Will this work?

idahohr

I am in the process of building a new shop building: ground floor 40x48 (split down the middle into two bays) a second floor is 20x40 that will be an apartment. Each ground floor bay has 3-300' loops of 1/2"pex, the second floor has 5-300 foot loops that will be in extruded aluminum plates under subfloor. The 5" main floor slab has 2" rigid R10 insulation around perimeter and under . Walls to be R21, lid to be R49.



I want the main floor to be two zones, and the second floor a third. The heat loads for each zone are Zone #1-14,000 btu/hr, Zone# 2-9,000 btu/hr, and the second floor Zone #3-5,000 btu/hr.



My shop produces a lot of wood waste and currently it requires a fair amount of effort to get rid of it so prior to building the new shop I purchased a Heatmor outdoor wood furnace with the intentions of heating the shop with it..



I would also like to add a mod/con boiler at a later date but for now would just like to get the Heatmor up and running. This probably isn't the best approach but am running out of money.



I know this drawing isn't very detailed but basically would it work to get the Heatmor up and running?



Any suggestions would be appreaciated

SWEI

read up

http://www.caleffi.us/en_US/caleffi/Details/Magazines/pdf/idronics_10_us.pdf will give you more info on wood-fired heat sources than most pros have.

Ironman

More Info Needed

What model is the Heatrmor?



You're basically on the right track, but I would skip the zoning, it will only cause issues due to the small loads.



What kind of mixing device are you going to use on the slab? A thermostatic valve is not the correct choice: it will allow the slab to over-heat. You need a smart valve or variable speed injection mixing. Either one would modulate the mixing to match the load based on outdoor rest.

kcopp

If money...

Is getting tight then I would not spend a dime doing the anything w/ the wood. Rough-in the pex (I would keep the runs to 250 and add an extra loop) and just put in a large wood stove for the 1st floor and a gas space heater for the 2nd fl. START w/ a proper heatloss. What are you using for slab insulation?

idahohr

Thanks

SWEI, thanks for the link to the Coleffi site. There was a schematic somewhat similar to mine with the addition of a condensing boiler including an additional pump, pumping toward the heat exchanger. I assume the additional pump is because of the higher head associated with the boiler.



Thanks Iron for responding. The Heatmor is model 100 CSS.



I was hoping to have two zones on the main floor because of different uses. One side is wood shop/studio(9,000 btu/hr), the other side (14,000 btu/hr) is for equipment and vehicle repair/ parking. They are the same size floor area, but the higher heat loss is due to higher ceiling and overhead door. The thought crossed my mind that if it was treated as one zone and the comfort level determined by the occupied side, the temperature in the higher heat loss area would typically end up lower, and that would be fine but can't gurantee it would work. The ground floor slab is divided down the middle by a 2x6 wall, R21 insul. Haven't decided on what type of mixing device and am open for suggestions.



kcopp, thanks for taking the time to respond.



"If money...

Is getting tight then I would not spend a dime doing the anything w/ the wood. "



I definitely wont be spending even a dime on a large woodstove for the first floor or the gas space heater for the second floor. The zoned electric heaters that will be installed in this relatively easy to heat area (5,000 btu/hr) will suffice when the hydronic heat isn't running. Natural gas isn't available in my rural location and no propane will be installed until someday when the condensing boiler is added. The 2" rigid insulation used under slab and perimeter were Dow 25psi R10. Some 60 psi was used as well. Good advice on the heat load calcs and tube amounts.





Comments and suggestions always welcome.

h

SWEI

additional pump

Not sure exactly which diagram you were looking at, but it may have shown the mod/con tied into the secondary loop with closely spaced tees, in which case the additional pump was for the boiler, presumed to have a high head HX.  A mod/con with a low head fire-tube HX could probably be placed in series with the distribution loop, in which case I'd recommend adding bypass valves to allow boiler servicing or replacement.



An important detail that Caleffi covers well is boiler return water temp protection, to prevent condensation damage.  That and outdoor reset (motorized mixing valve or variable speed injection) are missing from most OWB installs.