glycol ?

Derheatmeister

And what happens with the rest of the house??

The costumer walks in to a cascading frozen waterfall down the stair way just to find out they never knew that the system had failed !

It is to bad that the Gas Valve had failed and there was no freeze Alarm to notify them !

But we saved the Heating system so that the Construction site will be warm when the Plumbing and interior is redone.

I too am not a big fan of Glycol and especially not -25F !
unless it is on a Snow melt or a solar system, I like to (If necessary) keep it around 0F in conjunction with a low temp Alarm but again that depends on the situation!!

Also: one shall pay attention to the PH !!

PLUMBARIS

Glycol ?

Have a client that wants Gycol in his new radiant system. Does someone know the efficiency loss for a 30% and 50% mixture.

kpc_45

Glycol sucks.

@ 50% figure 10% loss. Unless there is a huge chance of freezing it will create all kinds of issues. Leaks, extrol tank undersizing, and will be harder to circulate. The system has to be very clean to really have a long life. It will reqiure regular maintainance....

PLUMBARIS

Not in favor

I'm not in favor of using it on this system, the house has an alarm system with temp sensors and I think its overkill but he says what if.

Chris Norton

Glycol

Over the years I have debated both pros and cons for antifreeze in hydronic systems and here is the culmination of my limited knowledge.

Up here in Maine when it is -15 and the wind is howling a seasonal or intermittent use home will freeze and burst VERY quickly. Radiant systems are prone to freezing close to the frostwalls on the foundation if that zone is not calling for an extended period of time. We have found that it is safer just to use glycol and plan for it when designing. Pumps, fittings, loss of heat transfer have to be considered.

30% will protect below -25 F so that is more than enough unless you are further north than I am. I don't perticularly like it but, it is cheaper than a frozen house.

Chris Norton

Sometimes -25 isn't enough.

There are a few extreme cases where -25 isn't enough up here in the frozen tundra.

Of course a monitoring system is required, or a caretaker if that is you budget, the use of glycol buys you time. I am speaking primarily of vacation or intermittent use homes and some radiant systems. Everything has its uses and applications.