Maybe I'm not a boiler buff

kevin coppinger_4

has one very similar to that...kpc

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Uni R_4

Maybe I’m not truly a boiler buff

You see, I don’t want a boiler in my dream home (if I ever get to build it). A boiler isn’t in the plans. As a supposed boiler buff, how can I leave behind the heart of a good home heating system? A boiler heating the home just makes the house feel that much more comfortable right?

Wrong! My boiler isn’t the heart of my heating system. If I want to use that kind of analogy then my pumps and valves are the heart. They circulate energy in the form of heat around the house/structure – that’s what a heart does and therefore the heart my system or any other hydronics systems is an assembly of pumps and valves. Okay, so maybe the boiler isn’t the heart of the heating system but a good properly sized boiler keeps a house really comfortable, right?

Wrong again!! I have a brand new boiler and do you think it keeps me warm and comfortable? Actually, it doesn’t do that at all! That duty is still performed by the same crappy looking many-times-painted-fin-tube-convectors that have been in the house for 30 years. We’re talking the lowest form of hydronic heat, yet properly controlled their comfort is undeniably very good. Well at least the heat for these convectors is coming from a boiler. No arguing with that, right?

This is the biggest wrong!!! You see, despite a signed contract saying I agreed to purchase a new boiler, a gas company that inspected my supposedly new "boiler", and even a city inspection of the new box on my wall, I am a victim of fraud. I’m not sure if the inspectors were part of the conspiracy or were just incompetent, but I was sold a bill of goods and they signed their inspection reports and passed it. They would have noticed if they tried to get it to do what it claims to do.

You see, my boiler can’t boil and I’m not joking. It can’t even flash, not that that is ever acceptable. So how can this company sell me a boiler that doesn’t boil in good faith? How do they sleep at night? Can I sue the company for false advertising and also get those inspectors fired?

If this were any other product on the planet, I probably could sue them and win. If a judge learned that the manufacturer put in multiple limitation devices all designed to ensure that my boiler can’t even reach close to 212°F or 100°C, then how else could she or he rule? Seriously!

So why can’t I sue? Because it’s a conspiracy and the whole industry and government is in on it. So if it doesn’t have to boil, then what is it?

As far as I can tell, my "boiler" is a fire breathing natural gas digesting energy converter. It is the lungs and stomach of the structural body of my home. It contains a bit of reflexive brainpower so that it can be told how to behave under certain circumstances. It’s far better for it to have these reflexes than me to have to turn different switches and valves off and on so that it can breathe and digest the right amount of fuel at the right time to maintain some comfort.

Sadly enough, my new mouth-breathing boiler is slowly polluting the world, we actually measured its' breath and confirmed that! Not as fast as the old one, but nevertheless, it is a menace to this planet and I’d prefer to have a system that doesn’t fight with us for the air we need to live.

Therefore, I really like the idea of a geothermal system for my dream home. This geothermal system won’t breathe at all; at least not locally. It’ll get its fuel from the same place as my toaster and clock radio. It’ll also convert stored solar energy from the ground into heat at a multiplied rate that makes electric rates very attractive. This multiple is in comparison to how much heat I could convert just by using resistance heating which as far as I can tell is just a fancy word for short-circuiting when you are doing it on purpose. I’ll use a fraction of the electricity this way and it will come from the grid connected to a wide variety of other energy converting sources – some less harmful to the world than others – and this in many ways will be my district heating grid. Some outside parts of it will still need to breathe to convert energy and pass it on. I’ll be as green as as the grid, well maybe 3x or more as green.

This highly efficient “non”-mouth-breathing energy converter will easily provide my dream home with an abundance of low grade / low temperature heat by leveraging some banked solar energy with a bit of energy from the grid. So what if I want a hot shower? Do I start short-circuiting the grid again? The utilities will really make me pay for doing that. Nope, for that I want to get my energy direct. Some solar tubes ought to help on that front. Why wait and draw it out of the bank when I can get it for free during the day? So that’s what I’ll do then. If worse comes to worse, I’ll leave a short-circuiting element somewhere in the system and hopefully never use it.

My big issue is what to call my utopian energy conversion system? It’ll have pipes going to glass tubes in the sky and big plastic tubes in the ground, and do way more efficient energy converting than any electric boiler. By the way, those electric boilers don’t boil or breathe either, yet they still claim to be boilers.

I think it'll probably be easiest just to work with this whole conspiracy. That way, my geothermal/solar hybrid system can still be referred to as my boiler. And better yet, I can remain a boiler buff. Phew!

Paul Fredricks_3

You say something?

ALH_4

thoughts

In my opinion, electricity is the highest form of energy we can use to power our homes. In order to move energy up the food chain, there are always losses. There are losses (efficiencies) in generation and losses in transmission. The biggest loss is the ability to store the energy. Your 3:1 COP might make your utility bill look better, but I question whether it will save the planet much more than an efficient boiler.

Yes, there are other sources of electricity than fossil fuels. They too have their drawbacks. Solar energy and pellets are my favorite fuel choices. Pellets have the advantage of being easily stored and the use of otherwise discarded material. Solar energy is a bit more difficult to store, but has the benefit of the energy itself being free, though the equipment cost makes up for a good bit of the lifetime energy cost savings.

Architects really hold the key to energy conservation in new homes. A little passive solar design, and reasonable floor layouts would go a long way. The savings from solar domestic hot water systems on every home would be staggering.

Plus I would love to have a Vitolig one day.

bob_50

Uni

I think it was Neils Bohr who said"never speak more clearly than you can think". Energy is conserved always and absolutely. :>) bob

ALH_4

energy

That depends on the control volume.

An additional consideration is the usefulness of the form into which the energy is converted.

hr

Didn't take long for the pellet

manufactures and dealers to realize the price the consumer will pay. Around here locally built pellets can be had for $174 a ton. Burned at 80% efficiencies I'm not sure it is any cheaper than LP at 90%.

Plus you need to truck them to the consumer.

That being said I am very impressed with this pellet install. It is very easy to control and feed, even clean up after, compared to a solid wood burner.

I used a HTP 20 gallon buffer to pull the radiant mixed temperature via that Caleffi 3 way mix module. Think I might not have need the buffer at all with the controlability. Maybe just a Caleffi Hydro separator on the next one.

hot rod

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