Recent content by BMurray

Hi, Thanks for the note. Due to Covid not much has happened. Costs for getting water to my property outside of Durango have risen. But I still plan on doing something... someday... With the continued decrease in battery storage costs I think the best way to approach my project is to feed the...

In most cases you would be correct. Problem is that the heating mat material output varies with its temperature. It is self-regulating. At 24v I've seen the wattage move from 8.4 at startup to 5.9 at what I think is max temperature. I hope to match the heat output to the melting point of a...

Ran a test this time with a more accurate temperature data logger. Used an Elitech RC-51 themometer that is designed mostly for monitor temperatures on shipments of perishable goods. It plugs into a USB port and the companies free software allows you to change several parameters. I set the...

Nice setup. How big is a 3000L tank? What temperature? Are you using the same water to heat the floors as your domestic hot water or do you have an isolated fluid loop? Your approach seems like a logical step it my PCM storage idea doesn't work out. Thanks

Yes. I'm testing this at "California Winter" room temperature, which is in the low 60's in my garage. This would be installed at a larger scale in a crawl space under an off-grid home in the Colorado Rockies. But that crawl space will be constructed as a "conditioned" space with a heavily...

Still testing this idea of heating a mass with PV with no controllers, batteries or inverters. 24v PV directly to the 24v heating element. Cut a piece of 12"x12" XPS insulation board as a base. Have placed a wired temperature sensor into the surface. Placed some foil around it to expand...

Yes Scotty! But one of my goals is to slim it down. PV panel directly to a heating element, no controllers, no storage, no inverters. Only a switch and fuse. The heating mat self regulates. During the summer I would probably route the PV power over to a hot water preheat tank that would sit...

Yes, at some point when I figure out the heat output I can calculate the time it would take for the heat to move through the concrete. I have also read that different kinds cement have different thermal mass properties. The PCM Phase Change Material I am trying to get melts at a specific...

I'm going to cut off a 1ft piece and do some testing with it. Will post info here. Depending on your battery environment I would think all you would need to add is a Winter/Summer - On/Off switch. So far is doesn't seem to get very hot.

Johncfii, Thanks for the input. Good point, at $13.30 per foot, and 7.5 watts per foot, that would be appx $1.77 per watt. Regarding maintenance, placing the heating element into concrete would be no different than hydronic water heating. A very common practice. The product is rated for in...

I suspect so. It doesn't have a thermostat, but they say it is self regulating nano technology. Here is a link to the website detailed description. I'm considering cutting one foot off of it so do test on a short piece then again on a longer section. Would be easier to encase a 1ft piece in...

Well I hooked things up yesterday for the first time. Ordered 10ft of the STEP Warmfloor but they sent me 11ft. Put some corrugated cardboard down on the garage floor then placed the heating mat directly on top of it. Connected it to the DC power supply. Set it to 24 volts. Power supply...

The sample of the heating mat cost, with shipping, $157. Not sure what the costs are for larger amounts. Less I would suspect.

Hello! New to this forum. Designing a medium sized off-grid home for Southwestern Colorado. Great sun exposure, lots of land, good budget. Looking for you input. I'm seeing if I can't come up with a combination of solar energy collection and passive storage during the day and heat release...