I’m doing quite a bit or renovating in the home we recently bought, and need to pick some Doper brain here.
All the rooms have large, beautiful old radiators. In at least one case, temporarily removing it would make my life much easier (for reasons of wallpaper removal/painting). Here is the radiator in question.
What I’m wondering is if there water in there now, even though it wouldn’t have been used since the Spring? It looks to me that removing the nuts on eitherside would allow me to remove the unit. If I do so, can I expect a gush of water from one or both of the pipes, a little dripping that I can stopper up with a towel, or perfect dryness? Or would I wind up having to turn off the water in the basement and making sure the pipes are fully drained before I attempt to remove the radiator?
I don’t know nuthin about radiators, but I would imagine, you’d want to go down to the basement and drain the system first. I’d also suggest that if you don’t know nuthin about radiators either, you’re best bet might be to call someone that does to come and remove them all. Then after you paint or wallpaper have them all reinstalled.
But this is just a WAG, it may be it is as easy as it seems.
Looks like a typical circulating hot water radiator. There’s going to be some amount of wet involved, especially if there are radiators above this one - between water in the pipes and water in the bottom of the radiator, plan on some mopping up - probably nothing that a bath towel can’t manage.
Shut off and drain the heating system, (open the appropriate valve in the basement and open the bleeders on the radiators) do the decorating work, then re-assemble the system with new gaskets/teflon tape at the fittings.
Re-filling and bleeding the system will be a bit time-consuming. And plan on that radiator to weigh over 200 pounds.
Remember that the boiler is also going to have a connection to the water system. You’ll need to shut that off or else you’ll never drain the system. And when you do this, shut off the boiler completely, and make sure it is completely filled with water before you start it up again.
It might be worth it to get an estimate from a plumber to do this job. It’s not a difficult job, but you need to know your way around a heating system and have the right tools. If those fittings haven’t been turned since the day the radiator was installed, they may not come apart very easily. You pay the plumber for his experience and his big wrenches. And if it’s a two man job, he’ll also provide the second man.
It looks like a steam system to me, with the pipe on the other side a condensate return, and the vent at the top left to remove noncondensable gases. Your furnace should tell you if it’s steam or hot water. If it’s steam, and you’ve shut the system down, you should be able to remove those fittings and just have a small amount of condensate drip out.
If it is water, you’ll have to drain the whole system. Make sure you open that vent to allow a vacuum break.
