coldsolderjoint
Member
Hello,
I have two bedrooms I'm looking to remodel. Its a 1920's bungalow, which I suspect had no heating when it was built, was probably used as a summer-only house. It appears that when heat was added sometime later, they did it the "easy" way and just ran 3/4 copper with baseboard radiators all along the perimeter of the house right through the walls with little regard for how the piping actually looked. So I have a lot of old/aging enclosures all around the perimeter of the rooms.
Based upon a few heat calculators, I believe there are too many feet of radiators, I'd like to put the proper length in, and remove the excess. (This in addition to insulating the room well of course). These rooms do tend to feel warmer than the newer rooms which do have proper insulation, leading me to believe that there is too much heat output in the older rooms.
From researching on here, it seems that I need to buy special PEX that has an oxygen barrier in it. I'd like to hide the piping in the studs of the wall where it's not needed for the actual radiators.
I could do it with copper, but I think I'd end up with a ton of joints that I would need to sweat due to fitting the pipes into the studs. I have no problem with sweating pipes, I'm not a plumber, but relatively handy DIY, but if it's only $100 or so to make the job quick and simple, I'm for it.
Not to mention, it is winter time, and I can't afford to have my boiler down for more than a few hours. I have one zone for the whole house.
I don't have a pex tool or fittings currently. I've only used the quick connect (sharkbite type) fittings before.
Basically my question is an overview of how to do this and what to look out for?
Things like..
What tool and fittings to buy? (I'd assume there is low confidence in the push-on type for hot water heat if they will even work with Oxygen barrier pex)
How to secure the pex in the wall to account for heating/contraction. (I'd assume I'd just drill 1" holes through the centers of the studs, leave a loop for expansion, and put nail plates over it. )
How to insulate the pex (exterior wall - Just put half the fiberglass on each side of the pipe?).
Thank you in advace.
I have two bedrooms I'm looking to remodel. Its a 1920's bungalow, which I suspect had no heating when it was built, was probably used as a summer-only house. It appears that when heat was added sometime later, they did it the "easy" way and just ran 3/4 copper with baseboard radiators all along the perimeter of the house right through the walls with little regard for how the piping actually looked. So I have a lot of old/aging enclosures all around the perimeter of the rooms.
Based upon a few heat calculators, I believe there are too many feet of radiators, I'd like to put the proper length in, and remove the excess. (This in addition to insulating the room well of course). These rooms do tend to feel warmer than the newer rooms which do have proper insulation, leading me to believe that there is too much heat output in the older rooms.
From researching on here, it seems that I need to buy special PEX that has an oxygen barrier in it. I'd like to hide the piping in the studs of the wall where it's not needed for the actual radiators.
I could do it with copper, but I think I'd end up with a ton of joints that I would need to sweat due to fitting the pipes into the studs. I have no problem with sweating pipes, I'm not a plumber, but relatively handy DIY, but if it's only $100 or so to make the job quick and simple, I'm for it.
Not to mention, it is winter time, and I can't afford to have my boiler down for more than a few hours. I have one zone for the whole house.
I don't have a pex tool or fittings currently. I've only used the quick connect (sharkbite type) fittings before.
Basically my question is an overview of how to do this and what to look out for?
Things like..
What tool and fittings to buy? (I'd assume there is low confidence in the push-on type for hot water heat if they will even work with Oxygen barrier pex)
How to secure the pex in the wall to account for heating/contraction. (I'd assume I'd just drill 1" holes through the centers of the studs, leave a loop for expansion, and put nail plates over it. )
How to insulate the pex (exterior wall - Just put half the fiberglass on each side of the pipe?).
Thank you in advace.
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