- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
Last night my wife and I were talking in hypotheticals about the home we'd like to one day build. All other things aside let's talk heat and domestic hot water needs. I know that I want a gasification boiler with oil as a backup, evacuated solar tubes, and of course storage, but sizing and configuration are still very much a mystery to me. Here is a basic rundown of the needs of the house:
1. We're planning on about 3500 square feet of living space which takes into account that about half the basement will be finished-however, we plan to build into a hillside the way many raised ranches are so that the garage (two car) is under the house. Given the fact that I now change oil and do all other car maintenance outside 365 days a year, I'd like to heat the garage/workshop as well so let's just call it 4000 square feet.
2. Heat will be delivered via an in-floor radiant system.
3. DHW needs are as follows:
-There will be three full bathrooms. One will be a simple stall shower, sink, and toilet (guest bath), one will be a "kids" bathroom with a regular tub and shower, sink, etc... Then comes the mother of them all-the master suite. My wife is a steam and hot water addict so I'm currently researching all of those crazy steam showers and whatnot, but regardless in the master suite there will be a large soaking tub, steam shower, his and hers sinks, and hot water towel warming bars.
-The kitchen will contain one large sink and one chef's sink for washing vegetables and whatnot. There will also be a dishwasher of course (we are currently dishwasherless and my wife lets me know-every day )
-The laundry room will of course have a washing machine and also a utility sink.
-I'd also like to have a large utility sink in the garage and a hot water hose-bib so that I can hose out the floor with hot water. What I'd also like are hot water hose bibs on each corner of the house to go along with the regular cold water bibs. I've more than once found myself in a situation outside saying "I wish I could pipe some hot water out here..."
Given the DHW needs which are probably more than the average house, am I going to need a larger boiler than one would normally need for a 4000ish square foot home? Would evacuated solar tubes offset the difference? How about oil boiler sizing? I only see the oil boiler being used during extended absences from home (more than a few days) or in the summer for hot water production. Finally, storage. The boiler room will be in the basement and will be accessible by an 8' x 10' garage door first and foremost for easy access to fuel (I can dump a tractor bucket full of wood in front of the door, open it, and start tossing wood into the boiler), but it will also mean that the large storage tanks will be very easy to move in (and out) when needed. Basically, can I have too much storage? What would be too little? 1000 gallons? 2000 gallons? It's a lot of questions, but I'm looking forward to having a discussion about designing the optimum heating system from a blank slate.
1. We're planning on about 3500 square feet of living space which takes into account that about half the basement will be finished-however, we plan to build into a hillside the way many raised ranches are so that the garage (two car) is under the house. Given the fact that I now change oil and do all other car maintenance outside 365 days a year, I'd like to heat the garage/workshop as well so let's just call it 4000 square feet.
2. Heat will be delivered via an in-floor radiant system.
3. DHW needs are as follows:
-There will be three full bathrooms. One will be a simple stall shower, sink, and toilet (guest bath), one will be a "kids" bathroom with a regular tub and shower, sink, etc... Then comes the mother of them all-the master suite. My wife is a steam and hot water addict so I'm currently researching all of those crazy steam showers and whatnot, but regardless in the master suite there will be a large soaking tub, steam shower, his and hers sinks, and hot water towel warming bars.
-The kitchen will contain one large sink and one chef's sink for washing vegetables and whatnot. There will also be a dishwasher of course (we are currently dishwasherless and my wife lets me know-every day )
-The laundry room will of course have a washing machine and also a utility sink.
-I'd also like to have a large utility sink in the garage and a hot water hose-bib so that I can hose out the floor with hot water. What I'd also like are hot water hose bibs on each corner of the house to go along with the regular cold water bibs. I've more than once found myself in a situation outside saying "I wish I could pipe some hot water out here..."
Given the DHW needs which are probably more than the average house, am I going to need a larger boiler than one would normally need for a 4000ish square foot home? Would evacuated solar tubes offset the difference? How about oil boiler sizing? I only see the oil boiler being used during extended absences from home (more than a few days) or in the summer for hot water production. Finally, storage. The boiler room will be in the basement and will be accessible by an 8' x 10' garage door first and foremost for easy access to fuel (I can dump a tractor bucket full of wood in front of the door, open it, and start tossing wood into the boiler), but it will also mean that the large storage tanks will be very easy to move in (and out) when needed. Basically, can I have too much storage? What would be too little? 1000 gallons? 2000 gallons? It's a lot of questions, but I'm looking forward to having a discussion about designing the optimum heating system from a blank slate.