What a year 2009 was

Simply Rad

After a rough start to say the least 2009 ended in a great note for me.  After 2.5yrs and many sleepless nights, the Srednicki project is completed.  I have do may projects but none near as challenging as this.  It was challenging from start to end.  I definitely have mixed emotions about projects of this caliber. 



18,000 ft2 of heated space.  Primary heat source is Geo-exchange, using 3 10-ton Econar W to W heat pumps.  Each HP is attached to a Lake Plate heat exchanger, which sits 15' deep in a stream feed pond.  The Geo-X heats 36 zones of Warmboard radiant floor heating, 1 stage of fan coil supplemental heating for the great room.  31 zones use the Oventrop non electric thermostats.  The other 5 zones are heating/cooling and we used Tekmar t-stats to control fan coils.

The great room 546 Tekmar uses 3-084 flush mount sensors to average the room temps.

The radiant heating and cooling both use Wilo Stratos pumps for constant circulation and pressure.  The Geo-X also preheats the DHW using a Turbo Max reverse in-direct tank. 



Next, we are using two Vitodens 15-60 boilers to back the Geo-X, provide heat for 2 zones of snow melt, and top off the DHW.



The control is my favorite part.  A job of this magnitude needs a BRAIN.  Thank to the help of KWE(Viessmann controls) we gave it some serious gray matter.  All the components communicate and work together.  Easy to use too.  I couldn't imagine trying to create this myself.  Also, a complete manual which documents the control.



<strong>HUGE THANKS</strong> to the following people.  I could not have done it with out you!

<strong>ME..Mark Eatherton</strong> for all the help,education and guidance

<strong>Sound Geothermal</strong> for the Geo-X design, sales and support

<strong>Jason Harris</strong> of Viessmann...the man

<strong>Kaz at KWE</strong> for answering all of my questions patiently and for a great product

and yea to the gang at <strong>Low Energy Systems</strong> for being there!





CHEERS to 2010

Simply Rad

More pics

I forgot to mention that with 18,000ft2 you would think I could get some room...NOT.

The main mech room is 300ft2.  i am sharing it with water pump system, 3-eletrical panels and the elevator control.  They all required 3' of clearance.  I was lucky to get 1" of clearance on some of our components



I spoke to the architect at the end of the project.  I should him the room and told him to think more about the mechanical system on the next home and not just give me a closet. He said"you should be happy because it all(equipment) fit"  I should have clocked him right there.  He made my life very difficult with a closet for a mech room and no dropped ceiling in the entire home.



Jeffrey

Simply Rad

More pics

More pics



jeffrey

Mark Eatherton

Congratulations!

I do hope you intend to enter that job in the annual RPA Show Case Awards. It deserves some attention.



Kudos to all your wrenchers as well. 5 pounds of sugar in a two pound bag for sure.



ME

NRT_Rob

wow

that's an amazing job jeffrey. beautiful work with limited space. that control panel is over the top pretty!



it looks like you have oventrop variable flow actuators on your radiant manifold... that's a neat idea. what manifold is that, and is it built for variable flow actuation? does that really work smoothly?



looks like you have everything plus a couple kitchen sinks in this one. must have been an interesting challenge for sure.

Simply Rad

Lake plate pics

Yep, the Wrenchers.....Matt Beck, Larry McCoskery and Bryon Idzahl.  Couldn't have done it without them. 



NRT Rob. The Manifolds are made by Caleffi for IPEX.  I have used this set up for years and no problems with variable flow.  I do not think that there is a variable flow manifold.  I set up at the zone full flow and then attach the Oventrop and ........wa la it works like a charm.  I like the preassemble manifolds.  They are built for accuracy and most of all service.  They are easy to isolate the zone and each individual loop, eliminate air, and purge if needed. 

Yea this one was over the top.  The owner is no in and loves the systems.  Had a few issues, but easy to fix by adjust the manifolds.  So far so good. We already had a big test on the system too,   for a week the nite time lows were  -20F with one nite down to -33F. Like most they were alittle reluctant about the Oventrops but now they like them better than the Tekmars.



 Jeffrey

NRT_Rob

great idea jeffrey

especially because it works

Simply Rad

No comments?

I worked long and way to hard on this project and this is all the feed back I get? 

trying to keep the post alive.



jeffrey

Mark Eatherton

I have a question about the pond loop...

I understand that there is depth to the pond, and assume it will not freeze at those depths, and that there is some flow maintained thru the pond, even during the winter months. How does Sound Geothermal determine the feasibility of the pond loop for heating. Is is based on unfrozen surface area below the water, or is it a combination of thru flow and surface area?



I know there is a project in Grand County that uses a pond loop, and from my understanding, it gets turned into a solid block of ice every winter (poor fishies...) which doesn't seem very efficient to me.



Thanks for contributing Jeff.



ME

Simply Rad

Answer

ME

I just contacted Sound GT and should them heating help for the first time.  I  am hoping that they will help and answer your question exactly the way they designed it.  Maybe another resource for the wall.  

Last week I check and the fluid temperature of one of the HX was 39F. 

My biggest challenge with the pond is rotating the HP lead/lag daily to ensure equal lake plate temps.If one is leading to much it drops to low temps(18F) because it is providing most of the energy.   We still have air in the system that we will address this summer.  But as of right now its working pretty well and the customer is happy.

Jeffrey