Posted by john on September 6, 2008, 2:36 pm
Neon John:
May not be a concern for you, but in researching the Peloma boilers, I
ran across information on a recall for several different models of
Paloma boilers. This may be old news, but thought I would pass it along.
John
Neon John wrote:
> On Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:45:33 -0500, john
>
>> Has anyone attempted to use a domestic tankless water heater as a source
>> for radiant heating? I'm searching for ideas to back up my solar for
>> days of limited or no sun shine....
>
> My Paloma's manual warns in very strong language not to attempt that. Knowing
> how it works, I fairly sure the concern is with hot return water overheating
> the gas regulator that varies the flame according to water flow.
>
> Other brands that use electronic controls may be more suitable but then you
> have the electronics to power and hope not to fail.
>
> Why not just use a small hydronic boiler? The cost shouldn't be that much
> different. You'd have a product designed for the application. My Paloma, the
> largest one they make, cost around $1200. It's been a long time since I
> bought one but I don't recall a hydronic boiler of similar capacity costing
> much more.
>
> You might also take a look at the current crop of wall-hanging
> ceramic-surface-burner-equipped ventless propane heaters. Most of the heat
> output is in the form of infrared radiation which means that a fairly small
> heater can keep you warm even in a fairly large room.
>
> My primary heat source is wood but I have one of those heaters as backup. I'm
> having a senior moment, but I believe that it's rated at 18kBTU. I can't get
> far enough away from it to be comfortable when it's operating on high so it
> usually operates on the middle setting. It'll run for a couple of weeks on a
> 100 lb tank of propane. This type of heater is cheap enough that you could
> buy one for each room in a big house for the cost of a tankless heater or a
> boiler.
>
> John
>
> --
> John De Armond
> See my website for my current email address
> http://www.neon-john.com
> http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
> Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice,
there is.
>
Posted by Vaughn Simon on September 7, 2008, 9:25 am
> Has anyone attempted to use a domestic tankless water heater as a source for
> radiant heating?
Don't bite my head off if this turns out to be a silly question, but why do
you need a tankless water heater? In this situation, how is the more expensive
tankless water heater better than a conventional water heater?
--
Vaughn
........................................................
Nothing personal, but if you are posting through Google Groups I may not receive
your message. Google refuses to control the flood of spam messages originating
in their system, so on any given day I may or may not have Google blocked. Try
a real NNTP server & news reader program and you will never go back. All you
need is access to an NNTP server (AKA "news server") and a news reader program.
You probably already have a news reader program in your computer (Hint: Outlook
Express). Assuming that your Usenet needs are modest, use
http://news.aioe.org/ for free and/or http://www.teranews.com/ for a one-time
$3.95 setup fee.
.........................................................
Will poofread for food.
Posted by john on September 7, 2008, 1:18 pm
Very valid question and I don't know what I need (and quite arguably,
what I am doing... ) I have very little, if any, knowledge of radiant
heating systems and I was searching for ideas and answers. (Hope my
other questions or replies didn't sound "snippy", it was never intended
that way...)
I am putting in a solar thermal system and already will have a big tank
and a circulation pump. (I have seen a few tankless heaters on Craig's
list at decent prices.) I am also running a little short on space for
another tank. This original plan was supposed to be for a cheap way to
heat my wife's little greenhouse at night in the winter (and a chance
for me to play with solar energy), but the engineering and cost overruns
are starting to take on the proportions of a state highway project...
My initial thought was to put the tankless heater in series with the
recirc loop from the main tank and if the water temp dropped below a
given setpoint, it would fire the aux heat (tankless heater), it just
seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, thanks to y'all, I'm starting
to have a better understanding of radiant heating...
Thanks
John
Vaughn Simon wrote:
>> Has anyone attempted to use a domestic tankless water heater as a source for
>> radiant heating?
>
> Don't bite my head off if this turns out to be a silly question, but why do
> you need a tankless water heater? In this situation, how is the more
expensive
> tankless water heater better than a conventional water heater?
>
>
XML site map
>
>> Has anyone attempted to use a domestic tankless water heater as a source
>> for radiant heating? I'm searching for ideas to back up my solar for
>> days of limited or no sun shine....
>
> My Paloma's manual warns in very strong language not to attempt that. Knowing
> how it works, I fairly sure the concern is with hot return water overheating
> the gas regulator that varies the flame according to water flow.
>
> Other brands that use electronic controls may be more suitable but then you
> have the electronics to power and hope not to fail.
>
> Why not just use a small hydronic boiler? The cost shouldn't be that much
> different. You'd have a product designed for the application. My Paloma, the
> largest one they make, cost around $1200. It's been a long time since I
> bought one but I don't recall a hydronic boiler of similar capacity costing
> much more.
>
> You might also take a look at the current crop of wall-hanging
> ceramic-surface-burner-equipped ventless propane heaters. Most of the heat
> output is in the form of infrared radiation which means that a fairly small
> heater can keep you warm even in a fairly large room.
>
> My primary heat source is wood but I have one of those heaters as backup. I'm
> having a senior moment, but I believe that it's rated at 18kBTU. I can't get
> far enough away from it to be comfortable when it's operating on high so it
> usually operates on the middle setting. It'll run for a couple of weeks on a
> 100 lb tank of propane. This type of heater is cheap enough that you could
> buy one for each room in a big house for the cost of a tankless heater or a
> boiler.
>
> John
>
> --
> John De Armond
> See my website for my current email address
> http://www.neon-john.com
> http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
> Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
> In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice,