To Dan Holohan

rene_4

If anyone else has any ideas, I'm sure Dan is open to hearing from you. A site for geo thermal would also be good.
Rene

rene_4

To Dan Holohan

Dan,
With the cost of fuel oil, it appears that more and more people are looking into other alternatives for heating such as solar hot water heating. I read an article in your forum the other day and you stated that you are in the process of redoing this Web site. Have you put any thought about possibly having a forum dedicated only to solar? I think this would be great for people currently into solar heating or for people just getting their feet damp doing investigating prior to jumping in. Thanks to everyone for all the good info you've provided had so far. I installed a evac system for my DHW last July and I thought I was up to speed with my system until I started reading your forum.

Rene

DanHolohan

Thanks, Rene.

Good food for thought. Thanks.

Andrew Hagen_4

Solar Forum

I have considered and suggested the same thing in the past, but in one way it is nice to have the solar mixed in with the rest of the heating threads. In my opinion, the solar industry can use some good experienced hot water guys' input on piping and control strategies. A lot of people here do both, but hydronics is their focus. It would be a shame to separate the solar and possibly lose the input of those people who don't have time to monitor two separate forums. At least that is my take on it.

Royboy

I'm with Andrew on this one

having started 30 yrs ago in solar thermal, migrated to radiant & hydronic systems, & now back focussed on solar thermal, I see solar hydronic as a subset of hydronic in general. and I think its good to to view solar info within the larger context & knowledge base of hydronic systems. it offers benefits to both solar folks who don't have the overall hydronic background and to "conventional" hydronic folk who can then start seeing solar apps as something they can add to their bag of tricks.

Roy

lee_7

What if Dan put a subsection in for solar similiar to Ask Carol for controls, Ask Tim for Gas. It could be a different folder on the main forum. That way it is seperate and still connected.

Just an idea.

Lee

hvacfreak

depends

It may not be a bad idea to seperate solar from boilers. The common ground we share...heat transfer and fluid dynamics , ones we don't ...steak versus bean sprouts and organic lettuce ? Boilers rated in " horsepower " versus 3 gpm with a 20 degree delta t ? Ok , they need to be seperate.

amhplumb_2

All good points! I'm far from a "computer expert" but maybe there's a way to code the listing of the threads. Meaning, before the original post is made the author goes over a very small check list, e.g. related to steam, hot-water, solar, or combination, etc and that could be reflected perhaps by a color code or something, without moving it to a seperate list. Just a thought!