Hi all,
I'm new here. I see a lot of great information on the site and was excited to join, hoping for some good ideas for my heating situation.
My wife and I built a 4000 sq. ft. home (2000 basement, 2000 main) and we utilize slab heat downstairs, which is warmed by a 22 kw tankless boiler, that runs only at night and at a max a couple hours per day. I've got storage built in to that since all the tubing is buried on top of insulation in about 8 inches of sand and then 4 inches of concrete. I have a 4/12 vaulted ceiling throughout most of the upstairs level and my plan was to utilize hot water baseboard, but I haven't gotten around to installing them yet...so a few years ago I opted for a pellet stove to blow some hot air around upstairs, which works fine, mostly. (50,000 btu max. output)
The original goal was to put in some kind of high efficiency propane boiler to make up the difference upstairs and to make sure I wasn't dependent solely on electric power (I have a 30'x30' shop also that has slab heat that I warm with a separate 12 kw boiler too), which is fairly reasonable in price, but I wanted options. Years later now it seems that the cost of energy will continue to trend upward and I would like a central option - like a wood gasifier - that I could heat both buildings with. I already have the space in my insulated garage to add the boiler there with relative ease, I am now wondering how best to control the water temps for the two level house and garage slab, not to mention I would definitely want to heat my potable water, which also is now being warmed by off peak electric.
So...
Circulating pumps? Zones? Plate exchangers? I already have a vendor in mind for the buried line to the house: that will be Insul-Seal for sure. I have friends and family with outdoor boilers and all of them burn way, way too much wood! I should also mention that my entire home is constructed of Insulated Concrete Forms (even the three gable ends) and has a 71' southern exposure that helps a bit to warm us inside.
Do's and Don'ts will be noted and appreciated. I'm sure you'll have other questions for me as well. My insurance company wants me to be sure all is installed correctly and that I have a secondary system in place, which I do want to keep the off peak boilers waiting and ready, so that is an operating factor as well.
Thanks in advance! Cal
I'm new here. I see a lot of great information on the site and was excited to join, hoping for some good ideas for my heating situation.
My wife and I built a 4000 sq. ft. home (2000 basement, 2000 main) and we utilize slab heat downstairs, which is warmed by a 22 kw tankless boiler, that runs only at night and at a max a couple hours per day. I've got storage built in to that since all the tubing is buried on top of insulation in about 8 inches of sand and then 4 inches of concrete. I have a 4/12 vaulted ceiling throughout most of the upstairs level and my plan was to utilize hot water baseboard, but I haven't gotten around to installing them yet...so a few years ago I opted for a pellet stove to blow some hot air around upstairs, which works fine, mostly. (50,000 btu max. output)
The original goal was to put in some kind of high efficiency propane boiler to make up the difference upstairs and to make sure I wasn't dependent solely on electric power (I have a 30'x30' shop also that has slab heat that I warm with a separate 12 kw boiler too), which is fairly reasonable in price, but I wanted options. Years later now it seems that the cost of energy will continue to trend upward and I would like a central option - like a wood gasifier - that I could heat both buildings with. I already have the space in my insulated garage to add the boiler there with relative ease, I am now wondering how best to control the water temps for the two level house and garage slab, not to mention I would definitely want to heat my potable water, which also is now being warmed by off peak electric.
So...
Circulating pumps? Zones? Plate exchangers? I already have a vendor in mind for the buried line to the house: that will be Insul-Seal for sure. I have friends and family with outdoor boilers and all of them burn way, way too much wood! I should also mention that my entire home is constructed of Insulated Concrete Forms (even the three gable ends) and has a 71' southern exposure that helps a bit to warm us inside.
Do's and Don'ts will be noted and appreciated. I'm sure you'll have other questions for me as well. My insurance company wants me to be sure all is installed correctly and that I have a secondary system in place, which I do want to keep the off peak boilers waiting and ready, so that is an operating factor as well.
Thanks in advance! Cal