I am going to install my new woodgun 180 wood/oil boiler in the near future and already bought a 160F Danfoss Thermic Valve for return water protection. How does a Termovar loading unit compare to these, what are the pros/cons/ . If a loading unit is better is it just a matter of adding a circ. pump and aquastat to the bypass with the thermic valve to build a loading unit. My system currently has 1 circ. pump and 5 zones with a conventional wood/oil boiler.
Termovar vs. Thermic valve
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This little online brochure explains how the Termovar loading unit works. The Danfoss and Ladomatt products are similar.
http://www.lkacaso.se/Documents/LK Acaso/LK eng/Termovar_Laddpaket_ENG.pdf You may need to copy and paste this address into your browser. It doesn't seem to link.
Use the forums search function, upper left, to hunt down references to "loading unit" and you can read through some of the various posts that cover a lot of the differences. Most noticeable at first is the difference in price.
http://www.lkacaso.se/Documents/LK Acaso/LK eng/Termovar_Laddpaket_ENG.pdf You may need to copy and paste this address into your browser. It doesn't seem to link.
Use the forums search function, upper left, to hunt down references to "loading unit" and you can read through some of the various posts that cover a lot of the differences. Most noticeable at first is the difference in price.
Chris Hoskin
TarmSalesGuy
one of the advantages of the loading unit is that port one ultimately closes completely once return water temps exceed 140. With the Termovar mixing VALVE port one is always open at least a little bit so you need to put a half-closed ball valve in the line above port one. I don't know for sure, but I would bet that the Danfoss unit works similarly.
One thing to consider when looking at a loading unit type valve is if the circulator is going to be adequate for your application. The Termovar Loading Unit incorporates a Grundfos 15-58 3-speed pump. Chances are that with a 150,000 btu boiler that you would be fine, but if the wood boiler is far away from your distribution, or you are using unpressurized storage with lots of linear footage of heat exchanger tubing, the pump may be inadequate.
My suggestion would be that, since you already have the Danfoss unit, just use that and a separate, properly sized, circulator.
One thing to consider when looking at a loading unit type valve is if the circulator is going to be adequate for your application. The Termovar Loading Unit incorporates a Grundfos 15-58 3-speed pump. Chances are that with a 150,000 btu boiler that you would be fine, but if the wood boiler is far away from your distribution, or you are using unpressurized storage with lots of linear footage of heat exchanger tubing, the pump may be inadequate.
My suggestion would be that, since you already have the Danfoss unit, just use that and a separate, properly sized, circulator.
My current boiler system has a Grundfos 15-42 in an external re-circ loop. basically takes water from the bottom and puts it into the top. Could this pump be used, it is only 4 years old. My main pump is a grundfos 26-96. The boiler is in the basement with no long runs and no storage. The diagram for the Danfoss mentions using a balancing valve but I guess most just use a ball valve partially open.
Chris Hoskin
TarmSalesGuy
the short answer is "probably".....pump sizing is not the most straightforward thing in the world. I would strongly encourage you to take a look at Taco's pump sizing worksheet. Gooserider posted a link in the "useful tidbits' sticky at the top of the front page of the forum. I would also encourage you to run this by Woodgun.
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