Gravity fed radiator plumbing considerations

[turbodb]

Greetings,

I found this forum via a search, so this is my first post.

A bit of background on me: I am quite capable of most remodeling/construction tasks, having taken two houses down to studs, and having done all the electrical, traditional plumbing, natural gas, and rough/finish work. I've built kitchens and bathrooms (including building the cabinetry) with the exception of granite countertop fabrication as I don't have the tools for that .

At any rate - in my current house, I have gravity fed water radiators. One of them - located on the second story - is above a kitchen that we're planning to remodel, and the piping to the basement runs through a location in the kitchen that we'd like to turn into a door.

What do I need to consider when moving the plumbing to this radiator? The current plumbing is all original to the (1925-era) house, and it is my (limited) understanding that the relative height of the supply/return lines, diameter of the pipe, etc. are meaningful/important/critical to the correct functioning of a gravity fed system.

I'll add one more bit for now, but am happy to answer any questions folks have to help with this - the original (once coal, converted to heating oil) boiler was replaced with a natural gas boiler (Triangle Tube) several years ago. At that time, we also converted our DHW to a passive tank connected to the boiler. There appears to be a pump in the circuit between the boiler and water tank, but I don't believe there are any pumps on the gravity fed radiator system (unless there are pumps in the boiler itself).

Thanks!

PS - happy to provide photos as well, just ask for what you want to see.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

The really important thing is to determine whether you have a 2 pipe or 1 pipe system. On 1 pipe systems both ends of each radiator are connected to the same pipe.
If yours is 1 pipe then yes moving rads and pipework about can easily disrupt heat delivery to one or more rooms. Pics ....

 

[turbodb]

The really important thing is to determine whether you have a 2 pipe or 1 pipe system. On 1 pipe systems both ends of each radiator are connected to the same pipe.
If yours is 1 pipe then yes moving rads and pipework about can easily disrupt heat delivery to one or more rooms. Pics ....

Interesting.

OK, we have a two-pipe system. From the boiler, which is installed at one end of the house (in the basement), a supply line runs along each outer wall of the house towards the other end. Off of the supply line, a branch goes to each radiator. Next to the supply line, a return line is fed by a branch off of the other side of each radiator.

Here's a photo of the supply/return for one of the radiators (not the one in question, but one that I can get a clearer photo of)