Recent content by WillyP

Basically it is too heaters. One is run through the vacuum tubes. That will be two tanks. The other is the water for the floor. That will be stored underground in an insulated vault. There will be a discharge tank for water coming out of the floor. That will be above ground. It will be heated by...

The tempering valves are usually used in gas fired systems. Or at least that is how I understand it. In a closed system, the water doesn't cool when some of it is removed. The only way that would happen is, if the cold water was returned to the storage tank. I plan to have a discharge tank that...

It sounds like a really poorly designed system. I really don't think keeping water at a certain temperature is all that hard. Especially if I use heat exchangers and a discharge tank. My system is designed to be under ground, inside a greenhouse with an insulated bottom. I could see some over...

As an update. I have been convinced oil is a bad idea. It has many good points, but the bad outweighs the potential. I will be using water in the vacuum tubes to heat underground storage tanks. The main reason I am doing it that way, is so I will have a constant supply of water heated to a...

you do make some great points about the cost of PV solar. But I really really want radiant floor heat. I will get my electricity from PV solar. It will run the AC.

that would work. But I am designing a system tht will actually heat the house all winter. I'm not looking to supplement a different system. As to heat transfer fluid, it is formulated to cool quickly. Usually it is used in large machines that need to be cooled.

LOL! I'm still here. Don't be sendin' DHS to the house yet. I did get delayed due to a car crash. I won't be building anything for at least another year. But I am healing and growing stronger.

I like the radiator idea. You could just lower it inside a steel drum, then fill the drum with paraffin. I am designing a system that will have two fifty gallon drums of water, that will be heated by vacuum tubes. That water will be used to heat underground tanks that feed my radiant floor...

It really does seem like somebody could make a manual switch so you could go off grid during power outages. I haven't been able to find one, but maybe they are out there.

I would hook the pump up to its own solar panel. that way at night it wouldn't pump.

I believe you have that backwards. Paraffin absorbs heat as it melts and gives off heat as it cools. While it wouldn't work as a fluid in a collector. It could work as a insulator around a storage tank. For example if the collectors heat a fifty gallon drum of water, then that drum is...

I've certainly heard of it. But it seems like a very expensive solution to a problem that can usually be solved by heating water (or stone) instead.

In my case, I am getting ready to retire. I am willing to pay up front, so I don't have an electric bill for the rest of my life. Although in The USA it I shard to imagine an electric bill of $285 per year. I pay that much most months. I know I could save through conservation. But my wife wants...

everything I have read say 185°F

So as a follow up. It sounded good in theory. But the good people on this and a couple of other boards pointed out that oil lacks the ability to hold heat. Even though it does heat up quickly. Water with antifreeze seems to be a far better solution. As for price, oil is actually cheaper and...