and choose not to heat unused rooms at human comfort temperatures.

4. Are there any government guidelines on heating efficiency?

Yes. Boilers and furnaces have ratings called A.F.U.E. (Annual Fuel Usage Efficiency). Compare for yourself. There are high efficiency boilers and high efficiency furnaces. But remember that A.F.U.E. only measures how well the boiler or furnace converts fuel into energy to heat the home. The way the heat is distributed throughout your home affects your comfort level and the system efficiency and the operating cost. The true efficiency of a heating system is a combination of the A.F.U.E. of the appliance and the efficiency of the distribution system. Baseboard distributes heat far more efficiently that a ducted system.

According to the U.S. Government, hot air ducted heating is wasteful and less efficient.

Forced-air furnaces, the most common heating system, waste energy, through duct leakage, the system's effects on a building's filtration rate, and thermal conduction. For example, duct leakage accounts for 10% to 20% of the total air infiltration rate when the furnace blower is off. Total infiltration rates typically increase by 200% when the blower fan is turned on. The total infiltration rate can increase by as much as 500% when the return air paths are impeded, such as when interior doors are closed.

November 1995.
Source: Building Equipment Division
Office of Building Technology, EE-422 U.S. Department of Energy
1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington DC 20585

5. Which heating system is cleaner and healthier, hot air ducted heating systems or hot water baseboard heating?

Hot water baseboard. It requires only ordinary household cleaning to be dust-free and will not spread smoke, dust and germs from room to room. Hot water baseboard only moves dust that is already in the house. Many doctors prescribe hot water baseboard heating to patients with asthma.

6. I'm a light sleeper. Is one heating system quieter than another, hot air ducted heat or hot water baseboard heating?

Yes, the quieter system is the baseboard system. With a hot air ducted heating system, a large fan is required to force the heated air from the furnace into the ducts. Ducts carry the rushing hot air and the fan noise to every room. You are disturbed by the frequent start and stop of the fan motor and the "whoosh" of the air itself. With a baseboard system, a boiler circulates hot water silently through finger-width tubing. Since natural convection distributes the warmth, no fan is required. The small circulating pump on the hot water boiler is quiet and uses less electricity than the fan motor on a hot air furnace.

7. As far as my comfort is concerned, heat is heat, isn't it?

No, there are big differences in heat comfort between hot air ducted heating systems and hot water baseboard heating systems. Do you ever feel chilly near a cold window even though very hot air is surging out of a wall register? Ever feel alternately hot and then cold when the furnace cycles on and off? The average temperature of the air in the room is one thing. How comfortable your body continuously feels is something else. Hot water baseboard provides heat through gentle radiation and natural convection starting at the perimeter of the house. This blankets cold walls and windows with warmth, preventing drafts and providing uniform heat from wall to wall and floor to ceiling. You feel comfortable all over and all the time without ever being conscious of the heating system operating.

8. What's the difference between a boiler system and furnace system?

A boiler uses oil, gas or electricity to generate hot water and in some cases steam, which is piped to baseboard radiation systems on the perimeter of the house. A furnace burns oil or gas to heat up air which is forced by a fan through a large ducted system and blown through registers in various parts of the house. Generally speaking, a cast iron boiler for a baseboard system has more than twice the life expectancy of a furnace for a hot air system.

9. How can I get a hot water baseboard heating system in the house I buy or remodel?

When you're aware of the advantages, maybe you can find a house you like that already has hot water baseboard heat. If you are having a new home built for you, ask the architect or builder to specify hot water baseboard heating. If you are modernizing a home that has hot air heating, you can leave the cooling system in place but replace the furnace with a boiler, piping and hot water baseboard radiation.

10. Does hot water baseboard heating interfere with carpeting or placement of furniture?

No. Baseboard radiators are mounted on the wall but the bottoms of the front panels have adequate clearance for carpeting to fit underneath. You can place furniture directly in front of baseboard and you will not interfere with safe, gentle, convection heating.

11. What is this radiant floor heating I keep hearing about and which system does it work with?

Radiant heating is installed by imbedding special hot water tubing in or under a floor. In some cases you can heat the whole house with radiant floor heating. More often, however, it is used to heat cold floors in selected areas such as a bathroom, kitchen or hallway, using baseboard heating in the rest of the house. Radiant floor heating radiates heat naturally upwards and warms the room occupants evenly from toe to head. No cold feet. It is most compatible with a baseboard system and draws hot water from the same boiler as the baseboard.

12. What kind of equipment does Slant/Fin manufacture and provide to my contractor or builder for a hot water baseboard heating system?

Slant/Fin provides nearly everything except the copper tubing and fittings. Your contractor or builder can purchase including: high efficiency gas and oil boilers, hot water baseboard systems, radiant floor heating, multi-purpose fan convection heaters for kick spaces and indirect-fired heaters for domestic hot water. All Slant/Fin products are available through us. They add up to the best hot water baseboard heating systems for your family's comfort, economy, health and safety.