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Re: Wacky old House Question
Hello Fred,
An open loop system would be capable but very expensive to drill and then you have to worry about a possible refrigerant and lubrication leak in the future or sooner from a failed compressor that would pollute the water table and upset the neighbors as the water would be contaminated FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your 15-20K estimate for a geothermal open system well is much too low as you may be looking at $100.00 a foot of steel cased well to bed rock with a sand mix concrete annulus poured and pushed into the well casing with a pipe swab pushing concrete through the casing and out up through the annulus of the well bore up all the way to the surface plus a concrete pad surrounding the well to divert surface run off, plus a well screen, the cost of a jet pump, and secondary pressure tank if used and building permits to name but a few items.
Do not ever let anyone tell you that a geothermal grouted system is more efficient!!!!! it is not!! this is because clay geothermal grout is a net insulator and mason sand is a better heat exchanger in a closed loop system but you still have to worry about a refrigerant leak and compressor failure that would cause a refrigerant leak with both a closed and open geothermal system.
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Coming back to what you have, as you have coal, a coal bin and furnace ducting already that may still be in good condition I would find a EFM stoker coal stove dealer near you and ask them to give you an estimate for a coal stoker furnace and or coal stoker boiler with an in plenum heat exchanger to heat your home and ask about selling the coal you have to a local coal yard or coal user to make room for the new coal you would need as it will cost you much less to heat this home with coal and your payback will be immediate.
You will spend a great deal less money on a coal stoker furnace or coal stoker boiler from EFM and you will save a great deal of money on heating and you can also make all your domestic hot water the year round if you wish to do that as well.
Please send me a PM as I would be more than happy to help you with this if you have questions as I have been a heating my home with coal since 1982 and its easy to manage especially with a coal stoker boiler as the heat is smooth and even.
The EFM companies phone number is 570-385-1892 and they will help you with any questions that you may have and who the local EFM dealer is in your area.
If your coal bin has rice coal in it, you will be able to use it in either the EFM DF-520 coal stoker boiler with a heat exchanger in the furnace plenum or the EFM AF model warm air furnace to heat your home.
Leon
An open loop system would be capable but very expensive to drill and then you have to worry about a possible refrigerant and lubrication leak in the future or sooner from a failed compressor that would pollute the water table and upset the neighbors as the water would be contaminated FOREVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Your 15-20K estimate for a geothermal open system well is much too low as you may be looking at $100.00 a foot of steel cased well to bed rock with a sand mix concrete annulus poured and pushed into the well casing with a pipe swab pushing concrete through the casing and out up through the annulus of the well bore up all the way to the surface plus a concrete pad surrounding the well to divert surface run off, plus a well screen, the cost of a jet pump, and secondary pressure tank if used and building permits to name but a few items.
Do not ever let anyone tell you that a geothermal grouted system is more efficient!!!!! it is not!! this is because clay geothermal grout is a net insulator and mason sand is a better heat exchanger in a closed loop system but you still have to worry about a refrigerant leak and compressor failure that would cause a refrigerant leak with both a closed and open geothermal system.
================================================================
Coming back to what you have, as you have coal, a coal bin and furnace ducting already that may still be in good condition I would find a EFM stoker coal stove dealer near you and ask them to give you an estimate for a coal stoker furnace and or coal stoker boiler with an in plenum heat exchanger to heat your home and ask about selling the coal you have to a local coal yard or coal user to make room for the new coal you would need as it will cost you much less to heat this home with coal and your payback will be immediate.
You will spend a great deal less money on a coal stoker furnace or coal stoker boiler from EFM and you will save a great deal of money on heating and you can also make all your domestic hot water the year round if you wish to do that as well.
Please send me a PM as I would be more than happy to help you with this if you have questions as I have been a heating my home with coal since 1982 and its easy to manage especially with a coal stoker boiler as the heat is smooth and even.
The EFM companies phone number is 570-385-1892 and they will help you with any questions that you may have and who the local EFM dealer is in your area.
