Drainback vs. Closed Loop Circulators [RE-wrenches]

[Jeff Clearwater]

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Hey Todd,

I think you mean Tom Lane and yes he gave me a call personally - 
really nice of him to take the time (of course he talked me into 
buying a copy of his book - but a well deserved sale. : ))

He sang drainback's praises as well and also has reservations on 
evacuated tubes.

What problems have you had with which tubes?

Tom also said that most parasitic losses of DHW are on the order of 
5-8% of total savings.  Yes drainback is on the higher side - still 
crunching numbers and waiting on more solid feedback to conclude how 
much higher.  The Taco 009 is reported to be useable for a single 
story small system and doesn't use that much more than a typical 
closed loop circulator.  But still awaiting more solid numbers from 
hopefully someone whose measured it?

Thanks for your input Todd!

Best,

Jeff C.




>I hope Jeff Lane steps in on this one.
>
>I have seen bad experiences with evacuated tube collectors. They are 
>fragile and the performance gain is not worth it unless you are 
>trying to make steam. Flat plate collectors are heavy and take 2 to 
>3 people to lift them on the roof, but they last forever.
>
>Drainbacks are more efficient in terms of heat transfer, but the 
>energy for pumping is MUCH higher than a closed glycol loop. It is 
>probably a toss up as to which is better. What do others think about 
>this?
>
>Todd
>
>
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