radiant in a green house?

J.C.A._3

I came in AFTER all the tubing was layed and the boiler,a H.S.Tarm wood/oil combination was on site but not set up. (piles and piles of boxes!)

The owner did her own homework and the theory was pretty sound.The layout of the distribution panel wasn't mine either. I would have gone for a little more room, as I needed a wrist in the middle of my forearm to get this beast piped and looking acceptable.
The buffer tank carries the load for the greenhouse and a 3 way mixer off of the primary loop is handling the office slab. The unit has been up and running for a couple months now and she has burned less than a 1/4 tank of fuel. BTW, we had an exceptionally cold and wet spring. The degree days were piling up at an alarming rate and it just seems to work with all that mass very well.

2 of the coils in the buffer tank are for the heating and the third is for domestic hot water. The well water gets pretty cold during the winter so she wanted to be able to temper it so as not to suck all the heat from the beds when watering. (like I said, she had some sound thoughts on the system as a whole)

I'm just waiting for the fall to get over there and learn along with the owner all the things that need to be done to have a wood fire burning . Apparently the variable speed blower built into this unit helps it achieve some really clean and thoruough wood fires. The book says you can load this thing 3 times and the ash tray, which is about 20X12X3" will not yet be full.(gassification of the wood as I understand it...)

I had to figure the control stradegy for the individual beds. She explained that they will require different temps for different crops during the 4 seasons. I chose to go with 1 Tekmar 150 for the common and perimiter areas and to use the 152's (dual setpoint controls) for the individual beds(4). I sunk Tekmar 079 sensors in the beds , a few inches below the surface and like hot rod, put them into tubes for ease of replacement. I don't know what kind of stress the soil will put on the sensors or the wires, so I figure better safe than sorry.She insists that there will be no artificial fertilizers, but natural one can be nasty too!

I've had some of the fruit of the bounty already and must say that the herbs and greens are outstanding. She grew some mustard greens that were like leafy wasabi. The sweat just poured off after a couple of tastes.

Like I said, it was quite a learning experience. I enjoyed it and hope to continue to reap the benefits of fresh herbs and veggies during the winter months. Chris

GW

radiant in a green house?

Hi gang

Is there any thing I need to know about radiant in a green house? I've done plenty in normal residential settings. Thanks for any help

gary wilson
www.wilsonph.com

Unknown

Green house for growing plants, or Green House as in designed to be environmentally friendly?

J.C.A._3

If it's for growing...

I finished this one in the spring. 6 zones of radiant, 1 for the office and 5 for the vegatable beds.

Different to say the least, but I learned alot!

I'll help all I can. All you gotta do is ask. Chris

J.C.A._3

If it's for growing...

I finished this one in the spring. 6 zones of radiant, 1 for the office and 5 for the vegatable beds.

Different to say the least, but I learned alot!

I'll help all I can. All you gotta do is ask. Chris

GW

for plant life

thanks,

gw

Weezbo

That was a cool deal ....what sources did you look into...?

climate control is a Large Topic ....convection heat + radiant+ventilation+/- humidity...

Simply Rad_2

Thinking out of the box

Great job Chris.
I really enjoy learning while experimenting. It is great to to make educated experiments, instead of just guessing. Sounds like everyone one did their home work including the home owners. Are you using an aquastat to control the buffer tank temp?
Jeffrey

J.C.A._3

Rad,

Another thing built into the "package". The sensor attached to the buffer tank, lets the boiler know when to fire and is overkill in my estimation. (there must be an easier way....)

The control, with an extended bulb was/is equivelant to a Honeywell 8124, but is "switched" to the boiler main control via 24V instead of using 120 V,through the ZC/ZR contacts. B-1 not used.
It uses the low limit to keep itself at a constant temp, but also has a differential to keep it from going overboard. The high limit sends a signal to the main control to both shut down, and to "purge" some of the overheat back to the buffer,and the boiler control, thruogh the master control recognizes the command, thus keeping it from firing. I believe the factory provided 3 way mixer is a Thermomax, with a fixed set point of 72° C (about 165°F).

Like I said earlier, A total learnig curve and experience . I'm still waiting for the wood fire to have a total grasp on the boiler.