If your coal bin has rice coal in it, you will be able to use it in either the EFM DF-520 coal stoker boiler with a heat exchanger in the furnace plenum or the EFM AF model warm air furnace to heat your home.
Leon
leonz
1
Re: Situational Water Hammer
@mattmia2 That was exactly it! I added water and it stopped.
Basically, there is a point that is still a couple inches above the low water cutoff where the boiler water level drops below the low return line, allowing steam to enter the low return and causing the obvious water hammer.
I had all this return replaced two years ago when it corroded through and I guess the installer sloped it a little to high. It wasn't caught during testing because you would tend to test at a normal-full water level, not a below normal water level (in other words, I don't particularly fault the installer here).
My boiler water line is nominally 10" above the low (wet) return. I am going to try to adjust the pipe stands and even turn the elbow at the drop to try to lower the corner point of my wet return and inch or two.
This leads me to the following question: what is the no boloney minimum pipe slope I can get away with? I assume that the design is 1/4" per foot standard for drainage, and we are talking a 40-50ft pipe run - can I reduce to 1/8" per foot (more like 3/16" or 7/32" over this distance) or would a false water line be the better choice?
Or could I put a thermostatic trap on the line at this point - is that what you mean? What product and size would I use?
Remember I still can't find a true boiler mechanic in WNY and will likely be doing this myself.
Basically, there is a point that is still a couple inches above the low water cutoff where the boiler water level drops below the low return line, allowing steam to enter the low return and causing the obvious water hammer.
I had all this return replaced two years ago when it corroded through and I guess the installer sloped it a little to high. It wasn't caught during testing because you would tend to test at a normal-full water level, not a below normal water level (in other words, I don't particularly fault the installer here).
My boiler water line is nominally 10" above the low (wet) return. I am going to try to adjust the pipe stands and even turn the elbow at the drop to try to lower the corner point of my wet return and inch or two.
This leads me to the following question: what is the no boloney minimum pipe slope I can get away with? I assume that the design is 1/4" per foot standard for drainage, and we are talking a 40-50ft pipe run - can I reduce to 1/8" per foot (more like 3/16" or 7/32" over this distance) or would a false water line be the better choice?
Or could I put a thermostatic trap on the line at this point - is that what you mean? What product and size would I use?
Remember I still can't find a true boiler mechanic in WNY and will likely be doing this myself.
KarlW
1
Re: Install of the Year!
Yes, because no pro would ever dare!
Were they using copper on steam 37 years ago ? I thought that was a relatively new thing with less Pros in the field..
Re: Triangle Tube Prestige 110 noise
Fan, venturi or both. Find good Triangle tube boiler mechanic in your area. Make sure boiler combustion chamber and tubes are cleaned out while at it otherwise you will ruin what you have already done. Just fyi, boiler is at or near end of life. 15 yrs is pretty close to their lifespan. So could be putting good money before bad. ( could be opposite, phrase always messes with my head).
Re: Install of the Year!
Like @Mad Dog_2 said if they knew any better, they wouldn't have put their name on it. They were proud of it.
Re: Extension radiators don't get as hot as the rest of the building
Is there any banging in the extension radiators? You might want to speed up the venting on the mains and slow down the venting on the radiators in the non extension part of the house
Re: Boiler can't keep up
Interesting way to install a strainer. With the drain on the top. I thought that water drained down in the northern hemisphere and it drained up in the souther hemisphere. 
Is your plumber from Australia?
Makes me wonder if your installer understands basic law of gravity?!? Hope his boss designed the overall system.
Is your plumber from Australia?
Makes me wonder if your installer understands basic law of gravity?!? Hope his boss designed the overall system.
Re: Can you use type M copper pipe?
It's a pretty significant price difference, close to 30%.
For a couple lengths you'll stick to L then when you start getting into larger quantities you want to check code book. Usually how it goes...
For a couple lengths you'll stick to L then when you start getting into larger quantities you want to check code book. Usually how it goes...
dko
1