snow melt

shawn_5

I would like to know if anyone can help me on snow melt I have 170 ft walkway by 5 ft wide concrete for finish the radiant will have insulation under looking for btus water temp and best way to heat if gas water heater electric wh or if i need a boiler.there is no boiler in this place.

Einsiedler_2

variables

there some variables involved with snow melt. i.e. Location, etc.

In My area this would entail aprox 170,000 btu's
Would require 1700Ft of min. 5/8" Tubing.
Allow for E.W.T of 140F and a delta T of 30F.

Any source that will provide 12 GPM of 140F Water over 30F delta T would suffice.

NOTE: snowmelt requires glycol. so if not dedicated boiler, use Heat Exchanger & Boiler. This is NOT a water heater system.

hope this helps a tad..

EIN

shawn_5

this is located in mass.

Canuck

Kitec

Shawn. I've attached an Excel spreadsheet, which is part of an older IPEX snowmelt program. Your information is listed as 'Zone 1'. I've assumed Boston as the design location. You'll see that 5 x 250' loops of 5/8" tubing on 9" c/c spacing, and an input of 170 MBH, is what will be required.

Canuck

I ran an IPEX snowmelt program (tried to attach the spreadheet but no-go). The oucome is for Boston, (I guessed), you'll need 5 x 250' loops of 5/8" tubing, spaced 9" c/c. You'll also need 170 MBH input to the slab.

Mad Dog

Yes, forget the water heater, dude

Snowmelt is NOT a system to try to do economically...it will come back to bite you. You could do a nice condensing boiler - a wall hung doesn't take up much space. I don't think Mass is too much diffrent a climate than here. The big snowmelt job we did a few years ago was based on roughly 100-120 btus per sq foot of area needed to melt snow. That is what the boiler needs to put out in to the system. 170k (in)is certainly more than enough, but me thinks you could come down to 125 or so. That isn't a very big area to heat. You'll have to decide what kind of responce time you need. Fast or moderate. Before you do ANYTHING, you should consult with Mr Snowmelt hisself.....The Colorado Mad Man......Mark Eatherton - HE the snowmlet King. Good luck and let us know how ya made out. Mad Dog

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Ed Gutowski

Snow Melt

For New England I use the following:
3/4" Pex, 8" on center. 130F in, 110F out. Blend it with a 4 way if you are using a boiler.

Figure about 280 BTU/FT2 (170 FT2 x 280 BTU/FT2 =47,600 BTU capacity unit). Cover only 100 SQFt per loop (you'll need two loops). use 3 GPM of 40% Prop Glycol for each 3/4 pex loop (figure 6 GPM pump).

You'll need about 10% more pump head due to the glycol factor.

Use 2" of insul board under the concrete. If you want to avoid cracking the slab, use 2" of concrete thickness above and 2" below (Yes, thats 5" with the pex).

Don't forget to incorporate trench drains or you'll have an ice dam at the end of your snow melt

Burnham has the best design guide I've seen. Good Luck