1.5" 3 way diverter valve, solenoid controlled?

[WireNut]

Does anyone know where I can find a 1.5" solenoid controlled 3 way valve? I would like to put one after my wood-gun so that when the house isn't calling for heat, it will heat the storage. I found a 1.5" manual 3 way valve, but can't seem to find one with a solenoid. The largest taco 3 way I can find is 1".

Is there another way people switch from heating storage to heating he house? How about if your back-up kicks in and you want to avoid heating the storage with that, do you use a 3 way solenoid to bypass the storage as well?

 

[Bob Rohr]

Does anyone know where I can find a 1.5" solenoid controlled 3 way valve? I would like to put one after my wood-gun so that when the house isn't calling for heat, it will heat the storage. I found a 1.5" manual 3 way valve, but can't seem to find one with a solenoid. The largest taco 3 way I can find is 1".

Is there another way people switch from heating storage to heating he house? How about if your back-up kicks in and you want to avoid heating the storage with that, do you use a 3 way solenoid to bypass the storage as well?

Maybe a motorized 3 way zone valve is what you are after. These use a small syncrous motor to open, and a spring to return.

If you need that large of size, Belimo is one of the best choices. Remember the valve is sized by the flow rate you intend to move thru 'er, not the pipe size. A typical 1 or 1/14" motorized, 3 way zone valve will easily move 10- 12 gpm or 120,000 btu/ hr.

 

[WireNut]

Maybe a motorized 3 way zone valve is what you are after. These use a small syncrous motor to open, and a spring to return.

If you need that large of size, Belimo is one of the best choices. Remember the valve is sized by the flow rate you intend to move thru 'er, not the pipe size. A typical 1 or 1/14" motorized, 3 way zone valve will easily move 10- 12 gpm or 120,000 btu/ hr.

That looks like what I'm trying to find. Now I just have to find one in bronze or copper. Thanks!

Is this the typical method of doing this? I'm only selecting 1.5" since that's what the furnace can output (at up to 140,000 BTU)

 

[Chris Hoskin]

we have brass three-way valves from 3/4" to 2". Motorized heads too - normally used for outdoor reset. Give us a call and ask for Rene or Travis. You may just want to use one of our Termovar diverter valves though. See our thermal storage drawings for details about how we recommend setting up a system so that the wood boiler sends heat to the zones as first priority, to thermal storage as second priority, does not heat back up boiler with wood boiler or thermal storage and does not heat heat wood boiler or thermal storage with the back-up boiler. See PT1C, for example, on page 18 here: (broken link removed to http://www.woodboilers.com/images/stories/documents/woodboilerplumbingschematic1211.pdf)

 

[flyingcow]

Termovar diverter valve works very well. The heat from boiler goes to storage, but if the house calls for heat that will be the priority. Mine has been in place for 5 yrs, no problems.

 

[WireNut]

Wow, that's great, that would solve the 3 way valve problems. I'll have to give them a call. I think my set-up will be closer to page 16 (Square tank). I'm going to have to learn about how those valves work. The idea I was working on (have stopped now to look into these valves) was this:

 

[WireNut]

I've been looking over the drawings from Chris (thank you very much, they're very helpful) and I'm working with Page 16 (Wood Boiler with Fossil Fuel Boiler and Square Type Tank). I'm having some difficulty figuring out the flow in a couple of instances, and since I'm the newbie at this type of plumbing I figure I must just need a nudge in the right direction to see it.

First, How does the system draw from the heat storage? Would ZV-1 open and C-1 turn on? I'll be using zone valves instead of circulators, so let's just say P-1 is open. If this is how you draw from storage, what prevents the flow of water back to the wood boiler (which is shut down)? Is it the mixing valve (TV-1) at the wood boiler preventing a flow into the boiler because the water is too cool?

Second, if the oil boiler needs to activate, what circulator pump will operate? Is there a circulator pump assumed on the oil boiler, or would only the zone circulator turn on, and thus I'd have to have circulators instead of valves for this set-up?

 

[WireNut]

Here's a drawing showing what I'm thinking of. It's simplistic, I know, but I'm new to this. I will be batch burning.

Scenario 1) Wood Boiler Running:

CIRC 1 activates when the boiler reaches a specified temperature (Let's say 150F). With ZV-6 closed, the water will circulate through the Loading Valve untill 160 is reached, and then it will begin to allow water to flow through the "cold" side of the valve, which will force water through the storage tank heating this up. This will back-flow through CIRC-3. Will this be a problem?

1B) If a zone calls for heat during this time, ZV-6 and the appropriate zone valve (1 - 5) will open. This will allow the water from the boiler to flow through the house. Water will be prevented from flowing back through the Oil Boiler with Check Valve 3.

Scenario 2) Wood Boiler off/Storage within temp range:

CIRC 2 activates, ZV-6 opens, and the appropriate ZV (1 - 5) opens. Water is circulated through the heat stoage to heat the zone. Check Valve 3 prevents flow back into the oil boiler, while the Loading Valve & Check Valve 2 prevent backflow to the wood boiler.

Scenario 3) Oil Boiler running/Wood Boiler Off/ Storage below temp

This would be backup mode. CIRC-2 would turn on with the boiler. ZV-6 would prevent the oil boiler from heating the storage. All zone valves would open as the oil boiler has 1 thermostat. Check Valve 2 would prevent a backflow through the storage while the loading valve and Check Valve 1 would prevent a flow through the wood gun. This way the oil is only heating the household zones.


Please let me know what you think, and if this will match up to what I'm thinking. I'm trying to KISS for the first year, and can always go back and refine next year when the project budget recovers.