Heating Help

Or someone had a channelocks on 'er

@ September 5, 2007 2:37 PM in Unusual pipe - explanation?

while they tightened the other clamp down. hot rod

Maybe

@ September 5, 2007 12:33 PM in Venting a Mod Con

but it probably has more to do with with their listing and approvalsl. I know HTP once had a table for combining a pair of 1-1/2" together. This allowed you to replace hydro pulses with Munchkin. The actual connection on the Knight intake side is 2". They use a 2X3 increaser fitting at the boiler. hot rod

Do you need 3\"?

@ September 5, 2007 11:57 AM in Venting a Mod Con

The new Knight wall hung 50, 80, and 105K vent with 2". Two 3" inside a 7 will be a tight fit. Hope there aren't any offsets or screws sticking in :) hot rod

be aware of the \"all glass\" south east room

@ September 5, 2007 8:22 AM in radiant control

both from a heat load, and a passive gain overheat potential. Crunch your numbers. hot rod

perhaps it had another ground clamp

@ September 5, 2007 8:17 AM in Unusual pipe - explanation?

at that spot, once upon a time? hot rod

Paul

@ September 4, 2007 7:15 PM in Got my new i-mac up and running

I'm not very computer literate the mac's are very easy to learn, a lot less "baggage" hot rod'

24\" screen but not the top model, Steve (nm)

@ September 4, 2007 7:13 PM in Got my new i-mac up and running

Not many

@ September 4, 2007 9:08 AM in Slab insulation

if you want an R-5 to R-10 you need 1 or 2" of foam. NW Foam now has a 3/4" roll foam product, and they may offer a 1" roll out product. I did one job where the actually spray foamed the gravel! Not recommended in my opinion. Very un-even and $$$. You definitally want 1-1/2 or 2" of foam around the edge and at least 4 feet of the perimeter. You may chose to use a roll product for the rest. A lot depends on the subgrade material, and the conductivity of it. Loose washed gravel (pea gravel) is a poor conductor. Solid rock or clay would require a good r value. Thre product you choose needs to have the proper psi rating, be waterproof, listed for underslab installation, and ideally... insect proof :) hot rod

The Bradford White Combi2 TTW

@ September 3, 2007 10:18 PM in Extremely Low-Load House

is a sidewall (through the wall) power vented appliance. I'd guess the "stack effect" losses would be similar to a mod con with a side vent application. I'd agree the based on 19,000 design load in Caribou, Maine 70F at -13, 9770 degree day climate the BW Combi 2 would be a fine choice. Either system would have a tank at 140F for DHW. The simplicity of the BW CombiCor 2 would attract me, and possibly the homeowner. It is very user friendly and repair-able by most any plumber. One failed computer module, inducer fan, etc, etc would make the fuel saving between the 90%, $5000.00 mod con/ indirect system and the $2000.000 Combi, even at a 10% efficiency difference all but go away. I can't get into the ASHRAE site right now, I be interestd in seeing their Table 1 "Hours of Temperature Occurance" for that location. I'd doubt design conditions of -13 are a winter's long episode? This home could very well be heated with just the internal gains from appliances, lighting, occupants, etc for quite a bit of the winter if the load numbers are accurate, possibly even fudged to the high side by 15% or more by nature of the load calc program. I think the Canadians did some extended testing with super insulated buildings like this a few years back, in regards to actual heating system loads. I'd bet Mr. bean could put his hands on that study? hot rod

The coil in the current Phoenix

@ September 3, 2007 9:34 PM in Extremely Low-Load House

is really more for a solar input, as it is at the bottom of the tank, below the burner. HTP is working on adding and additional coil at the top for a radiant take off. That would be the better HX coil location as the tank stratifies. It's the HTP Voyager tank that needs the small mix pump on the tank to get the performance out of the lower mounted coil. Two pumped flows helps the HX efficiency in the tank perform. The Voyagers extra HX really doesn't have much output at all when that mix circ fails. I have first hand experience with that concept. With the Phoenix" solar" version you really don't want to "blend" the tank so the solar coil stays in the coldest possible part of the tank to leverage the solar panel efficiency. Make sense? hot rod

