Good afternoon guys, I've been out of the loop here for a couple months. I've got my thermopex ran and stove set on a concrete pad. Now the problem is I have to hook it up and I wanna make sure it's done right once. I've got 125' run to my house from the stove. Is there anyway someone could list the materials I will need in my system? I feel I can hook it up myself but also would be willing to pay someone to hook it up for me. And just make sure it's done right. I'm located in central Michigan just east of lansing and I'm having a hard time finding anyone around here that knows anything about hooking these up! I have infloor heat in my basement and infloor heat in the attached garage. Will be heating domestic water and have a coil exchanged in my forced air furnace. I have attached a photo of my infloor heat. The bottom lines are for the basement and the ones that go up are for my attached garage. My hot water heat and furnace are just to the right of where the infloor heat lines are. Anyone have someone I can contact to hook this up that knows what there doing would be greatly appreciated. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So I'm I to assume the dealer or person you bought the boiler from will not help? Normally they have someone that can do that sort of thing locally. I did my own but the dealer I bought my boiler from gave suggestions and had most of the supplies on hand. What brand/model do you have? You want to have your pex runs pretty equal in length. If you don't, the short runs will get hotter and it won't be very even heat wise. There is a limit on the amount of pex too. Lots of variable here to address. How many heat zones do you have? Thermostats? Is the pex in concrete? Elevation to the boiler? To give you an example: I run the line into my basement(pic above) One main pump runs 24/7. Goes straight to the sidearm on the waterheater. Next to heat exchanger if needed as the zone valve bypasses it if not. In the house I have a single thermostat and oil furnaces baseboard heat fixtures are used. Circulator pump on the furnace runs 24/7 as it ramps up[ and down with less noise that way. I have radiant floor heat in attached garage in 2 zones (orange pex you see) If in concrete you need a tempering valve (grey knobbed cross looking deal) so you aren't running extremely hot water through there( no no on concrete) If a garage zone Thermostat calls for heat the pump turns on and cycles till temp is reached. Water then goes back to the boiler. You want to put valves before and after your pumps. This is so you can replace if needed without draining the whole system(less mess) Valve to bleed are nice too. I'm no expert but it's not too bad to do. Just map it out first and ask someone before starting.
Thanks for the reply Kevin, I have 4 zones in the concrete of my basement. Each zone is 250'. I have two zones in my garage. Each zone is 250'. I have a thermostat in the garage for the infloor heat in there. I also have a thermostat in the basement for the infloor heat down there. There is a 5' elevation change from the basement to the boiler hookups. I guess I just want to make sure I do it right the first time is why I have so many questions. I see some guys running thermal expansion tanks? There are also some guys running some sort of valve to release all the air from the system. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I purchased a central boiler 6048 Also where should o place my pressure/ temp Gauges? I know I want one right inside the basement wall where the boiler lines come in, but do I need one before the line heads back to the boiler? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You want one right after your tempering valve so you can make sure it is working correctly. I put one at the return of the pex from the floor before it heads back to the boiler as well. My boiler tells me the temp in the house as I have the old heat track. I'm running a Central Boiler 5648 stainless. Been working great for 13 years now. When I say zone, I mean a complete area that has it own thermostat and can be controlled separately. Each zone has multible pex runs. So you have a 4 run zone in the basement(one temp control) and a 2 run in the garage(one temp control) correct? You can either do it with a zone valves or 2 pumps the way I have it the way I see it. You will definetly need a tempering valve. Does what I have shown make sense to you? I can do closeups if you wish. Another thing is when you bring your main line in from the boiler, you will need a loop or big bow as the main line pipe will shrink and grow with the temp up and down. the longer the run form the boiler is, the more it does it. Maybe they have changed the pipe but it's pretty dramatic on mine. almost 4 ft. Your elevation is fine My CB dealer who was/is extremely helpful is in Greenville, OH. He sells all the pumps and fittings and knows his stuff. there is a CB dealer in Topeka, IN too. Do a search on their website to find one close to you and they should you or steer you in the right direction. Incoming water and main pump to water heater Side arm on water heater Heat exchanger and zone valve Tempering valve to radiant floor heat pumps Returns from radiant floor and goes back to boiler.
Yupp looks like I have the exact same setup as you. However for my domestic hot water I have a side arm? Not a plate exhchanger. When I think of zones for the infloor heat, I have 4 loops in the basement concrete, that's what I call one zone correct? Then i have 2 loops in the attached garage, that's what I am calling another zone correct? So if my thinking is right, I will need a total of 3 circulating pumps, one coming from the boiler to the house, and then one for each of the infloor heat. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yes, you have 2 zones. If you look I DO have a side arm on the water heater. The plate exchanger is for my house and the existing baseboard heat running via a circulator pump on the oil furnace. 3 pumps is the way I would go. I've had less maintenance with them than the zone valve I have. Thermostats turn them on and off. Again, I'd recommend valves on both sides of them if something does happen. Looks REAL cheap when it needs something done and you'll be glad you did. Draw it all out on a piece of paper to avoid crossovers and such to get yourself a nice flow. It'll reduce the expense of unneeded fitting and keep everything flat if you will. I also only used poly, copper, brass and stainless fittings and pipes to keep the corrosion aspect down. Some things like pumps can't be avoided but to me, the less the better.
I'm having one problem in my thinking of this system, concrete should not see temps over 120? Correct? So how am I supposed to keep the temps entering the concrete below 120 if my boiler is set at 180. I know a mixing valve should be used but will the return water that mixes in be cool enough to offset the 180* water coming from the boiler? I know they say returning water to the boiler should be no lower than 140. Do I need to make a closed loop system with the infloor heat? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
No closed loop needed. 120 is fine but I have run mine at 135 - 140 degrees for 13 years with NO issue or even a single crack in the 36'x50' floor. The return water is more than cool enough to bring it down. It will take a LONG time before you see the water on the return side warm up as the slab is such a huge heat sync. Your water will be no where near the incoming temp on the return before the thermostat shuts the pump off. Think about it. a 120 degree slab????? Put a temp gauge right after the mixing valve and on the return side before it goes back into the main return line. You'll see. Never heard no lower than 140 back to the boiler.
Perfect thanks Kevin! You have been a great help. Will report back on my success. Or failure. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When you go to buy your pumps, get a spare cartridge. A cartridge is just the impeller end of the pump. Try to get the same pumps so you only need to buy one spare that way. You don't want to be down if one goes out. It was 10 years before my main pumps impeller failed. other don't run near as much and no issues so far. Took less than 15 minutes to be online again. I bought Taco pumps.
Not really understanding the question. Tempering valve mixing the cold return water with incoming hot. It only allows so much hot to go on by drawing it in from the main line. The rest of the hot water heads back to the boiler as it would if the radiant floor zone pumps were off.
My boiler is set at 175*-185* the pex I was looking at was rated at 120*. I am not sure what my return temps are/ or would be through a floor. I was thinking I would have to add cold water to the hot to temper it.
