Baseboard Radiators Not Heating Room Up

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Solving A Baseboard Heat Problem
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People often come to me with house problems.
Recently 2 people have approached me complaining that they have baseboard fin radiators that do not heat up to the thermostat reading.
When I hear this - there are many things to check, including zone valves, circulator pumps, relays, and whether the thermostat is working properly, or the battery needs replacing.
Looking a closer at the radiators we noticed that the radiator fins were oriented horizontally versus vertical.
If you’re not following me, these aluminum fins should be oriented on installation, to have “open” vertical slots.
These aluminum fins increase surface contact of the copper pipe for more efficient heating.
The copper pipe heats the fins through conduction, and the fins help heat the air. Lower cool air, at the bottom of the radiator is then heated by these fins as it rises up through them.
The hot air rises because it is lighter than cooler air, as it rises, it draws cooler air up and through the bottom of the baseboard fins, and cycles through until the thermostat is satisfied.
Having them rotated so the vertical airflow is restricted prevents convection through the radiator.
These convectors and require airflow in order to work and this orientation is similar to closing a damper.
In order to fix the problem, you need to rotate the baseboard pipe
There are several solutions that can correct this situation:
• Replacement - costly
• Re-sweating, or cutting and coupling and then rotating the pipe
• Rotation the fins
• Bent the fins with needle-nose pliers to create an air channel
For this to work you will need to lift the radiator pipe and fins off the cradle metal brackets. There are plastic holders that separate the fins off the metal cradle brackets - remove these temporarily.
Most fin radiators have some slack in the middle of the pipe, and less neat the elbow that go down under the floor. You may NOT be able to rotate the fins near the elbows, due to lack of pipe movement. For those fins you may have to settle for bending them open with needle-nose pliers.
The fins, which are attached through a “resistance fitment” to the copper pipe. If you chose this method try following these steps:
1. Rotate the fins when the pipe are cold.Use two 2”x 6”strips of wood
2. Hold the 2 boards on top and bottom of the fins and rotate them 90 degrees.
3. Wear gloves, as these fins are sharp.
4. A needle nose plier can also help with individual fins
Personally, if the rotation method does not work for you, I would have a plumber try to unseat the joint or cut, add a coupling and rotate the radiator fins.
Either way - you need those fins oriented correctly.

[@mitsufawksy]

Helped me a ton. My apartment is much warmer now just by rotating the fins. Thank you!

[@stephenmartin7907]

Good tip. We also find a lot of people have curtains or furniture in front of thier radiators keeping them from conducting heat.

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Stephen Martin couches and beds affect it most definitely

[@palavoyz]

Hi thanks for the tutorial but was it dangerous to bleed the air out, was the water coming out very hot and pressurized or no and safe to do? for how long? lol sorry for too many questions but im really interested to do it myself i've been renting this 2 bdroom apartment and very cold in here, super tells me they activate the heating already 2 months ago but still ice cold in here need your help right away, thanks.

[@pookpookpook88]

I just did mine, Im in a 1 bedroom apartment, the water that comes out is quite hot, but manageable, and there wasn't too much pressure, lots of air came out, then just clean hot water, now I have more heat than I know what to do with !!

[@HandleDeeazz]

Yep....just moved my bed out of the way and now she’s workin’ 🔥 😂

[@kedmak0140]

Great tip- who knew?! Thank you for the clear demonstrations with concise explanations! I first watched your video on cleaning the fins and was so informed and encouraged I started to watch more of your videos. I’ll have to check my fins now.

[@AndrewAlvarez-py1zz]

Great Video! I'm going to check the fins on new baseboard Heaters that are not heating the rooms.

[@mikegrimaldi5844]

I pressed in a 10-ft baseboard finned section and mistakenly totaled it 90 degrees not realizing the fins were not square. The long side should be vertical and the baseboard cover would not fit. I’ll try to rotate fins as described elsewhere I’ll need to cut/press and rotate. Thx for the tip.

[@TheMusicman961]

Wow, there are a lot of comments saying this helped a lot of people. My question is who are the morons putting in these baseboards, come on man if you're charging people to put in a heating system you should know what you are doing, :) thanks for the tip, I am checking mine now.

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Moron, imbecile and idiot are all words that come to mind. Remember you’re only as good as your weakest link and sometimes bosses send the weakest link to install the baseboard heat

[@writingforchildrenwithkare4686]

Hi, very interesting. I wasn't looking for this info though. I need to lower the heat in two of my rooms that have oil baseboard heating. I've taken the covers off, but I don't see a valve to turn to make the heat lower or higher.

