radiator + sheetrock = fire?

  • Thread starter Thread starter frederic
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frederic

frederic

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I'm thinking I shouldn't be worried, but I wanted to ask.

Hot water radiators, not steam, have water running through at boiler temperature. Now that my studio is in parallel to the house from a plumbing perspective, I'm getting close to 180 degree water flowing through the cast iron radiators.

The small radiator in the sofa cove is touching the sheet rock I just put up, and I'm curious if this is a problem. To move the radiator, or angle it correctly (its tilted at the wall) I'd have to sweat the pipes to rotate it forward, which is doable, but I'd have to drain the heating system at least partially.

I could also shove a 12 gauge steel sheet behind it :) Or, leave the shim.

I'm thinking the sheet rock probably doesn't care, but what about the paper surface, and eventually primer and paint?

What do you guys think? I've been told in the past that its okay to have drapes, clothing, etc, resting on the radiator, but now that I'm in parallel to the rest of the house these suckers get really hot.
 
Frederic

In theory this shouldn't be a problem.

I'm sitting here in my home - (it's maybe 30 years old) and took a walk to look at the circulation piping for the heating system (after reading your post).

It's touching wood framing in some spots and the wood is none the worse for wear.

I would suggest (for peace of mind if nothing else) that if you could shim this so it was 1/4" away from the drywall - it should never be a problem. And at only 1/4" - you should have enough flex in the piping to allow for this.

Remember - it's only 180 for a very brief period of time - the boiler should turn off at 180 - not back on until about 140 - and each unit it runs through depletes the water temperature pretty fast.

Rod
 
sheetrock

Mt experience with sheet rock in the past tells me that your hotwater radiator wont ignite the paper on your drywall. It is gupsum board and a good flame retardant. Used as firebreaks in apartments and such. Even painted with latex paint I thing you are perfectly safe.
 
I'm sitting here in my home - (it's maybe 30 years old) and took a walk to look at the circulation piping for the heating system (after reading your post).
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Mine was built in 1941... probably a similar system. And yes, here also a lot of the piping for the heating system touch and rest against all sorts of stuff... joists, paneling, even an I-beam. I just shimmed that to avoid any vibration from wearing through the copper pipe from the i-beam. The pipes clang once in a while when air doesn't bleed out fast enough.

It's touching wood framing in some spots and the wood is none the worse for wear.
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Okay, good news. Same here, at least what I can see in my basement.

I would suggest (for peace of mind if nothing else) that if you could shim this so it was 1/4" away from the drywall - it should never be a problem. And at only 1/4" - you should have enough flex in the piping to allow for this.
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Okay, shim installed! I already torqued it back 3/8" when I applied the sheetrock to the original wall which the radiator was touching, so I torqued it another 1/8". Maybe I'll sweat the pipes tomorrow....

Remember - it's only 180 for a very brief period of time - the boiler should turn off at 180 - not back on until about 140 - and each unit it runs through depletes the water temperature pretty fast.
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I'm not so sure my system stays off to 140... there are two knobs on my furnace, one is set at 180, and can range from 140-190, and the other knob is set for 160, and ranges from 130 to 180.

Its a new furnace, as the first winter here we blasted through 700 dollars a month of oil in nov and dec, until the old furnace literally - fell apart and sprayed water everywhere. It was the original 1941. Anyway, that doesn't matter, thats long gone and the new one is in for two years now. But it has two knobs. I presume the higher set knob is the "stop heating water" knob, and the other knob is the "start heating water" knob.

Maybe one sets the heating system temp, and the other knob sets the hot water temp, our hot water heater is a 5 gal tank inside the furnace. In fact, to take a shower, one adds very little hot water or their skin peels off.

Thanks for the tip Rod, I'm less worried about wall damage in the studio, its shimmed temporarily until I sweat the pipe to rotate the radiator perpendicular to the floor. In the meantime, I should start figuring out this boiler...
 
The higher of the 2 is the boiler temp - typically the low limit is set 40 degrees below the high limit - so 180 to 140.

