If the contentions to the tanks were reversed on the top or bottom that would defiantly help the flows
Time for a complete system overhaul -- Looking for input.
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You need reverse piping at the top!
This will balance out the flow over both tanks.
The way you have it piped now, only the tank closest to the boiler will heat up.
Water always takes the easiest path.
Also, there is no anti-condense boiler protection (mixing valve or injection pump)
See location anti-condense mixing valve with setting of at least 160F
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This will balance out the flow over both tanks.
The way you have it piped now, only the tank closest to the boiler will heat up.
Water always takes the easiest path.
Also, there is no anti-condense boiler protection (mixing valve or injection pump)
See location anti-condense mixing valve with setting of at least 160F
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Here are some things I learned during the last 3weeks of operation:
My wood consumption is noticeably less then then the previous year. It's trending towards a 50% reduction in wood required. We had cold temps and I'm burning twice or three times a day to keep the tank cold temps above 140. My windows are garbage and its an old farm house, so the BTU consumption kinda expected. Its nice having the thermostat set up to 70 degs and I don't have to tend a fire every two hours to remain on wood heat.
The storage supply loop is pipes with reverse return flow. This provides me with good stratification and utilization of each tank when the boiler is not operating.
The tanks temps get stirred up when the boiler pumps are running. I have a 1.5in header pipes and 1.25 in pipes connecting to the tanks. I'm only seeing a few degree different between the tank temp sensors. The believe the 23gpm flow of the VDT pump in conjunction with my header pipe sizing is allowing both tanks to be utilized appropriately.
My boiler primary loop turns on when the exhaust temperature reaches a certain level. The seconds (injection) pump turns on via aquastat when the boiler output reaches 180+. The secondary pump is variable and will speed up or slow down to maintain the delta temp setting. If the boiler temps starts dropping due to cold injection temp the secondary pump turns off because the aquastat temp dropped.
Note that hot water will thermosiphon from the primary loop. I haven't noticed any side affects of this. It takes a bit longer for the boiler to heat up but the pumps are compensating accordingly. This also allows heat to help prevent a overheat issue during a power outage.
My boiler power is backed up by an inverter that instantly takes over when there is a loss of power. I haven't measured how long the batteries will provide power, hopefully a few hours at a minimum.
I'm pleased with the simplicity of they system and it's performance thus far. Sure it may not be perfectly spec'ed and improvements could be made, but I'm not changing anything this heating season and until I convince myself to spend more money and tear the system apart.
My wood consumption is noticeably less then then the previous year. It's trending towards a 50% reduction in wood required. We had cold temps and I'm burning twice or three times a day to keep the tank cold temps above 140. My windows are garbage and its an old farm house, so the BTU consumption kinda expected. Its nice having the thermostat set up to 70 degs and I don't have to tend a fire every two hours to remain on wood heat.
The storage supply loop is pipes with reverse return flow. This provides me with good stratification and utilization of each tank when the boiler is not operating.
The tanks temps get stirred up when the boiler pumps are running. I have a 1.5in header pipes and 1.25 in pipes connecting to the tanks. I'm only seeing a few degree different between the tank temp sensors. The believe the 23gpm flow of the VDT pump in conjunction with my header pipe sizing is allowing both tanks to be utilized appropriately.
My boiler primary loop turns on when the exhaust temperature reaches a certain level. The seconds (injection) pump turns on via aquastat when the boiler output reaches 180+. The secondary pump is variable and will speed up or slow down to maintain the delta temp setting. If the boiler temps starts dropping due to cold injection temp the secondary pump turns off because the aquastat temp dropped.
Note that hot water will thermosiphon from the primary loop. I haven't noticed any side affects of this. It takes a bit longer for the boiler to heat up but the pumps are compensating accordingly. This also allows heat to help prevent a overheat issue during a power outage.
My boiler power is backed up by an inverter that instantly takes over when there is a loss of power. I haven't measured how long the batteries will provide power, hopefully a few hours at a minimum.
I'm pleased with the simplicity of they system and it's performance thus far. Sure it may not be perfectly spec'ed and improvements could be made, but I'm not changing anything this heating season and until I convince myself to spend more money and tear the system apart.
FWIW, I'm also in an old farmhouse. I've found throughout my years of working on residential homes, replacement windows are junk. The tracks are uninsulated, and the vinyl wrapped wood sashes are new growth. The grain in the wood is unstable and will twist within 10yrs, leading to failing windows. Quality new construction windows can be had, but require the siding to be removed for install.
With mine, I find fresh glazing of the glass panes, both sashes and storms, along with new felts in proper locations does wonders. As a bonus, I've made interior ''storms" from 1x3'' wood frames with both sides wrapped in 4mil clear plastic. I taped the edges with package tape for wear protection, as to I remove and install them per season. They are also weather stripped and are a press fit. I screwed in 2 small eye screws for ease of removal. These are a blessing from the yearly standard thinking of plastic wrapping the interior with double sided tape and heat shrinking.
I have a couple windows with no exterior storms. My inner storms hold their own. They also reduce outside noise.
Seems strange, I run a 200k btu rated , but actually its about 170k boiler at 9 gpm with 40 delta at 40 watts ecm pump. You should aim for a bigger delta.
That is correct for a 40deg delta temperature.
I have a Taco 007-VDTF5 pump on the secondary injection loop. When the inlet temps are low the pump will run as slow as possible. The aquastat will occasionally shut it off because it's delivering too much flow at its slowest setting and cooling the boiler below the setpoint. As the boiler inlet temperature increases, the pump speeds up.
I've been pushing my storage top temps around 200f and my lower tank temps to 180-190f. With this small a delta T(10deg), the secondary pump runs full speed to keep the boiler from overheating.
I need to maintain high enough temperatures to supply the oil boiler with enough BTUs to service the DHW needs and house demand for heat. As the storage temperatures start to drop and the delta T reduces, the circulator pump keeps pumping more and more to try to deliver the BTUs needed to the oil boiler. On these recent cold days we've been having, I'm lighting a batch every 8-12 hours.
There has to be a better way to make this more efficient. Is there a way to eliminate the boiler pump and just use a anti condensation valve ,