Often times, rooms in a home will be under or over heated when compared to other rooms. When a central hot water baseboard radiant heat system is utilized, this is due to either too few or too many heat fins in a given room. The second floor of a home will often see the largest number of rooms that are too warm (when other rooms are at a comfortable temperature.) The movable vent on baseboards can be closed or opened to accommodate for the temperature variation, but sometimes a more aggressive method must be implemented to achieve the desired results.
This small bedroom was too hot in the winter due to too many feet of baseboard heat installed for the space.
Here are instructions on how to remove heating capacity in a room.
Get some gloves - razor sharp heating fins will slice your fingers more quickly than you can say band aid.
Remove the outer cover (pull up and rotate out towards you)
Get a sharp pair of scissors or tin snips, (I used Cutco shears, which can cut pennies in half)
Snip the top of each fin you intend to remove, (I like to stagger the cut zones to keep the heat evenly distributed)
with a good pair of pliers, rotate the top rear portion to the right, then pull the underneath part of the fin - removing it with relative ease.
This small bedroom was too hot in the winter due to too many feet of baseboard heat installed for the space.
Here are instructions on how to remove heating capacity in a room.
Get some gloves - razor sharp heating fins will slice your fingers more quickly than you can say band aid.
Remove the outer cover (pull up and rotate out towards you)
Get a sharp pair of scissors or tin snips, (I used Cutco shears, which can cut pennies in half)
Snip the top of each fin you intend to remove, (I like to stagger the cut zones to keep the heat evenly distributed)
with a good pair of pliers, rotate the top rear portion to the right, then pull the underneath part of the fin - removing it with relative ease.
Next, get some split foam pipe insulation and wrap it around the sections where you have removed the fins.
Also make sure you wrap the return pipe (if one exists like in these photos) as it too will conduct heat into the room.
You may want to try a portion at a time and test out the temp in the room - as the fins are not easily replaceable.
Once you are done, replace the cover and enjoy the room at a temperature that matches the rest of the house. The other plus is that the hot water can now heat other portions of your home instead of making one room into a sauna - this saves you money and wastes less energy.
Also make sure you wrap the return pipe (if one exists like in these photos) as it too will conduct heat into the room.
You may want to try a portion at a time and test out the temp in the room - as the fins are not easily replaceable.
Once you are done, replace the cover and enjoy the room at a temperature that matches the rest of the house. The other plus is that the hot water can now heat other portions of your home instead of making one room into a sauna - this saves you money and wastes less energy.
Note: The aluminum fins can be recycled, turned in at the scrap yard for cash (if you have other items to make it worth your while), or given to drive by scrappers.
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