DC hydronics (was Energy efficient pumps) [RE-wrenches]

[Jeff Clearwater]

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Hi Alan,

Great Work!  Thanks!  I had been hearing wind of the general approach 
- so nice to have a nice professional package all set to go!

Jeff C.
Ecovillage Design


>Wrenches,
>Sorry for the delayed response; I was out in the field all day yesterday.
>
>It is we who do the DC hydronic systems. Basic info is available at
>http://www.positiveenergysolar.com/hydronic.html. Last year at the Dankoff
>dealer training, Bristol Stickney presented general information about his
>experiences over 20+ years of solar thermal and DC hydronic systems, but
>there was purposely very little mention of SETH as a specific product.  At
>the upcoming Dankoff dealer training next month, Boaz has asked Bristol and
>I to present a section on this topic, as they wish to begin carrying it.
>Bristol and I share the patent on the design.
>
>The biggest holdup has been getting a good design manual and installation
>manual written. Tiny pumps require more efficient and careful heat
>distribution system design, as well as boiler or hot H2O tank selection,
>than conventional AC systems, so good documentation is critical. We expect
>to have Rev.1.0 out by then.
>
>Last fall I installed a basic 5-zone baseboard hydronic SETH system in my
>off-grid home. I used a March 809BR/24 primary loop pump and 5 El-Sid 10B/24
>zone pumps. My existing Slant-Fin Victory 90K btu boiler has a powered
>exhaust fan when it's firing, so it's not as efficient as it could be. My
>power consumption is:
>131 W when the boiler is firing and two zones are calling for heat;
>51 W when the boiler is not firing and two zones are calling for heat.
>
>The El-Sids draw 14W each, to more or fewer zones will adjust wattage
>consumption accordingly. The 809BR/24 draws 13.34 watts in this application,
>and has a higher pumping head, but is noisier. I find the El-Sids to be very
>quiet. We used LUX programmable electronic thermostats from Home Desparate
>to control each zone.
>
>Twice an El-Sid has failed to circulate. In each case I was working (=^) and
>my wife identified the stuck pump (by two LEDs lit rather than four), rapped
>the pump with a stick to dislodge whatever speck of crud was lodged in the
>impeller, and there have been no further problems.
>
>I am not a plumber, and this is the only hydronic system I have ever done,
>so I now know it takes careful design and effort, but it's not rocket
>science. Tomorrow Tim will put up some pictures of this hydronic layout on
>the web page noted above, that will show what worked for me in a fairly
>visually-logical layout. The existing photos on the web page are somewhat
>misleading, as they are of a custom system on steroids that we did last
>year.
>
>Hope this helps.
>
>Allan at Positive Energy
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Dana Orzel" <dana at solarwork.com>
>
>>  Bristol Stickney was the presenter.
>
>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>  From: "John Berdner" <jberdner at sma-america.com>
>>  >
>>  > A while ago I was at a Dealer seminar held by Dankoff Solar.
>>  > Allan at +E was there but I do not think he made the presentation.
>>  > Unfortunately I do not recall the name of the guy who did - sorry.
>
>>  > -----Original Message-----
>>  > From: John Blittersdorf, Cent. VT Solar & Wind [mailto:cvsolar at aol.com]
>>  > Probably a year or so ago, someone in our group mentioned doing lots
>>  > of
>>  > work coming up with energy efficient pumping designs... pumps, manifolds
>>  > etc.
>>  > for radiant floor heating and/or baseboard hot water heat.  I would like
>>  > to
>>  > contact that person as I am finding that pump loads are getting out of
>>  > hand
>>  > with some of my off grid systems... It seems that plumbers think that a
>>  > whole
>>  > wall full of pumps is normal!!!!
>>  > I think that 500 to 600 watts to move a little water around is too much.
>>  > I
>>  > know that the ELCids can be used in some applications but would like to
>>  > know
>>  > what other pumps are available. Any info would be appreciated.
>>  >
>>
>
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-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jeff Clearwater
Ecovillage Design Associates - Whole Systems Design
Community and Village Scale Renewable Energy & Water Systems

Cell: 720-480-8455
Office:  800-440-2523 (PIN-7071)
Fax:  720-528-7813
jeffc at ic.org

85 Baker Road
Shutesbury, MA 01072

PO Box 2255
Redway, CA 95560

Council Member - Ecovillage Network of the Americas - http://www.ecovillage.org
Advisory Board - Living Routes - Ecovillage Education - 
http://www.livingroutes.org
Founder:  Ecovillage Research, Development, and Demonstration Program:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~clrwater/RDD/rdd.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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