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Re: Replacing Oil Boiler with Gas Boiler in CT
Reasons for propane over oil. 1. Propane can be sized and controlled better for small loads. 2. Propane boilers can be more readily available in condensing boilers. 3. Propane can easily be a combi boiler and occupy much less real estate than any oil options. 4. Many propane options are not club only boilers. I hate products I am expected to be a member of a secret society to install or get parts for.
Wall hung
Lochinvar combi of 199 mbtu with the heating limited to your heat load and set to a proper outdoor reset would be a great option. Any smaller would be disappointing to anyone besides the most frugal of hot water users with New England ground water temperatures.
Wall hung
Lochinvar combi of 199 mbtu with the heating limited to your heat load and set to a proper outdoor reset would be a great option. Any smaller would be disappointing to anyone besides the most frugal of hot water users with New England ground water temperatures.
Re: Taco Circulator pump, I think I need to change it out
I always suggest upgrading a failed circ to an ECM style. They are DC motors, so more torque, use less energy, and have some have anti stick function.
The new electronic Grundfos 15-58E and Alpha 15-58 will actually attempt to drive the motor forward and back when they sense a stuck rotor. It attempts this several times, errors, waits a period and tries again. After so many attempts it locks out and can send a message to you on the Alpha version. Dry run, air locked is also a nice function.
The guts are all non metallic to help eliminate magnetite caused sticking.
https://www.grundfos.com/us/support/how-to-guides/upse-replacement-and-installation-overview
The new electronic Grundfos 15-58E and Alpha 15-58 will actually attempt to drive the motor forward and back when they sense a stuck rotor. It attempts this several times, errors, waits a period and tries again. After so many attempts it locks out and can send a message to you on the Alpha version. Dry run, air locked is also a nice function.
The guts are all non metallic to help eliminate magnetite caused sticking.
https://www.grundfos.com/us/support/how-to-guides/upse-replacement-and-installation-overview
hot_rod
2
Re: LP smaller diameter = higher pressure/BTUs? True??
@GroundUp you are mistaken on the 1/2" to the house from the tank. you are looking at the ips chart to get over 700k. in the rego book, 1/2" copper at 10# is only good for 269k at 175'.Actually you are mistaken, because you're only looking at the 1 PSI pressure drop chart. The drop here is over 9.5 PSI. My 750k figure was actually quite conservative.
@rbphhc can you make a sketch of your interior piping with sizes and lengths and loads and we can tell you what they will need to do for interior piping.
GroundUp
2
Re: Thoughts On "Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide..." by Ramlow & Nusz
Sun Bandit was one of the first PV direct to DHW tank system. The appeal was it was a standalone DHW system that didn’t require all the permits and utility tie in paperwork, approval, etc. It doesn’t connect into your homes electrical system.
super simple install no piping, pumps, fluid involved. A wire from the PV module to the controller on the tank. If the tank runs dry, the small element pops, not unlike an old flash bulb, no safety or fire hazard inside the tank. Size the PV module to the amount of DHW you want. Typically for small family DHW systems or as a pre-heat for the second tank or tankless.
Also know those btu outputs for ST are per day, not per hour!A solar day is generally considered 6 hours. So 39,000 per day from 1 panel, 6 hours to get there.
So when you start talking about producing and storing a days worth of energy, be realistic. Depending on your heat load, you are talking a thousand gallons or more of insulated storage. They usually an open unpressurized tank to be remotely affordable in those capacities American solar technics, Tom up in Maine has been building those knock down tanks since the 1970s.
super simple install no piping, pumps, fluid involved. A wire from the PV module to the controller on the tank. If the tank runs dry, the small element pops, not unlike an old flash bulb, no safety or fire hazard inside the tank. Size the PV module to the amount of DHW you want. Typically for small family DHW systems or as a pre-heat for the second tank or tankless.
Also know those btu outputs for ST are per day, not per hour!A solar day is generally considered 6 hours. So 39,000 per day from 1 panel, 6 hours to get there.
So when you start talking about producing and storing a days worth of energy, be realistic. Depending on your heat load, you are talking a thousand gallons or more of insulated storage. They usually an open unpressurized tank to be remotely affordable in those capacities American solar technics, Tom up in Maine has been building those knock down tanks since the 1970s.
hot_rod
1
Re: Thoughts On "Solar Water Heating: A Comprehensive Guide..." by Ramlow & Nusz
I have been involved with lots of projects that went for the big solar heating fractions and very few of them are operational. Drainbacks help avoid fluid stagnation but the collectors are going to expand and contract significantly. Seen more than a few with the absorber plates loose from the riser tubes. The best results I have seen for large solar heating fractions have come from "seasonal storage" tanks with 10:1 storage:glazing or even bigger. In terms of text for solar thermal, Planning & Installing Solar Thermal Systems by Earthscan Publishing is the best I have found.
solsean
1
Re: Solar paired with phase change material
"but i think the Heat exchanger design may be challenging." Got it in one, @Derheatmeister . The problem is that if the storage material is not in some interesting way crystals in suspension when it is in the solid phase, you become dependent on the heat transfer capabilities of the solid phase to get heat in -- or out -- of the liquid phase, which will be at some distance from your circulating fluid.
Given enough time, you could change the phase of any amount of material with even pretty crude heat exchanger designs -- but to get any reasonably rapid storage or release of heat, seems to me (just paper napkin thinking here) you are going to need a pretty fancy design with many very small diameter clustered tube bundles or interleaved flat plates.
Something to think about while I go plow some snow...
Given enough time, you could change the phase of any amount of material with even pretty crude heat exchanger designs -- but to get any reasonably rapid storage or release of heat, seems to me (just paper napkin thinking here) you are going to need a pretty fancy design with many very small diameter clustered tube bundles or interleaved flat plates.
Something to think about while I go plow some snow...
Yes, Rheems HPWH's will override your settings.
It's been discussed before if, at least rheems anyways, will override the settings if set to HP only.
Some didn't believe me when I said it can and will do that. Well tonight I can conclusively say that it will. I watched it. Multiple loads of laundry, and loads in the dish washer, a few showers, plus the very cold late January fresh water coming in caused it to run both the elements and the compressor while set to heat pump only.
It is interesting that I could see what it was doing when probed by the home automation but the actual econet app didn't show that the elements were running too. I figured it out when I looked at the current power consumption and noticed I was using almost 7500 watts.
Some didn't believe me when I said it can and will do that. Well tonight I can conclusively say that it will. I watched it. Multiple loads of laundry, and loads in the dish washer, a few showers, plus the very cold late January fresh water coming in caused it to run both the elements and the compressor while set to heat pump only.
It is interesting that I could see what it was doing when probed by the home automation but the actual econet app didn't show that the elements were running too. I figured it out when I looked at the current power consumption and noticed I was using almost 7500 watts.
JakeCK
1
Re: LP smaller diameter = higher pressure/BTUs? True??
Butane has the highest BTU valve of all flammable games, I believe. MD
