Solar assisted Radiant floor

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I like that you include the nice, viewable flow indicators. That looks like a dual coil tank? Is that a common in stock tank? Is it available in 60 gallon capacities? Readily available?

hot rod

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Wayco Wayne_2

Got a call

asking about solar assisted radiant floors. It just so happens I got an E-mail about a class about such a set up. It's a sign, I'm sure of it. It would be fun playing around with solar panels. Has anyone out there have any experience in this area??? WW

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Ron Schroeder_3

Rob Waters at Viessmann can help you

wtr@viessmann.com is really good with this kind of problem. He has been working with this solar stuff forover ten years and has come to recognize the pitfalls and design considerations that will make your project successful.

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Solar of a different

kind, passive. the new issue of Radiant Living has a good article on radiant and passive solar, "Renewable Warmth". A very tricky design challange under best of circumstances

I've played around with solar radiant in my shop. The key is collecting and holding this energy until the building needs it. Insulated storage becomes one of the biggest obstacles. You need the heat most, when the sun is not shinning. Like cold winter's nights :

I still say sell SDHW first this is less expensive and consumed just about every day.

Keep in mind the recently passed energy bill has some alternate energy tax credits, something like 30%. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick I think it kicks in Jan 1. 06?

Be interested in hearing what you learn at the class. Is this part of the Solar Decalathon programs?

hot rod

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Andrew Hagen (ALH)

Be Prepared

We're working on some different storage tank and heat exchanger designs and getting more interest in solar every day. Dale's probably drawing as I type this.

30% up to $2000 on solar hot water. 25% up to $3000 on renewable energy sources.

One of our goals is to have high quality $6667 SDHW kits available as of the 1st of the year....maximize that tax credit. ;-)

-Andrew

Tom_35

Andrew--

Keep up posted on the developments. We did solar back in the 80's but when the tax credits went away, so did the requests.

An affordable system would really get some things started for homeowners.

Tom Atchley
Ft. Smith, AR

Andrew Hagen (ALH)

A good reason

to make it just "one" of our goals. ;-)

Hopefully there will be a larger alternative energy market for good.

Or maybe we'll see cheap fuel again, and the tax credits will disappear. In any case,let's make hay while the sun shines.

-Andrew

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I'm all ears, also, Andrew

You wouldn't have one available for my mid October FarmFest. I expect 40,000 people to walk through the gates from a 5 state area. I'm sure solar will be a big crowd pleaser this year.

I've been shopping all week for prepackaged SDHW systems.

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Speaking of solar DHW

http://www.pmmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2379,159205,00.html

You will have to wait for the hard copy to see more pics of this neat system.

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Wayco Wayne_2

Very cool article

That's thinking ahead. The Solar and Radiant Floor,class is part of the Solar 2005 Conference being held in Wash DC the 2nd week of October. The Solar Decathlon is also part of the conference. I have a group of friends interested in heading down to see that the next day after the class. The Class is being put on by RPA member Peter Biondi, from Arizona. I met with the Homeowner yesterday. He doesn't seem to know much about Solar yet. He may be in tune with the Tax credits available as his motivation. I invited him along to take the class with me. Ground source heat pump might be a possibility too. Who knows? WW

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Wayco Wayne_2

Andrew!

Sounds like I should find out who you are and what you know. Let me know more about your Solar set up. WW

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Dave Yates (PAH)

not baaaaaad indeed!

Great job on the article!

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Andrew Hagen (ALH)

SDHW

The 13 Mile Sheep Ranch was a somewhat unique situation, but a perfect application for solar. Courtney and Dale made that project go without a hitch.

We're currently gathering the materials to build a prototype tank and heat exchangers. We need to do testing and work out some of the details.

As far as SDHW, we're keeping it pretty simple. The photos are of a system installed last year. There are two Vitosol 100 collectors connected to a Crown MS-119 controlled by a Tekmar 155. It's pre-heating an MS-53.

-Andrew

Man with a question

Solar and Radiant

I use solar quite a bit with radiant here in Southern California. My primary zone of operations is right along the Pacific coast where it can be quite overcast.

Evacuated Tube type solar collectors perform much better than flat-plate models in winter and/or overcast conditions -- exactly when you need it most for Radiant.

A typical installation is a 80 gallon solar tank piped to a gas auxilliary with a heat exchanger off the water heater to supply radiant loads.



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Andrew Hagen (ALH)

High Desert

That installation is near Whitehall, MT. The wind really whips there. We had to make sure the panels were very securely mounted.

We're using 53 gallon tanks with a single collector and 119 gallon tanks with two collectors. The Mega Stor tanks are single coil. Both the potable and heating connections are on the side of the tank on the 119 gallon model.

-Andrew

Constantin

Take Classes!

Getting solar to work well without having the benefit of OTJ experience requires a class or two to understand all the factors. Up in the northeast, we have so little insolation in the winter that using solar for heating the structure poses a overhating problem in the summer (10-1 difference).

In areas like Montana, Colorado, etc. where you have 300+ days of sunshine a year, solar systems are not only easier to work with (in terms of payback, control, etc.) but also a lot easier to use for heating because the sun doesn't dissappear from use just as you need it most.

I also recommend the tools developed by the canadian government at retscreen.net to help people determine what kinds of solar systems to install. They're free tools but they only run on Windows versions of M$ Excel.

Andrew Hagen (ALH)

Crown

does have stainless steel dual coil tanks available in small quantities. They're available in 79 and 119 gallon models.

-Andrew

Ed_32

packaged SDHW system

checkout Heliodyne.com for packaged systems that are fairly basic and foolproof. Ed.