After the PEX tubing is installed, connected and labeled, something is still missing. Yep – the radiators.
This has been in the making for a long time, starting way back when with the design workshop. Our goal is to have a hydronic heating system that can be powered by solar hot water panels. For that to work, we need radiators that effectively function at a water temperature as low as 120 degrees.
Typical radiators operate at 180 degrees. That got us stuck in a rut. How can we make a 120 degree solar hot water system work with 180 degree radiators? Our mechanical engineer came up with the solution: Steel radiators.
These nifty gadgets can operate at the critical 120 degrees. The added plus is that this temperature is also suitable for PEX tubing. At 180 degrees, we would have needed hard piping to all radiators, which would have been more expensive.
Ordering the radiators was quite an ordeal – mainly because I had no clue what I was ordering. Well, I knew what radiator model I needed for which room. But that is just the tip of the iceberg.
I had to determine the length of each radiator based on actual field measurements. But how much room should I leave on either end for ease of installation and the connections? And how do the connections work? Should they be on the left or the right, the top or the bottom? If I have several radiators in series, how does that work?
I was lucky that I ran into the regional distributor of the Runtal Radiators. Not only was this gentleman the obvious expert in these issues, but he also displayed the patience to deal with my seemingly endless barrage of questions.
The other thing I very much appreciated was his due diligence. He must have called me back at least three times to double and triple check on the details. But like he said, “once they are ordered, they are ordered, and you want to make sure you get the right radiator with the correct configurations.” Anything else would become very expensive.
Five weeks after I placed the order, the manufacturer had my batch of radiators ready, and I had a big truck showing up with a small crate. In the crate were a bunch of surprisingly cute little radiators.
I knew that they were not the biggest baseboard radiators in the world. But this little?
To keep things moving, we unloaded the very well wrapped radiators and accessories into the flat bed of my truck before we took everything into the 1st floor.
Each radiator is carefully numbered and labeled to make sure they will end up in the correct room and location. Sort of reminds me of the PEX labeling.
Of course I had to unwrap one of the radiators right away to take a closer look. These little buggers are really small but slick looking.
Cathy’s comment was: “That’s it? That’s how big they are?” I didn’t say it, but certainly thought it.
To see if they really do the job of keeping us warm, we need to install them, which will still be a while. We first have to put the drywall up, and there are many other tasks that come before hand.
Tags: utilities
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