Links to articles and resources on Central Heat

Nofossil site: Wood Boiler / Heat Storage / Solar Hot Water

DIY Gasifier Links:

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/11492/

A collection of gasification articles about gasification and one about hydronic heat. Great stuff!

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/13659/

How to calculate the size of an expansion tank for pressurized hot water storage (Page 2).

http://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/11559/P15/

http://www.stiltman.com/html/doe_report_part_ii.html

Very interesting and informative report on bio-mass burning, and potential. It was prepared for the US DOE
leaddog

found this on youtube, amazing burn rate.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DNYCfgEdYpg

Piping diagrams and more piping diagrams. The Atmos site contains seemingly every piping configuration imaginable for a gasification boiler.

http://www.atmos.cz/english/instalace-kotlu-006-dalsi-doporuce-zapojeni

Here's another one - the title makes you think it focuses on pumps, but it actually seems to cover a lot on heating systems, too

http://www.wilo.co.uk/cps/rde/xbcr/gb-en/basic-of-pumps.pdf

(from Wilo, apparently the largest maker of pumps, and maker of nothing but pumps, on the globe)

I thought this was a good one.............. I guess this link is on aqua-stats but this site has tons of other stuff................ http://www.inspect-ny.com/heat/aquastats.htm

several interesting articles on this page from Plumbing and Mechanical magazine's site at http://www.pmmag.com/Articles/Radiant_Heating_Report

The site and magazine are a great resource.

in case you were wondering about under-slab insulation....http://www.pmmag.com/Articles/Column/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000372298

wonder no more!

as boiler efficiencies are approaching practical limitations, John Siegenthaler makes the argument that consideration of system electricity consumption is the next frontier in reducing over all system operating efficiency and cost. see his thoughts at http://www.pmmag.com/Articles/Column/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000479795

Ten Trends in North American Hydronics - John Siegenthaler

http://www.pmmag.com/Articles/Column/BNP_GUID_9-5-2006_A_10000000000000149223

http://blog.woodboilers.com/2009/06/properly-sizing-pex-pipe-for-remote.html

Very nice and practical article for selecting pipe/pump combinations that will work. They are doing their customers a good service. It will make it easy for new installers to select from a table a combination that has allready passed the formulas and keep fluid dynamics for another day. Possibly never ...


http://flatplateselect.com/site/pub/login.aspx?ReturnUrl=/site/Default.aspx

here is another that I cant say enough about. Understanding the impact of liquid material, flow rates, BTU loads, temperature differentials would have you pulling out hair. Use this tool to find and size the HX and flow rates you will need to get the heat out of your boiler and into your tank. Make doing what if I ... variations simple. I wish I had bought my HX from them to say thanks. ( You have to sign-up/login , it's free and what is on the other side is well worth the trouble )

http://www.builditsolar.com/References/Calculators/HeatLoss/HeatLoss.htm

This has disclaimers about accuracy but it was dead on for my home and allows a DIYer to cut the crap and get a working number for the BTU load. I cross checked the results by comparing the annual estimates with the Gal of propane I actually purchased. Scary close almost like it is not magic just basic science. I have a year now of watching tank loss and outside temps to say the number this site allowed me to get ( Without fancy software or Hiring a manual J calculation ) was right on.

For a person looking to get started these 3 are gold. They answer some of the big starter questions, how much heat do I need, What size: boiler/tank/pipes/pumps/HX and then you can start to get an accurate cost in mind.

We've just launched a site dedicated to Central Heating with Wood Pellets:

www.mywoodpelletsolution.com

Heaterman posted this link on sizing your expansion tank. Includes a sizing chart on page 15.

Most of this very good article regarding expansion tanks was adapted from Taco's website. The very first sentence of the paper will give you a rough guideline for sizing but there is a wealth of info about placement of the tank in the piping as well as in relationship to pumps. Fill pressure and how to determine the correct psi is also covered. (Hint, 12 psi is not correct for all applications)

Tons of good info. I knew I had it bookmarked somewhere.........

http://www.vemcoinc.com/pdf/Technical Library/Expansion Tank Application.pdf

Heaterman
Saving the world, one wood boiler at a time.

The link doesnt work anymore. Can someone find where it is now? Thanks
Trex83

The series of Caleffi idronics and handbooks are a great read. For wood boilers, I gave that to my dad for reading:
http://www.caleffi.us/en_US/caleffi/Details/Magazines/pdf/idronics_10_us.pdf
I consider that link for Canadian readers non-commercial... We cant get their products here as far as I know.
Cheers,
Trex83

Determine how much storage will work best for you...Fun to play around with (what if...)

http://hillsideenergy.com/thermal_storage.htm