Best Of
Re: Indirect water heater operation sequence
Once the 160 degree boiler water starts adding heat to the indirect it will fall rapidly in temp, there isn't a whole lot of heat stored in the couple gallons of water stored in the boiler. If the aquastat had multiple setpoints and had a setpoint of say 155 for the indirect call, the boiler temp would drop and it would fire pretty soon after the start of the indirect call anyhow. Since you need the return water temp to get up to 140 pretty quickly after a start of a call for the indirect to prevent condensing of products of combustion in your cast iron boiler there isn't going to be a lot you can do with reducing the setpoint for the DHW call. Energy Kinetics does some dynamic control of the setpoint when they are heating an indirect but it is unlikely you would ever save enough to cover the cost of changing the controls.
mattmia2
Re: Trane Air Handler Fan Constantly Running
Without an EPA license your not allowed to gauge up!
pecmsg
Re: Hartford Loop design origin
A Hartford Loop is a Dam..keeps the water up high. Mad Dog
Re: Copper to Pex in hydronic heating for DIY
after you solder them and they cool down heat them back up and take them apart you will see where the solder flowed .
- clean the fittings good with sand cloth, scotchbrite and or cleaning brushes. For the fittings I buy a cleaning brush and cut the handle off. Chuck the brush in a drill. It makes very quick work of cleaning the fittings
- Controlling the heat is the key. Its better to start with to little heat you don't want to overheat the fittings.
- clean the tubing with sand cloth or scotchbrite
- apply flux to the end of the tube. just a thin film
Practice makes perfect. Most say for 1/2" tubing use 1/2" of solder, 1" tubing 1" of solder etc. a little more is ok. You want the solder to flow so pull the heat away when the solder starts to flow, you can reheat if needed.
The solder follows the heat and you want the solder to pull in so with a coupling you would aplpy the heat to the center of the coupling with an elbow you apply the heat to where the end of the tube is inside the fitting.
Doing the bottom of a fitting on a vertical pipe is a little more difficult. Kepp the heat higher on the fitting to pull the solder up. Use minimal heat. Don't heat the pipe below the fitting or the solder will fall out of the joint and flow down.
After soldering have a dry rag to wipe the excess solder off. Do this gently to not disturb the joint.
It sound more difficult than it is. With a little practice you will be fine. Water in the pipe is your enemy.
Re: DMConsult for Preferred Sales, Inc, (PSI)
I like the company name and the associated initials (PSI). No pressure here 🤣!
Re: Copper to Pex in hydronic heating for DIY
SharkBite is listed for that use, temperature and pressure. Large size reducing fittings are not always available.
Copper press to pex would be another good option. You can rent or borrow the press and crimp tool.
Compression fittings are also available. Use a pex fitting adapter to fit inside a coupling.Compression fittings are common in Euro hydronic systems.
hot_rod
Re: Old HP system failed: new refrigerant choice? new equipment reliability?
It is basically the same scale of project as putting new ductwork or hydronic piping and emitters in to a building, it is a lot of complicated labor to do it well and there are a lot of fiddly little parts you need to have too.
mattmia2
Re: Recommendation for highly reliable natural gas water heater?...
Hi, My approach isn't brand dependent. I'd make sure heater I got had a full, non pro-rated warranty, and hopefully good support where you are. I'd get only a six year warranty. I'd make sure the tank I got was able to accept a second, full length magnesium anode rod, and make sure the rod it comes with is magnesium, or is changed out to one. I'm not a fan of having aluminum in tap water. Beyond setting up the tank, I'd make sure the tank lived at water pressures in the 40 to 60 psi range without any big fluctuations. Finally, I'd make sure it got clean air for combustion. These days, replacing a tank can run thousands of dollars, which is why I try to keep older tanks that are in good shape, going. 😊
Yours, Larry
Re: J.P. Ward
Union factory jobs probably stand a better chance of attracting workers. $$ talks!
Unions were started to prevent factory workers from being exploited. But the wage issue probably would be higher also, further distances the factory from being competitive.
The questions to be asked is would you be willing to pay more for 100% made in USA products? How much more?
I'm not sure what you mean by the pay is good?
Average HVAC jobs pay more than factory jobs do around me, which would you chose? Which would a guidance councilor steer a hands on person too?
Most plumbing and HVAC shops around here will take you right out of high school and train you, earn while you learn the trade. Some shop pick up high school students after school for on the job training.
With the DOE being closed down, schools around here, trade tech included are loosing funding not gaining! Less affluent states when most of the factories are locating to will not have $$ to fund the shortfalls to education from the DOE
hot_rod
Re: New Propane Boiler Options
in winter months the heat comes from what ever warms the space. In the summer heat gains are from appliances, humans, but also thermal gains through ceiling, floor and wall insulation and windows. I’m sure the gains could be calculated then matched to the HPWH demand based on DHW consumption.
Thermal solar covers the majority of my DHW, and costs me a small ECM pump load :)
hot_rod