indirect pump with steam boiler

steve_173

Are there any particular pump recommendations for use with an indirect and a steam boiler?

Does anyone know if the 30% of 30% of fuel used is accurate for a rough savings with an indirect. A Superstor distributor mentioned this to me.

Unknown

30% over a tankless coil?

Possible. I'm getting at least that with a Peerless steamer and a Laars indirect water heater. I ran the tankless all last winter, and the savings is pretty substancial.

If the water use is conservative, the savings will be pretty high.

If they use boatloads of hot water, not so much. The boiler will run all day, both ways, in that case.

I did this...

http://steamheating.googlepages.com/zoneheatingwithcondensate

Steamhead (in transit)

The right pump

is a bronze 3-piece circ such as the B&G 100AB, Taco 110B or similar. The little wet-rotor circs are not recommended as the water in a steam boiler can be hard on them.

Here's one we installed on a Smith G-8, this feeds a baseboard loop but an indirect setup would be similar. The circ is all the way at the back, well below the boiler's waterline so it won't cavitate.

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steve_173

I'm confused. Your indirect saved 30% over a tankless coil? or your tankless coil saved 30% over the indirect? I'm trying to compare a standard hot water heater to an indirect.

That diagram doesn't deal with tempering so that the water isn't so hot from the steam boiler.

steve_173

How are Grundfos? The regional Superstor distributor recommended these. I was a bit surprised to learn that have have to replace about 20 Superstor tanks a year that fail. They do sell several thousand.

They said the piping is critical and the boiler water must be tempered. They suggested in my case hooking a 60 gallon Superstor to the 2/3 capacity G8. (They thought the tandem G8s were too complex with respect to header layout, but wished me luck.)

steve_173

It's off topic, but I see you have what looks like fiberglass insulation in your pictures. Have you tried any of the various hot pipe coatings? I'm considering using only hot pipe coating instead of fiberglass for the new pipes and to replace the removed asbestos.

Steamhead (in transit)

Grundfos

doesn't make a residential 3-piece circ as far as I know.

That is fiberglass on the steam pipes- not familiar with "hot-coating", can you elaborate?

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kpc_40

Don't use....

either on steam... foam pipe insulation will melt and the Grundfos will not last very long...kpc

steve_173

Are there any differences between the B&G, Taco , etc? Or is it just personal preference. Should you get the special high temperature seals or are the regular ones ok? Do you need to temper the water or can these pumps take the heat?

I'm not referring to foam insulation. I'm referring to Hot Pipe Coating, which is a ceramic paint designed to reduce radiation of heat from the pipe as opposed to reducing convection like fiberglass insulation. The pipes will remain hotter which they claim reflects the fact that less heat has been lost from the pipes.
http://www.spicoatings.com/products/hpc_coating/

There also might be a competing product from http://fginternational.net/

Tim_65

Strainer

Im going to install an indirect in the next few weeks.

What mesh strainer would be used? 20?