Calculating overheat dump zone

[horrocksd]

I'm trying to calculate how much fin tube I need for my overheat 'dump zone" for my Econoburn 150 installation. It looks like I need to have at least 10% of my boiler capacity which is 150k BTUs, so I need at least 15K capacity in the dump zone. I have a bunch of old 3/4" standard domestic fin tube in good shape that I'd like to use for this. Can anyone give me a ballpark idea of how many BTUs per foot this size fintube will provide, or do I really need to know pipe i.d. and o.d., fin size and spacing, etc?

Also, is this size of fin tube adequate for a dump zone or do I really need to go to a larger diameter? I'm just trying to control my costs on the install without cutting any important corners. As always, thanks so much for all the great info I get from everyone!

 

[webie]

500 Btu's per ft . I just use my whole basement zone . I dont have seperate special dump zone set up .

 

[twitch]

I used 3/4" for my dump zone. I have the zone valve open when the boiler goes into idle do disappate the heat so it won't idle that long. It seems to be working well for me. I wish I had used a little more though, just in case.

 

[ewdudley]

...

Also, is this size of fin tube adequate for a dump zone or do I really need to go to a larger diameter? I'm just trying to control my costs on the install without cutting any important corners.

If you're building from scratch just run them in parallel.

--ewd

 

[horrocksd]

Eliot,

Thanks for the reply from a fellow mid-stater! I'm pretty handy with cars and construction, but am new to boilers and hydronic systems. What do you mean by running them parallel?

 

[ewdudley]

Thanks for the reply from a fellow mid-stater!

Feels more like Hudson Bay today.

I'm pretty handy with cars and construction, but am new to boilers and hydronic systems. What do you mean by running them parallel?

Just like a radiator, if the tubes are individually too small put a header/manifold on each end and run the tubes in parallel.