The 2nd is indeed the tankless (that's what it's actually called) for the domestic hot water.

If the boiler is not calling there is no reason to heat to 180 for domestic hot water - thus the setting for 160 max.

When they installed this boiler they should also have installed a balancing valve to control the domestic water temp to a max of somewhere around 120 or 130 (i actually have mine set to 140 - but i like real hot HOT showers).

Have fun my friend.

Rod
 
When they installed this boiler they should also have installed a balancing valve to control the domestic water temp to a max of somewhere around 120 or 130 (i actually have mine set to 140 - but i like real hot HOT showers).
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We like hot showers too... one can tell from the paint above the shower starting to peel. We prime and paint it every year (oil-based paint).

Also, the extremely hot water helps the dishwasher work well. I do know that I need a filter because of all the minerals in the water.

I'll look into it... and there is what looks like a bypass valve, however around the boiler area I have 12 valves. I know three of them are for the heat exchanger for the inground pool, one being direct feed meaning I can dump 180 degree water right into the pool. Not that I'd waste my oil/money doing that. 45,000 gallons takes a long time to heat up.

thanks again!
 
Frederic,
What about a small tin sheet between the two? They're cheap and Hell Depot carries the stuff.
JOhn
 
Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't the copper (or cast metal) used for all the radiant heat is probably in contact with plaster, wood, dust, etc all over the house... and that pipe must be the same temperature as the actual end fixutre, yes?

I don't think I'd worry about it if I were you.

Velvet Elvis
 
Remember the movie Fahrenheit 451? That's the kindling temperature of paper - even with dusts, the lowest kindling temp is that of brown coal dust, at 225 degree C, or 437 degrees F - if your hot water gets close to that temp, I'd be more concerned with flying shrapnel from the exploding pipes since steam at only 302.7 degrees F is at a pressure of 55 PSIG - and at 425 degrees F, the steam pressure would be over 325 PSIA, or 310 PSIG. -

So the good news is, you'll die from the explosion before the fire gets ya... :=) Steve
 
Boy... that would suck.... and it would probably be right in the middle of a keeper take too!

Velvet Elvis
 
Yeah, but you'd die knowing you'd NAILED it...:=)
 
I can see it now "frederic... the lost session"

I wonder if he'd leave the web cam on :P

Velvet Elvis
 
"I wonder if he'd leave the web cam on " -

I see it now - couple weeks after the explosion, a Marilyn Manson fan sees the webcam and starts the rumor that Marilyn's got a new video out...
 
I bet Marilyn Manson got beat up a lot in high school :)

Velvet Elvis
 
She(it) looks like it's STILL happenin' - BTW, Frederic - no slam intended here, I actually doubt if you could look as bad as MM even AFTER laying around dead of shrapnel wounds for a couple weeks (in very warm weather)... :=)
 
I think MM looks kind of like the Brundlefly at the end of the "modern" version of "The Fly" :)

I wonder where you sign up to help beat MM up?

yeah... frederic would have a hard time getting THAT messed up... I think there would have to be some gender mutation and some wierd biological deformation as a result of the radiator exploading for that to happen.

Plus, frederic would have to study for years to learn how to be that poor of a musical talent.

Velvet Elvis
 
knightfly said:
She(it) looks like it's STILL happenin' - BTW, Frederic - no slam intended here, I actually doubt if you could look as bad as MM even AFTER laying around dead of shrapnel wounds for a couple weeks (in very warm weather)... :=)
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No slam taken, no worries, this is all in good fun.

However, I can assure you that back in 1993, I have actually looked worse than marilyn manson ever could, even if he was set on fire, thrown down a well full of gasoline, while holding 10 unused grenades and a parrot, and left to rot for 2 weeks :D
 
Actually knightfly...

frederic's right... I forgot I had a picture of him back then...


take a look!!




Velvet Elvis
 

Attachments

HA HA HA HA!

Oh, I can't breathe now LOL

But trust me, I looked much worse!

Lets just say, my other "over priced hobby" was much more dangerous.
 
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