[@Thirdplace4life]

I tore down a wall dividing a dining room and kitchen. Had to move the baseboard heater to another wall. The fins were bent to hell. Took like and hour to straighten them all out on a 6 foot piece. Not fun lol. BTW the plastic (or metal) plates under the fins are called "silent glide shoes". I needed to get some for my house because they were making a lot of pinging. Took me forever to find them but ended up finding them at menards special order for like 69 cents each. Worked like a charm.

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Silent glide shoes - good to know. that noise or creeping is similar to what they call that Oil Canning

[@evarsonazevedo5321]

Good tips pro. Rehabbing first property with hidronyc system and trying to get as much info as possible about it.

[@olmecST]

This helped alot. It was a easy fix. Well explained.

[@georgeseese]

On older systems, I've read that baseboard units need full flow of hot water so Monoflo Tees should not be used.

[@ohkay90]

So could this work in reverse? My son’s room heats up too fast while my daughter’s room is still very cold. If I rotated some of his fins in the incorrect position could that help balance out his room temp so it heats more evenly compared to my daughters room?

[@ConcordCarpenter]

i bet - yes

[@maras507]

Thank you so much!!! I’m going to try this myself. I am so glad I stumbled upon your video! This is pretty easy to do thanks to this video. Im definitely subscribing to Your channel! So glad I stumbled upon this video. I can now help my mom’s place heat up properly! Yay!!

[@pure555]

How warm are the baseboards supposed to get? Mine are horizontal and Id put the thermostat up to about 77 and the baseboards dont get too warm.

[@jakeornot6306]

Now, there's a thought. Bad enough that my thermostat is now at 70 F. But I just wonder if turning it up even more, as a trial, before getting into all the other possibilities wouldn't be well-worth trying. The living room fin baseboard pipes have never heated up properly; not with an oil-burner furnace, nor the newer condensing boiler - which is definitely set at the correct temperature. I suppose better a loss and expense of propane than turning on even a tiny ceramic electric heater. The radiator fins here were examined by more than one professional. All just stood there and looked at them. All said, furniture was too close - the little bit of furniture has always been at least 3 feet away.

[@myklmusic]

Ok. I'll try that. My heater is electric. I'll see if your solution applies to my system. Thank You for this.

[@flowerpower4065]

The metal brackets are lined up correctly but it is not heating up my life bing room, sadly enough there is only 1 heater on the main floor wall, I have it turned up 3/4 and if it is this cold I can only imagine how bitterly cold it will be come this winter, any suggestions? 🤔

[@gooseman8361]

You know what's so funny I've been helping this gentleman replace a couple of his cast iron radiators that cracked with these slant-fin radiators. The last radiator I had to sweat together I came in later in the day and the owner had another so-called plumber finish it up just to try and help me finish. We've been anxious to get the heating system pressurized to make sure we don't have anymore leaks. We've done significant repairs to the system, even replaced the shut off valves at each radiator. But unfortunately 3 more radiators had suffered freezing on the second floor, and I realized they were cracked also. I'm going to recommend taking them apart and removing the cracked fin. God help us!!

[@JD-lh8vt]

thats exactly my issue I will try to spin the fins, i knew they were wrong Thank you

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Glad to help, please consider subscribing and clicking the notification bell.

[@johnsandoval8884]

Great video... Nice information and to the point

[@biondatiziana]

Excellent tip!

[@matthewhadtrespasses4195]

I want to unstall two of these in my basement but in circuit to where my radiador lines run on the ceiling to create some heat in the basement its not so cold when you open the basement door and to help our 1st floor sta th warm. It is not a finished basement and we rarely go down there. I know that this wont make the basement toasty as hot air rises, i just want to create some heat near the basement ceiling. Do you have any advice for this? I was thinking of using slant fin or perhaps even just a fitting a car radiator or two for the job. What are your thoughts? Thanks!

[@abigailvomelmo1167]

Hi! ☺ I enjoyed your video! Tyfs! I hope that you have an answer to my question & that you will get back to me @ your convenience. Is it possible to convert baseboard heating with the metal fins to cast iron baseboards (if they even make them anymore)? Thank you very much!! ☺☺😎😎

[@believeryshua6509]

Okay Robert DeNero looking Concord Carpenter I have that heating system fueled by oil burner my bathroom base heating is ice cold all the time and they’re installed properly what can I do to troubleshoot to fix this problem

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Believer Y’shua Is the run cold is the actual radiator not heating up? Have a plumber inspect this maybe they can flush the pipes or maybe the element is blocked If the room is cold you may need to add additional heating like a Toekick heater. Bathrooms are notorious for being cold because there’s not a lot of wall space to run the radiators

[@YvetteHernandez_Toronto]

Thank you for the tips, I'll give it a go!

