Radiant heat shared with domestic water heater.

Steverino

just to clarify your system; you have a water heater that handles both your domestic & radiant, or your water heater is (as Hot Rod mentioned) a "combo water heater", designed for both domestic HW & radiant.
This is VERY important. Domestic & radiant from ther same tank...NEVER.

Monica_2

Radiant heat shared with domestic water heater. Bad? Or not?

We recently purchased a home with radiant heat. It is connected to our hot water heater, which provides both drinking water and our radiant heat system. We are concerned about bacteria growing in the pipes when the water is stagnant in the summer months and affecting the quality of our drinking water. What do you think? A problem, or not?
We welcome any and all opinions on this matter. Thanks a lot for your time!

Ed Lentz_2

Monica,
I am surprised that I am the first to comment. I am a home owner on this forum, not a heating pro. But, in my humble opinion, you BETTER separate those two or there will be **** to pay. You are right to worry about bacteria and such. Ever hear of Legionaires disease? Search the forum for it, I think you will find alot of info on it.
Good Luck

Ed_26

dhw/heating

You need to have the system checked by an hydronic specialist - the system may not meet code, & without a heat exchanger to separate the heating from domestic water, there could bem issues with bacteria.

hr

a valid concern indeed

and why risk the chance of a bacteria issue. You are wise to question that installation.

There are many options on the market to separate the domestic side from the hydronic side, that could be added to your current heater. Flat Plate, AO Smith, ZCP, Watts Radiant and others make prefabed panels for this.

The most common is a plate type heat exchanger and an additional circulator. Contact a knowledgable hydronics guy and get some options.

Or you may consider an upgrade to a high efficiency heater and DHW indirect tank or a combo boiler with DHW built in.


hot rod

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Joe Mattiello

Hi
You definitely went to the right web site for your Hydronic heating questions (it’s a real bird)! You will get some great feed back including mine, which is a product specifically designed for such an application. The Taco, X-Pump block has two circulators one that is variable speed and the other is set speed with an integral heat exchanger to separate the two mediums. For your reference I attached some literature on this innovative product.

Monica_2

Radiant heat shared with domestic water heater.

Steverino-
How can I tell which type my hot water heater is? Can an untrained person look at the system and know? What do I look for?
Thanks!

Monica_2

For Steverino re: radiant/domestic mix

I called the 1-800 number on the heater and they said that the unit is not designed for other purposes, not a combo unit. But he said it does not mean that things could not be added to it. Does that mean it is not safe? I'm not sure how to gather more info and determine if it is or isn't a problem. Any ideas? Thanks so much!!

Ed Lentz_2

Monica, If you can provide a picture, maybe the pros here could help you out. Just as good, use the find a Pro and get someone local to look at it in person.

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_1

some details

Monica,

See if this helps clarify the issues.

www.healthyheating.com/tools/Dave%20Yates%20H20%20vs%20Boiler.pdf

RianS

Drinking water?

Monica, never use water from a water heater to cook with or drink. Even if you only use a water heater for hot water, you should never drink it. Some water heaters were made with a coil installed inside for space heating. They usually have 2 pipes coming out the top for the domestic water and 2 pipes coming out the side for space heating.