snow melt with pool heater

Micahel Monahan

Thanks Sterling.

I have a call into the local Lochivar representative.

Thanks for the info. I'll post photos if the project is a go in the spring.

Micahel Monahan

Snow Melting with Pool Heater

I need advise regarding a snow melting system for a new house in Connecticut.

We are being retained by the landscape contractor to provide snow melting for about 5000 square feet of driveway.

The main house is currently being completed. The heating system was installed by another company and is comprised of several condensing furnaces.

The domestic hot water is supplied by two 75 gallon gas fired heaters in the mechanical room.

There is no place to install condensing boilers for the snow melting.

Are exterior pool heaters an option?

Stirling Boston

Michael,

Lochinvar offers an outdoor boiler that may be a better solution than trying use a pool heater for the job. Pool heaters are designed to operate at temps around 80 deg. F. but utilize a low temperature bypass in order to prevent condensing on the heat exchanger. This may not be the best set up for your application.

Here is a link to the product.

http://www.lochinvar.com/product.asp?cat=B&cls=ALL&prod=EBN150&ln=EPLUS#

Good luck and post some photos of your install for us if you get a chance!

Stirling

hr

Use a boiler

listed for that service, not a pool heater.

Run a load calc for your design area. I'd bet your looking at 125 btu per foot or more. At 150 btu per square foot you are closing in on a 1 million btu input boiler. Got gas? Got enough?

hot rod

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Micahel Monahan

without a shovel

Hot Rod,

Thanks for the reply.

.The original design did allow for the gas load.

Here is the reason for my inquiry.

The house’s HVAC system is based on a competitive first cost design.

The systems include warm air furnaces, two conventional 5 years gas water heaters and a gas fired pool heater for the 50 x 25 pool. (Spec house 6,500 SF)

Now the home is sold and the future home owner is involved.

The owner’s landscape architect is out of state. His local Viessman representative developed a great system utilizing two Vitola V2-63 gas boilers, primary secondary piping, redundant pumps, low loss headers, injection pumping etc.

The landscaper is now asking us to provide a proposal for the system.

The snow melting system will cost more than the other systems combined.

I am looking for other options for the snow melt (other than a shovel)

Any thoughts?

Timco

Time to invent the "Auto-Salter"!

Tim

ALH_4

Condensing

Vitola's are great, but in my opinion, condensing boilers are the only way to go for larger snowmelt systems. You are in the range of a Vertomat VSB-17, but multiple Vitodens (3?) would probably work better than one large boiler and certainly take no more room than two Vitolas. Use a flatplate heat exchanger as a low loss header and you're set. No boiler protection to worry about and an easy 8% or better combustion efficiency gain over a Vitola. The equipment isnt cheap, but neither is 600MBH of fuel for snowmelt.

The added efficiency will pay for itself if they use the system much. It sounds as if snow/ice sensors are called for. A tekmar 665 might be a good way to go with the 090 sensor.

It's a far cry from an outdoor Lochinvar boiler.

-Andrew

h2omaster

Snow melt system

With the current runup in gas prices and the pending shortage of natural gas I would hope that our near sighted administration and it'd energy dept.would ban the needless practice of snowmelt.

This along with asthetic gas fireplaces and other wasteful practices. What exactly has Joe Blow public done to conserve!!!

In the early eighties we had such bans and we had a hell of a lot more fossil fuels. I with a clear conscience could never recommend wasting heat outside a well insulated envelope.

h2omaster

ALH_4

need

I agree that large areas of snowmelt in non-critical areas are extremely wasteful. Though I do understand the need for smaller areas of snowmelt where safety and liability are concerns. At the same time, if they are going to melt snow, they should do it as efficiently as possible.

-Andrew

Todd_15

Snowmelt

The best idea I've seen as far as snowmelt when there is a pool nearby is to setup the piping so the driveway becomes a "solar panel" dumping btu's from the driveway into the swimming pool instead of running a heater.

hr

Melting snow is

a very expensive hobby. First the installed cost for a well designed, insulated, and controlled system. Then the high fuel use to drive the schucker.

I agree with the others only if it is REALLY necessary do I even bid snowmelts.

hot rod

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gary bettcher

Electric

Check to see if your power company has a Off Peak program , if they do it might be a cheaper option using electric cable. No boiler involved. Just a thought . Theres alot of this in northern Minnesota.

ALH_4

although

Solar panels are a far more effective and efficient way to heat a pool than pex in a concrete driveway, even if it's black. Concrete is not a good conductor when compared with copper, and heat transfer efficiency is incredibly important with solar.

-Andrew