Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: 12valve on February 28, 2013, 08:35:35 AM

Title: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: 12valve on February 28, 2013, 08:35:35 AM
Who has dealt with these pumps.  They are $$ but supposedly sip electricity.  I guess you have to figure out what your breakeven point from an electrical standpoint is.  It may take a few years to just payback the difference.  The price on these units has been coming down.  I also wonder about the longevity of the new technology that they employ.  Also they have a digital readout that tells you flow and how many amps it is drawing at a given time so that means there is some sort of computer on board, how long will that last????  Just looking for some real life experiences with these units.
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: rick w on February 28, 2013, 08:42:30 AM
if there anything like there well pumps they are junk, well was in for 3 yrs and needed a new control box, seven years later another box, had it pulled and a gould pump put in. i wouldnt buy anything with that name on it. happy burning.
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: Scott7m on February 28, 2013, 08:55:35 AM
IMO, most pumps on the market are copies of something grundfos came up with

I love there products and think there great.  As far as the alpha, it will display how many watts its pulling but it's to small for a lot of applications.  It would have to be ran on high for an owb but that's still only pulling 40 watts.  The alpha is similar in performance to a 15-58

Some pumps I've tested pull 285 watts, so huge difference.  Other pumps I've checked doing the same work as the alpha pulled 150 watts..

I trust them based on reputation
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: 12valve on February 28, 2013, 09:11:39 AM
Scott,  I have a boiler radiant heat system.  I would assume it would be a large enough pump for that application?  Just not for the back of the OWF.
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: Scott7m on February 28, 2013, 10:01:17 AM
Likely yea, it may work on the back of the stove as well.  Many of my jobs I can use a 15-58, but definitely not all
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: kjw58 on February 28, 2013, 10:43:30 AM
I replaced one of the energy hog pumps (245watts on medium setting) with a alpha pump 2 years ago, works great. Running it on the medium setting on a 100ft loop to my pole barn. Pumping 3gpm at 35watts.  $162 on e-bay.
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: Scott7m on February 28, 2013, 11:06:10 AM
I replaced one of the energy hog pumps (245watts on medium setting) with a alpha pump 2 years ago, works great. Running it on the medium setting on a 100ft loop to my pole barn. Pumping 3gpm at 35watts.  $162 on e-bay.

3 gallons per minute is not near enough flow, your delta t is gonna be way out of whack..... 
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: Scott7m on February 28, 2013, 11:08:11 AM
I replaced one of the energy hog pumps (245watts on medium setting) with a alpha pump 2 years ago, works great. Running it on the medium setting on a 100ft loop to my pole barn. Pumping 3gpm at 35watts.  $162 on e-bay.

3 gallons per minute is not near enough flow, your delta t is gonna be way out of whack.....


Will it heat the building? Yea of course, but what's happening to the stove at the same time
Title: Re: Grundfos Alpha
Post by: kjw58 on February 28, 2013, 01:03:29 PM
3gpm on barn loop and house loop is pumping over 5 gpm. return water temps are never under 165 and over 8 gpm of water circulation in the stove, works great.