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Geothermal..do I need a buffer tank

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TonyS
TonyS Member Posts: 849
in THE MAIN WALL
Have a 2400 sf concrete radiant floor six inches thick. Adding a new w to w heat pump to an existing condensing boiler. Both units will be piped pri sec into the system which is single circ single zone. Book calls for a 40 gal min buffer tank but I would like some opinions on skipping the tank because the GEO is already hydraulically decoupled from the the system and the pad is really a huge buffer in itself. Flow through pad is more than adequate to receive Geo. Opinions Please?

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  • pecmsg
    pecmsg Member Posts: 4,880
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    Just for argument sake the 2400 Sq Ft Radiant floor what happens to your flow as the set point is reached and the water begins diverting from the loop?


    Somehow if the book calls for it, it would go in but what do I know. At the very least I would contact the Geo manufacture and explain what you have and get approval for a design change!
  • TonyS
    TonyS Member Posts: 849
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    I would imagine the same thing that happens when the buffer tank reaches temp... it shuts off.
  • TonyS
    TonyS Member Posts: 849
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    I can tell you what I know. This is in my own shop and I would prefer saving the space of a 40 gal buffer. I am not unfamiliar with these systems as my home is also a mix of high and low mass radiant heated by Geo w to w for the last 10 years. Yes the home has a buffer as the second floor system is low mass and could operate independently thus causing short cycling. As far as calling the factory...That is a joke. I had a low freon charge in a sealed w to w climate master. Looking for a t and p chart I thought I would call the factory. What I got on the tech end is what seemed to be a frantic teenager spouting off all kinds of ridiculous information. Hung up, dropped the charge and reweighed..unit is fine. What im really looking for here is some ideas on why this might not be a good idea. Also looking at setting the stat swing point to 1 to increase run time.

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