QUESTION FROM farmchef

I recently bought an older home with baseboard heat. The ones on the main floor have fins. The ones on the second floor don't. Is this a problem?

ANSWER FROM HOME-WIZARD

Dear farmchef:

Actually, it is not unusual to have a baseboard heating system that has fins on the baseboards on the first floor, but just has pipes without fins on the second or third floors.

The reason is that heat rises, which makes heating a second or third floor easier that heating a first floor (especially if the floor separating the upper floors is not insulated, which allows more heat to pass through). Since the upper floors do not have as much heat load, the reason for leaving off the fins is to keep too much heat from being put into the rooms on these floors. Otherwise these rooms would roast.

If you find that the rooms on these upper floors are not getting enough heat, then you will need to replace sections of the pipes with pipes that have fins.

Hope this is helpful.
Home-Wizard.com

FOLLOW-UP FROM farmchef

Thanks for the prompt reply!