I'm contemplating putting a hilkoil into a woodstove in my basement, piping it up 7', 90 degree elbow and run level 20' to my garage, connect to two 10' sections of baseboard radiator (or more if needed) then run the same 20' back and 7' down back into the coil. It would be an open system, at the end of the baseboard run in the garage I'll "t" up a length of pipe and leave it open at the top. I would also add a pressure relief valve at the stove end just in case. What are your thoughts on this set up? Would the coil be able to run enough btu's out to the garage to make it worth while? Or would 20' of baseboard be enough to dump enough heat off the loop to keep it from boiling off and running dry constantly? I'm not looking for anything spectacular just getting some extra warmth out to the garage during the winter while burning the wood stove. Thanks for your thoughts.
hilkoil question
- Thread starter ctnative
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alaskawild
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ctnative...
Here's my two cents. Hilkoil's concept has been around for sometime in some coal boilers. I've worked on a few over the years. Here is my take on what Hilkoil has to say. There comment about not worrying about the coil getting too hot is very misleading in my opinion. This is a very broad statement to make without knowing all of the facts. I'll leave it at that. If you were running your piping from the Hilkoil thru a high mass boiler as they depict on their website you would definitely be in better shape as the mass of that boiler would more than likely use all the heat that the Hilkoil is able to produce. Thus no pressure issues.
That being said, if I understand your plans your system would actually be an open loop arrangement. I believe you would constantly be checking and replenishing water in the system. Also I don't see any mention of a circ pump so are you looking at thermal syphoning for circulation?
This is what I did for a client that works very well but requires a few more parts. Come off the Hilkoil as described in their installation drawings with a pressure relief valve. Mount a small 20-30 gallon electric hot water tank (using it for a buffer tank only/ no power to tank) at least 1 foot above the height of you stove. This will induce thermal syphoning. It's not the best buffer tank but will work for your install. Since the tank has a T&P valve that is probably set for somewhere around 130-140 degrees you will need to replace with just a pressure relief valve. I'll skip the tank hookup here but if you are interested I'll be glad to give more details. From the tank connect an air trap with expansion tank. In front of that install an appropriate sized circ pump. I think you will find that although it may be more than you need something like a 007 circ will be the most cost effective. That is Taco's bread and butter pump and for that reason are the lowest cost. Of course depending on how much you want to spend you can always go with an ECM circ. From there run to a split parallel manifold (field built) to two zone valves. One should be normally closed and one would be normally open. Wire your t-stat to the n/c valve for normal operation. In the event of a power failure the n/o valve will open to allow for thermal syphoning which will continue to give you some degree of heat in your garage an also prevent a high temp condition acting as a heat dump thru your baseboard. The n/o valve could be a line voltage valve (Honeywell) to make install easier. Just wire to line voltage feed in your home so in the event of a power outage it will open automatically.
As for baseboard output that will be dependent on how much heat you are able to generate thru your Hikoil. Checkout SlantFins website for a handy chart of BTU output for water temp supplied.
It may sound a little complicated but it's really pretty simple and it works!
Here's my two cents. Hilkoil's concept has been around for sometime in some coal boilers. I've worked on a few over the years. Here is my take on what Hilkoil has to say. There comment about not worrying about the coil getting too hot is very misleading in my opinion. This is a very broad statement to make without knowing all of the facts. I'll leave it at that. If you were running your piping from the Hilkoil thru a high mass boiler as they depict on their website you would definitely be in better shape as the mass of that boiler would more than likely use all the heat that the Hilkoil is able to produce. Thus no pressure issues.
That being said, if I understand your plans your system would actually be an open loop arrangement. I believe you would constantly be checking and replenishing water in the system. Also I don't see any mention of a circ pump so are you looking at thermal syphoning for circulation?
This is what I did for a client that works very well but requires a few more parts. Come off the Hilkoil as described in their installation drawings with a pressure relief valve. Mount a small 20-30 gallon electric hot water tank (using it for a buffer tank only/ no power to tank) at least 1 foot above the height of you stove. This will induce thermal syphoning. It's not the best buffer tank but will work for your install. Since the tank has a T&P valve that is probably set for somewhere around 130-140 degrees you will need to replace with just a pressure relief valve. I'll skip the tank hookup here but if you are interested I'll be glad to give more details. From the tank connect an air trap with expansion tank. In front of that install an appropriate sized circ pump. I think you will find that although it may be more than you need something like a 007 circ will be the most cost effective. That is Taco's bread and butter pump and for that reason are the lowest cost. Of course depending on how much you want to spend you can always go with an ECM circ. From there run to a split parallel manifold (field built) to two zone valves. One should be normally closed and one would be normally open. Wire your t-stat to the n/c valve for normal operation. In the event of a power failure the n/o valve will open to allow for thermal syphoning which will continue to give you some degree of heat in your garage an also prevent a high temp condition acting as a heat dump thru your baseboard. The n/o valve could be a line voltage valve (Honeywell) to make install easier. Just wire to line voltage feed in your home so in the event of a power outage it will open automatically.
As for baseboard output that will be dependent on how much heat you are able to generate thru your Hikoil. Checkout SlantFins website for a handy chart of BTU output for water temp supplied.
It may sound a little complicated but it's really pretty simple and it works!
alaskawild
New Member
Actually with just one zone you could use the circ pump to control heat but still use the n/o valve in case of a power failure or if garage is not calling for heat.
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