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View Full Version : Hydronic heating pipe size


Gubins
Feb 21, 2007, 03:39 PM
I wish to install a hydronic kick plate heater but it only has 1/2" inlet & outlets the zone has 3/4"pipe should I put in a bypass around the heater to keep the flow the same?

hvac1000
Feb 22, 2007, 03:07 AM
If you are going to keep it on the same zone as other items yes. If you are going to control the kick heat with a separate zone no. But if you put a bypass in you will get very little flow to the kick. You can just tap off the 3/4 with 3/4 x 3/4 x1/2 tees and just splice the kick in to the supply and return lines and add a zone valve to control the kick.

Gubins
Feb 22, 2007, 07:37 AM
Can I connect the kick with 1/2" tees and if I run a 3/8" bypass around the kick would that create enough back pressure to not need a valve?

hvac1000
Feb 22, 2007, 08:33 AM
can I connect the kick with 1/2" tees and if I run a 3/8" bypass around the kick would that create enough back pressure to not need a valve?
Not really. You need the 3/4 flow to the old system.

labman
Feb 22, 2007, 09:43 AM
Half inch pipe creates about 5 times as much back pressure as a similar length of 3/4'' pipe. However your system could have enough reserve capacity to maintain adequate flow without a bypass on the kick plate. A 3/8'' bypass might not do much good since it would create 16 times as much back pressure as a similar length of 3/4''. If you have an existing 3/4'' line in the area, use it with a ball valve. Ball valves don't throttle quite as well as a globe valve, but seldom leak around the stem. Just fiddle with it until you have enough flow through the kick plate.