how many feet of pipe am I allowed with my pump?

[ihookem]

I have a Bell & Gossett PL36 pump. I have a total of 360' of 1" pipe from the boiler outside to the furnace and through the DHW. I already have 240' of 1/2" Pex to the basement floor and stapled between the floor joists. I was wondering if this is too much for the pump. I ask cause I have no idea how to measure head pressure and whatever needs to be figured. I also can't find figures that I could understand. Thanks in advance. The reason I ask is cause I'd like to add just a little bit more cause the ceramic tile floor is so cold. Thanks in advance.

 

[jebatty]

You are not providing enough info to give an answer. A diagram of your entire heating system would help a lot.

 

[ihookem]

Thought someone would say that. I will give it a try with a scetch in a little bit.

 

[ewdudley]

You need one pump to supply the furnace WAHX and another to pull through you radiant mixing valve and feed your radiant zones. Are you feeding the current 260 ft of radiant currently without a mixing valve?

Hopefully that's 360 ft total round-trip. With just the 360 ft of 1" you're already up on the high flat part of the B&G PL36 curve. It's really not the right pump for the job. You could probably move as much water with less power with a smaller pump that has a steeper curve.

 

[ihookem]

Here is the drawing for the boiler. I know it isn't fancy but so far it works really good. As Ewdudley said it isn't the right pump. I don't know what a speeper curve means though. I 'm new at this stuff. I tapped into the 1" copper for a test to see if I wanted staple up pex under the floor. The reason I wasn't sure is cause many say it doesn't work well under carpet. After a month with hydronic floor heat we decided to start expanding hydronic floor heat under the kitchen and ceramic tile. I suspect I'm already pushing the pump a bit past max. I don't have any idea how to go about mixing valves to expand the hydronic so I am posting. A plumber sais he can do anything but he does not know how to engineer a plan cause he never did a plan, he just builds what is on them. So, I'm kind of stuck.

 

[Sawyer]

How many BTU's do you need to deliver to the house?

 

[ewdudley]

A plumber sais he can do anything but he does not know how to engineer a plan cause he never did a plan, he just builds what is on them. So, I'm kind of stuck.

Thanks for the sketch, now it will be a lot easier for folks to help you out. Doesn't look like you're stuck at all, you've got all the pieces needed to get everything hooked up right eventually. The big pump should be fine for now, if you run some numbers you may be able to find an alternative that would save you money in the long run.

 

[ihookem]

Sawyer, You're still here. I haven't heard from you in a coons age. Anyway. My house is very well insulated. My heat calcs were 64k with regular insulation. I went with 4" closed cell in the walls and R60 ceiling with foam rim joists and the whole nine yards. Even have storms on the windows. My best guess @ 0 dgrees without wind chill is 20k btu per hour. It isn't a whole lot of demand. After the hydronic is hooked up I want 500 gal. of storage so I can run several days in the shoulder season without a fire. the reason I want to do this is cause waste lots of wood that time of year cause I get the house to 70 and the boiler sits on rest for an hours at a time. Hydronic heat is good thermal heat cause it stays warm a lot longer than air it seems.

 

[Sawyer]

Yea, still here. You will really like the storage, evens everything out ad maximizes efficiency. Wish I had your loss figures. I averaged 45,000btu/hr over the last 11 hours. Temps went from -18 to presently +7. That is the workshop and the house. I agree on the radiant heat, 2300' in the basement, 500' up, and 1200' in the shop. Unfortunately the rest of the upper level is forced air/coil presently. As soon as I finish the hardwood floors I am going to install panel rads to take advantage of the lower temperatures and the "feel" of radiant.

 

[Couderay80]

Any info you need on B&G pumps can be found on there web site. They have all kinds of info for just about anything you need pertaining to pumps.

 

[ihookem]

I never even thought of it.