Solar Hot Water Tank supplying a radiant loop?

GCR

We are considering making an offer on a house but I have some concerns about the HVAC system. This is in the Washington DC area. Half of the house is heated by in-floor radiant. The in-floor radiant is supplied by a solar pre-heated electric water heater, A thermo-miser TM80HE installed about 10 years ago. Domestic hot water is supplied by a nearby gas on-demand hot water heater.

I'm a little concerned that a hot water heater is doing a boiler's job. I suppose in the future I could forget the solar and have a boiler do both DHW and serve the radiant. Who knows whether it makes sense to keep the solar and have an indirect tank serve the DHW. Any thoughts on how long this TM80HE should last me? It's a a few years out of warranty.

newagedawn

some radiant floors have so little btu load that a full size boiler is way oversized for the load, so some guys use WH to supply the heat demand which works, its not a common practice but does do the job nicely and the energy costs are lower, your in good shape

hot_rod

About how many square feet is 1/2 the house? How many collectors on the roof?
That is not a bad way to heat using solar for a portion of the load. When there is no solar, you have basically electric resistance heat. Any data on power bills, mainly electric costs?


If you have a boiler, when the solar tank fails you could consider an indirect solar tank, dual coil with both solar and boiler input.

With small loads and no fresh water being added that solar tank could possibly last another 10 years. Unless the operating cost is excessive, I'd let it run and see how much you enjoy radiant comfort.

GCR

Thanks all. Very helpful.