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Hydronic system help for a shop

Mark_14
Mark_14 Member Posts: 5
in THE MAIN WALL
Howdy all, great website

I'm planning to build a shop and wish to heat the floor. The shop will be: 40w x 60l x 14h, structural insulated foam panels (SIPS), truss roof w/R-38 insulation, 5" concrete floor, 4' stem wall with 1' above grade.

My heating plan: Constant heating at 60 degrees required from November thru March. 1/2" pex tubing on 1' spacing, one zone, propane or electric domestic water heater used as a boiler, circulation pump and pressure tank plumbed in line, thermostat controlling the circ pump flow, standard hydronic heating system anti freeze. Wood stove for convection heat as needed.

My brother has heated his timber framed SIPS home for several years using a simuliar system. First electric water heater lasted 6-7 years, second one lasted 5 years. Switched to gas fired 2 years ago with no problems. He buys inexpensive ($100-200) water heaters. Runs 5 separate zones.

My request: What are the potential problems with the system we plan to use? My heating contractor wants to sell me a $3000 boiler to handle the load for the shop; that will buy a bunch of water heaters. If I run the shop heat constantly, recovery time should not be a problem. The contractor says I can't push water effectively through 2500 feet of tubing.

Any and all comments and critisism are welcome.

Thanks,

Mark

Comments

  • Dan Peel
    Dan Peel Member Posts: 431
    Listen

    Please at least listen to your heating professional. 2400 sq.ft. is alot of area for a water heater. What's the heatloss at design? How many gpm at what temperature. Remember, no matter what you wish the system could do - Physics wins. Dan

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  • Glen
    Glen Member Posts: 855
    ditto

    to Dan's post. Get your heat loss nailed down - go from there - and if the water heater works - use it. If not - spend your money. What's the point of a system installed that freezes your **** in the winter.
  • Big Al and the pipewrenches
    Big Al and the pipewrenches Member Posts: 21
    2400 sq ft?

    Bare concrete; maybe 30 btuh per sq ft = 72,000 btuh.
    Regular water heater, maybe actual 60% effecient?, listen to
    your heating prof. Other concerns could be what is the shop
    being used for, auto work, flammable fuels, painting explosive or corrisve vapors, wood working dust can be explosive, etc. Many factors have to be considered before
    recommending a heating appliance for a building, not to mention a "shop" enviorment, oh yeah, local building codes?

    We have several commercial installations with radiant heating and using sealed combustion boilers. Workers love
    them, managers love them, bean counters love em.
    Thanks AB
  • kevin
    kevin Member Posts: 420
    you have...

    recieved some good advice....longevity,efficiency,better suited /match to use & safety. Yeah 3 grand is a lot to put out at once...think about down time in a year or two during the winter...possible freeze up in the slab... that will be a lot more money to fix and a lot of hassle.
    Make sure you have a good heat calc. done as I presume your contractor has had done. kpc
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