From another new member stuck in posting approval limbo:
I ordered a BL 28-40 from the factory (no local dealer) and it was delivered on Saturday. With the help of a rented Genie 5519 telescoping forklift, we had it off the truck and on the pad in probably 30 minutes. Terrifying and exhilerating at the same time! Now the fun begins.. What components do I need.. How do I make this thing go..
I have a few (heh) questions, if any of you would be so kind to assist me with them.
1) Pump - I have 110' of Logstor and there's probably 15' or so of elevation difference from the lowest point water will be in the house, to the supply lines on the back of the OWB. Any suggestions on what might be appropriate for that?
2) Pump Location - Why would I want the pump mounted at the OWB itself, as opposed to in my basement? Or vice versa? Noise?
3) Pump Direction - If it's mounted at the OWB, would it be configured as water supply line to pump which then pushes towards the house (downhill but not relevant in a closed system I presume) and ultimately back (up) to the OWB? If it's in the house, would it be installed on the "return" line to the OWB, pushing what's already came through heat exchangers back to the OWB? Or in a closed system does it not really matter all that much? Seems like gravity would pretty much take care of getting water from the OWB to the input of the heat exchanger...
4) DHW - A plate heat exchanger is typically used to heat the water coming into the HW heater isn't it? A sidearm is used to keep water already inside of it hot? With ~180F water coming from the OWB, the HW heater would come up to pretty close this temperature as well wouldn't it? That's too hot to go to a faucet/tub so I assume that's where a mixing valve comes in? Sum in a bit of cold water to bring it back down to ~130F. Our tap water is ultra cold in the winter, probably because the pipe goes through a creek. I'm inclined to install both a plate and sidearm heater, thoughts?
5) Home - It's 1700sqft with a single heat pump. Which survived the last two winters with a moderate amount of "emergency heat" usage. The full basement is not heated and falls to the low 40's at least, we've sealed it off from upstairs entirely these last 2 winters. The upstairs we've completely remodeled, insulation is pretty good, very little leakage/drafts or similar. I plan to put an air handler only in the basement and water-to-air heat exchanger. Floor joists are insulated but that could be removed, basement ceiling is not finished. I hope to heat the basement, and not have to have a second heat exchanger for the upstairs air handler. If that becomes necessary though, shouldn't be too difficult to add. The basement stairs come out very close to the upstairs air return, plus just what tends to rise over the entire ceiling/floor area.
That covers some of my more pressing questions on the basics. As an electronics tinkerer though, I can't help but ponder improvements, additions, etc.. I've not looked closely at the supplied aquastat yet, nor have I looked at any technical documentation for it. Does it by chance have the ability to act as a remote thermostat, providing current temperature information along a cable to a remote receiver? Or would I need to purchase an additional sensor for that? I'm thinking of putting some direct burial ethernet in the trench so that I can monitor some aspects of the system from inside the home, provide alerting, etc.. I read on here about a mod to cut off the fan when temps drop below a certain point, I think that sounds like a very good idea as well. Always interested in additional mods like this, and especially anything related to monitoring or better automation.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
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Topic: Questions on finishing install of BL28-40 (Read 3748 times)