Solar Gain and Radiant Floor

John Myrtle

I have a project with a lot of passive solar gain. I would like to circulate the radiant floors in the greenhouse (when hot enough) to other parts of the house. Any control/ piping ideas? Some tricky control situations eh? Thanks up front. Myrt

hr

Maybe

some three way zone valves operated by a setpoint of solar differntial control. Or have a insulated storage tank for collecting the gain. P/S it back into the distribution loop.

hot rod

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

John Myrtle

Differential

Hey HR! The Tek 155 was the track I was on, the problem is.. Greenhouse (hot- air 80deg., slab 75 deg.?), other zones calling for heat (sytem loop 105-110 deg.), a negitive Delta -T for the greenhouse zone (once it hit the system manifold). It would take a dedicated storage/ heatsource like you suggested. I would guess Air Temp. in the greenhouse vs. slab would be a better start control method.Have you done any passive heat dumps? Myrt

hr

As you know

I am a big fan of solar energy. I have gone to gret lengths to squeeze some "free" energy from the sun :)I guess I would look at how many square feet of floor area you have to act as a collector. One issue is it is pretty low grade heat, temperature wise. Can't imagine you would ever see much over 90 degree slab temps in the winter months.

I'm not sure the components and labor to capture, store and move that type of temperature would be worth the cost If you are tinkering with your own projects I say, why not try some stuff.

As far as a paying customer.... Maybe just throw those extra BTUs into an indirect tank coil to preheat some DHW. DHW is a year 'round load, easy to get bang for your bucks, even in summer modes.

Figure your square footage or cubic feet of concrete in that slab and run some numbers. Maybe Duncan or Dale P have some good solar energy thoughts on this.

hot rod

To Learn More About This Contractor, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"