I'm very happy with

@ September 3, 2007 9:25 PM in Got my new i-mac up and running

the speed, Rob. It shuffles quickly between programs. I still need to learn some tricks for moving CADs, etc between the two programs, as Siggy mentioned. If you have an Apple and want to run Windows programs the Parallels program is the way to go. Apple also has a free beta "Bootcamp" for running Windows, but you have to reboot to move between the mac and windows. not as quick or user friendly. My local Apple store invited me to bring in any programs to try on Parallels before I purchased it. Better to experiment on their equipment. So far I have all of Siggys programs running Heat Load Pro, and the HydroniCAD that you see above. I also have the Watts Radiant Radiant Works loaded. I'll add my Flir viewer and the HOBO data logger program yet for a nice clean running "hydronic computer system" Working online is so much nicer with the Mac. I also loaded the .mac account and can talk and see the other person on my screen. I chatted with Max yesterday this way. i-tunes is great for downloading songs and burning CDs. Amazing times we live in :) hot rod

The model and date code is stamped

@ September 2, 2007 5:01 PM in what pump is this

on the end of the motor. I'd guess late 80'S. The date code is the year and week ex 8915 would be the 15th week of 1989. A 15-18 maybe? The wife of one of the Grundfos exec's pick the colors they paint their circs. So I'm told :) Looks like a Goldline solar controller or setpoint control. Under the cover of the control you will find a date code also. hot rod

I'm running the Parallels software

@ September 2, 2007 4:14 PM in Got my new i-mac up and running

it allows me to have two OS running at once. No need to reboot to cross from mac to Windoze. Now I can get some work done while watching the wall :) hot rod

What kind of failures?

@ September 2, 2007 4:05 PM in Pex Fittings

leaks? cracked fittings? Out of tolerence? hot rod

Vaillant at 856-786-2000

@ September 2, 2007 3:31 PM in The Vaillant people were snooping around (hr)

they handle parts and warranty work out of this NJ office. hot rod

Ted, send me some info

@ September 2, 2007 2:43 PM in The Vaillant people were snooping around (hr)

I tried their website, but it is not real English friendly. Anything in the 2-3 ton range? hot rod

sounds like this HeatLink block?

@ September 2, 2007 8:56 AM in Grundfos Mixing Block

this ad is in the current Johnstone Supply flyer. hot rod

If you

@ September 1, 2007 7:29 PM in sizing efficiency of modulating boiler

have done a heat load calculation to come up with that number, also measure how many feet of baseboard you have in the home. No sense buying more boiler power then you have baseboard to get the heat to the space. Consider adding more baseboard footage, if possible, to use the lowest supply temperatures. All the brands you mentioned are fine choices. Lochinvar will have some wall mounted versions out this fall. All the smaller sizes of wall hung Knights vent with 2" which may be an additional plus for you. hot rod

The earlier WB

@ September 1, 2007 6:25 PM in Warm Board feed back

that I installed, probably 1999 or a bit earlier was actually more of a particle board with some thin plys. The current board is much more like plywood, no pressed wood chip crap :) the earlier stuff would break in the thin groove areas if dropped or abused. The method I use to drop a tube down is... I use a ship auger like electricians use, in my TimberWolf drill motor. I start the hole straight down then lay the drill down slowly till the motor is right down on the board. This gives you a nice smooth angled hole, so to speak, and there really is no sharp edge. You may also use a small ball peen hammer to ding the aluminum under the hole, but I found that was not necessary.

Maybe with a pair of delta T circs!

@ September 1, 2007 6:21 PM in Is Siggy out there? Closely-spaced tees question.

you could dial in the required temperature and build your own smart mixing cross fitting. Boiler protection on the primary circ, mix temperature on the secondary?? hot rod

Talk to the folks at www.levelrock.com

@ September 1, 2007 3:19 PM in radiant over slab

they offer some high psi gyp products they claim can be colored and used as a wear surface. The gyp products seem to be a lot less prone to hair line cracks. With a good installer you get a very smooth and flat surface. Thin concrete, under 3-1/2" can be a problem as a finished surface. I have heard of "super mixes" that use small aggerate and a bunch of special admixes for thin crack free installs. Check on the various concrete webpage. David Pettigrew of Diamond D company in Capitola CA metioned a thin double pour method in the 2006 issue of the RPA Flooring Guide. I spoke with him on the phone once, he has some good tips and formulas for thin radiant pours. hot rod

It's amazing that at 12\" oc

@ September 1, 2007 8:41 AM in Warm Board feed back

tube spacing the Warmboard performs, or out performs all the other panel systems. Keep in mind the cost of the tube is less with WB compared to the 6 or 8" on center panel systems. Less manifold ports and longer loop lengths also. 333 to 350 is do-able with WB in my experience. hot rod