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Condensate hot water heating? Link or info?

delcrossv
delcrossv Member Posts: 1,357
in THE MAIN WALL
I have a soon to be unheated basement apartment due to insulating the mains on our 1 pipe system. I was looking here to find some info on making a condensate HW loop for the basement, but the link I found goes nowhere. Anyone have a live link or some info on adding a condensate HW loop?
Thanks!
Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.

Comments

  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,884
    Can't suggest a live link, but we've been around this barn a few times right here.

    There isn't enough heat in the returning condensate to make any difference at all in the basement. However, what is really easy to do is to add a hot water baseboard loop in the basement. So long as you keep it below the water line of the boiler it's really simple. Find a convenient tapping somewhere around mid height in the boiler -- below the low water line, but not too far. Run from there to a circulator pump, run from the pump through your baseboards, and return back into whatever condensate return line you have before it goes into the Hartford loop.

    Then you will need a thermostat to control the circulator pump, and you may also find you need to add an aquastat to the boiler to maintain it warm enough for the loop, but not up to boiling.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,357
    Seems simple enough, but I'm okay with letting the HW loop follow whatever the steam system is doing as there's no basement tenant.

    No water tempering? Just run it at boiler temp?
    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 24,884
    delcrossv said:

    Seems simple enough, but I'm okay with letting the HW loop follow whatever the steam system is doing as there's no basement tenant.

    No water tempering? Just run it at boiler temp?

    Yup. I know it sounds too good to be true -- but it works.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • dopey27177
    dopey27177 Member Posts: 887
    See the attachment

    Jake
    Steam: The Perfect Fluid for Heating and Some of the Problems
    by Jacob (Jake) Myron
    mattmia2delcrossv
  • mattmia2
    mattmia2 Member Posts: 10,962
    edited October 2021
    The components in your hot water loop will need to be nonferrous because it is not a closed system, there is oxygen that can get in to the system which will attack any iron components you use in that part of the system.

    If you do it with a heat exchanger you only need noferrous on the boiler water side.
  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,357
    dopey27177 said:

    See the attachment

    Jake

    Awesome! Thanks!
    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.
  • delcrossv
    delcrossv Member Posts: 1,357
    mattmia2 said:

    The components in your hot water loop will need to be nonferrous because it is not a closed system, there is oxygen that can get in to the system which will attack any iron components you use in that part of the system.

    If you do it with a heat exchanger you only need noferrous on the boiler water side.

    Thanks!

    The whole loop would be below the boiler water line, so i was thinking piping it in black with cast or steel baseboard as it would be all deoxygenated boiler water. Still not okay?

    How do I cover a potential leak draining the boiler? Find a higher takeoff?
    Trying to squeeze the best out of a Weil-McLain JB-5 running a 1912 1 pipe system.

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