[@naturalhealing9970]

Do baseboard fins normally get that dirty?

[@phiksit]

Yes... they get packed with dust and lint. I would imagine that affects performance too.

[@chadmyers4432]

Thanks good info!

[@chuckroast5735]

Thanks. Good info.

[@ShaukiAlazzam]

Hi, thanks for video, but Can I add freon gas in baseboard radiator, thanks

[@terryalgranati1326]

I'm having an issue with my management co on whether my heat is working properly or not. I'm getting some heat, but last year and for the last 23 years I would hear a popping noise when I raised the thermostat. Not anymore. It's maxed at 68. Any suggestions?

[@ConcordCarpenter]

TD AG have a plumber evaluate

[@jakeornot6306]

Funny you should mention 68F. Apart from the baseboard low-heat output, when it gets to 15F or below outside, the fairly new condensing boiler - Vitadens ? 100 doesn't "recognize" the cold and turning the thermostat up does nothing. I believe it is due to computerized components within the system, and, believe me, the installers have no idea how to approach it.

[@NinjaDom7]

Thanks ima do this my house is ice cold never heats up properly

[@jaykash5287]

Very informative I'm going to try it thank you so much

[@TheDirtyBirchTrails]

and vacuum the tops clean every couple of weeks !!

[@ConcordCarpenter]

mbrobich people never do

[@TheDirtyBirchTrails]

@@ConcordCarpenter I made sure to install them properly in the loft of my log house !!

[@glenjamindle]

Who vacuums every few weeks??

[@FishFind3000]

Glen Atchison dust collects.

[@shanesmaineshop]

I have seen this before as well.

[@joanbaczek2575]

Wow every apartment I ever had had fins rotated the wrong way. I never had a warm apartment yet paid out the ass for gas or electric heat. How sick ! Now I have radiators and still either sweating or freezing the whole system is inconsistent. I’m about to just say screw it and go homeless and stand in the alley next to a burn barrel. If I had all the money the heat racket robbed me of I would have a down payment on the house. I literally paid the had company 500 dollars yet froze all month usually stone cold radiators yet heat set at 72! The land lord is useless and do is my boyfriend even though he claims he’s a heating genius.

[@gyver471]

Great explanation thanks

[@lionellavallee1919]

Thank you. Quick question should the fins run the full length of the pipe.

[@ConcordCarpenter]

not always - plumber should do a heat loss survey

[@arcad1an292]

Thank you sir 👍

[@DaMadpenciler]

What type of radiators is this on the nest thermostat‽ in floor radiant or just radiators?

[@ConcordCarpenter]

hot water radiator - programmable tstat

[@pennytrottier1749]

thanks good information

[@odettendayi3964]

Thank you so much

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Your welcome - hope it helped

[@toddt6730]

I have two baseboards that only get warm while the others get hot

[@SmittyWarben]

In the cold room in my house, I examined the unit and found fins are missing from half the heating pipe. Could the missing fins be the reason the room isn't heating up? I can't find fins for sale anywhere, should I be replacing the cover? Is there a DIY method to this without having to hire someone? Thank you!

[@ln1365]

Buy baseboard fin clamp on amazon

[@SmittyWarben]

@@ln1365 thanks! I did end up finding those fins and added 2. Unfortunately they didn't do anything and I had to pay $$$ to have the unit upgraded/replaced. Hopefully others have more luck with extra fins

[@benchippy8039]

👍

[@joanhart5978]

What if the radiator baseboard b umps out too much heat?

[@massacre0520]

Then lower your thermostat, save money

[@WA-hornet007]

Are you available to do some work ?

[@keifla12]

What happens when there are no fins at all😂

[@ConcordCarpenter]

Then it’s not a heater

[@waynehuff8723]

And blow out the dust

[@LTVoyager]

This is why you hire professionals to install your heating system. 😁

[@myoskeletalmassagenm8867]

Our baseboard heater sux 😫 dusty and nasty. They end up with so many particles.. probably needs steam cleaned vacuum every three months for allergy sufferers .. just thought ide help.

[@jakeornot6306]

AS IF most of these systems were NOT installed by professionals.

[@LTVoyager]

@@jakeornot6306 These clearly weren’t install by professionals or even smart amateurs. These were installed by idiots.

[@Mariska1983]

tx!!!

[@rm-ih1ns]

opening NOISE LOUD msic shOOk headphones geeeez man talk about POP damn