This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

1

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: 30 plate bell & Gossett heat plate big enough

« on: February 03, 2015, 11:07:11 AM »

oh crap!!!! it's a 10 plate, B&G 400-10, dimensions are 3.1 wide and 8.2 tall. Honestly, am i screwed? If this thing will not fill up a decent sized whirlpool tub I am dead. other recommendations? Also, best place to buy?

2

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / 30 plate bell & Gossett heat plate big enough

« on: February 03, 2015, 06:21:39 AM »

Guys,

I bought a 30 plate bell & gossett heat exchanger for my domestic hot water. rated at 40,000 BTU. Is this big enough for an average sized house. Will it fill a whirlpool tub sufficiently?

3

Plumbing / Re: Struggling on control panel

« on: January 23, 2015, 02:55:46 PM »

Book ordered. Thank you!

4

Plumbing / Re: Struggling on control panel

« on: January 21, 2015, 02:27:58 PM »

So each of my six circuits has its own pump that only gets turned on when the thermostat calls for heat. Do I have my main circuit/loop from the wood boiler flowing through my domestic hot water exchanger all the time? When someone turns on a faucet it pull DHW through the exchanger and then through a mixing valve before sending it to the faucet?

By the way little John, my supplier tells me I need 120-140 degrees running through the staple up.

5

Plumbing / Re: Struggling on control panel

« on: December 31, 2014, 02:46:19 AM »

Think I found what I am looking for. Found an image on the Crown Royal Stoves website that shows the exchanger mounted on top of the hot water tank with a bypass circuit plumbed. DHW is pulled though the exchanger from the tank when needed. When the wood stove is not in operation then you bypass the exchanger and pull around the exchanger and directly from the tank. I assume that when you are using the wood stove you turn the hot water tank temp down as low as it will go or even cut the power to it. Thoughts?

6

Plumbing / Re: Struggling on control panel

« on: December 30, 2014, 11:20:48 PM »

Ok, read the Caleffi idronics article and learned a lot. Not sure that it answered my question about location of my DHW heat exchanger in relation to my electric water tank. My existing electric hot water tank is basically located in the middle of the basement. Control panel is in one corner of the basement. It seems to me that my 30 plate should be mounted after the hot water tank. so that when someone calls for hater water, water would come from the tank, go through the 30 plate, and then to the valve calling for DHW. Can someone tell me if this is accurate? Do I need to have a separate pump pumping source hot water through the 30 plater all the time? Sorry I am so green on this. I just can't find an answer.

7

Plumbing / Struggling on control panel

« on: December 23, 2014, 11:44:50 AM »

This is my first experience with hydronic. Over the summer built an approx. 3200 sq ft house. Pex is distributed into six zones. Two zones using standard oxygen barrier in concrete (garage and basement). Basement uses 9 outlet stainless watts manifold, garage uses six. The other four zones are pex-al, stapled up to the bottom of the subfloor, no heat transfer plates, will be insulated in the end with foil bubble wrap and R13. The hot water is supplied (or will be) by a BioBurn outdoor wood boiler. 383 gallon capacity. I also planning on heating my domestic water as I have a 30 exchanger. So last night I stopped at Menards and purchased $700 work of fittings and such. I already have six TACO pumps and flanges. I have some questions for you experts:

1. My supply line comes into a corner of my basement. I plan on building my control panel there. I have power readily available as well. My electric hot water tank is have way across the basement. Do I have to have my 30 plate near the hot water tank or can I just turn it down, and reroute my water line so that when hot water is called for it draws from my 30 plate before going to the faucet. I just don't know where is the right place for the 30 plate.

2. will I be pumping hot water through my 30 plate all the time, whether I am calling for domestic hot water or not?

3. Do I need mixer valves for all zones? I know I need one on both concrete zones, but what about the staple up zones?

4. Should every control panel have a surge tank? Bought one but I'm not positive if I need it.

5. How many air separators do I need? and, where do they need to be located?

6. what about a particle separator? I bought one, just not sure where it should go.

7. Lastly, why don't a few of you experts get together and write a how to book or Radiant for dummies book? I wouldn't be bugging you guys with all these questions if I could find a source to study up on first besides just looking at pictures on the web.

Thanks in advance.

8

Plumbing / newbie considering control panel

« on: October 09, 2014, 09:17:18 AM »

Hi guys, Building a house which will be completed in the next couple of weeks. Have been doing all the pex work myself. Six zones. Pex in the concrete floor of the garage and basement, pex-al underneath the floor, between floor joists creating four additional zone in the house. Stove has been delivered and is sitting on concrete pad and watts insulated pipe is coming from wood stove into the basement. Here start the dilemma. I have materials such as thermostats (wires run), taco pumps, thermostat controller, and mixing valves. Some of the manifolds are close (9 loop for basement, 4 loop for garage, and four loop for one zone in the house), and some are more distant. My question to you is, is there a good resource available to guide me through the construction of the control panel? Or, do I just need to bite the bullet and turn it over to the plumber and heating guys? I like doing stuff myself when I can but don't want to screw this up. Second, are control panels ever constructed exclusively with pex, or do you recommend copper. And lastly, should I invest in a crimp tool and work with that, or do I need to get a loan for a truckload of shark bites? Thanks in advance. 

9

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: New construction and ordered my burner today

« on: March 28, 2014, 09:53:12 AM »

Thanks, I appreciate it. Here in SE Ohio we have had some rough summer storms for the past two years. I have more trees down on the farm than I can keep up with so just cleaning fallen stuff should keep me supplied for a while. I'm curious, has anyone burned Tree of Heaven (http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/aial.htm)? I have a couple of growths of it that I need to kill one way or another, but I was wondering if the wood burned with any efficiency.

10

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / New construction and ordered my burner today

« on: March 28, 2014, 08:40:17 AM »

I've been doing lots of research via the web, talking to folks in person, and passively following this forum. My wife and I are building a house on our farm which does not have natural gas available. She likes her warmth so I knew electric is not going to cut it and plus I would be too frugal to use it. We have a woodstove insert in our current home and love the heat. The dirt and smoke are not so appealing. I've turned to the outdoor woodburner alternative. Ordered a Bioburn stove which is made somewhat locally in my region. I designed my own house plans which includes pex throughout the basement floor, garage floor, and sunroom concrete floor. For the main area living space I'm going to install pex under the floor. I really hope and pray I don't regret all of this. Please tell me I won't. This is a big chunk of change.