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Posted by Steve Silca on January 13, 2010 at 16:46:22:
In Reply to: Re: Cast iron radiators in Chicago posted by HeatPro on January 13, 2010 at 08:50:08:
I hear you. I realized, soon after I installed the fin tubes, that they would need a pump to circulate water through them.
Do I also understand from your answer that if I do find some radiators that I can afford, I should be looking for taller radiators (say 2 or 3 feet hight) to create that difference in height from the top to the bottom? These would be more effective for a gravity system, correct?
As the expert, what would you do at the point? Would you switch back to the radiators and allow the gravity system to work the way it always did, or would you look to install a pump and keep the baseboard heaters? Here's a complication: As you might know, there are TWO supplies and TWO returns on my old boiler, so would it potentially disrupt the entire system if I put a circ. pump on just one half of the system? FYI - my two new baseboard heaters would actually be the ONLY heaters on that half of the system - all the other radiators are piped by the other two supply/return pipes. So, if I installed a pump on that half, it would feed just the fin tubes, but would it upset the other half of the system?
Thanks for your help - I'm a pretty handy plumber but I've entered uncharted waters here with this old boiler!