Heating system and water heater choices
Gurvy
11 years ago
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fsq4cw
11 years agoRelated Discussions
Solar thermal System - Marathon water heater?
Comments (5)Hi Greenie100, Great questions. The answer between the two choices probably involves how much water your family uses(including habits) and how much insolation you get in your OR climate. I would guess the bigger system. I have used the Marathon tanks and love them. The biggest selling point to me is that they have no anode rod to change out which is usually the death of most tank water heaters. Dont take a DIY installation lightly. If you have skill with copper plumbing then it can be a great way to save some money but be prepared for lots of time and tinkering if you have no experience with solar hot water. Be very careful about how you install your backup tank and monitoring for expected performance is crucial. Dont skimp on controls and thermometers. The bottom link is troublesome for me to include because I dont necessarily agree with all of the authors points. It is however getting tougher and tougher to spec solar hot water these days due to the incredible efficiency of heat pump water heaters and falling prices of PV. I feel Solar Hot Water still has its place but it is making less financial sense these days. Here is a link that might be useful: Green Building Advisor article; Solar Thermal is Dead...See Morehot water heater for baseboard heating
Comments (26)Posted by scott2006 on Sun, Feb 18, 07 at 20:32... "Guys, The Legionnairs is nothing to fool with. My neighbor got it TWICE from the hot water tank. The 2nd time the health department finaly figured it out. What happen is hes an old guy living alone and wants to save money. He turns the tank off when he doesn't shower then turns it up just enough to take a warm shower. Then off it goes." Wow...this was not an issue for me. Our apartment in Singapore used a small 15 litre electric HW tank on a timer switch. This is a relatively common arrangement in the Lion City. Just push a button 20 minutes before needing hot water, and I was good-to-go. The timer ran only for an hour at a time. I'd have to push the button again if I wanted more. In a tropical climate, that was rarely necessary. We would sometimes go a couple of days between heating the tank. Other times, I'd forget to hit the timer until it was too late. It was warm water for my shower or the dishes at this point. I'd shut it off right after I was done, as there was no need for the heater to finish it's cycle. The hot (or sometimes warm) water fed the the shower, kitchen sink, and bathroom sink. I showered, washed dishes, and drank without ever getting sick from it. As-far-as-I-know, no-one has gotten Legionnaire's Disease from using luke-warm water in Singapore. I just wish more Asian countries would use S-traps for sinks and showers. P-traps are common in Singapore. No traps are common in Indonesia. Yuck. I guess that's a discussion for another thread. Peace. Marco...See MoreNew Construction Water Heater Choice
Comments (7)Ok, Look at the energy tag on some of your choices all at 50 gal size: The most expensive to run is a standard electric $585 ( $0.12 per kwh) and Propane $590 ($2.41 per gal) Hybrid (Geospring is the example) $220 I don't know who your electric company is, but Potomac Edison is offering $500 rebates on the hybrid heater. This is a no- brainer to me. Even without the rebate, the hybrid would pay for the difference in less than 2 years. With the rebate it would pay for the $100 difference in no time. BTW: The lowes.com website is your friend. You can get the energy tag information right there for various types of heaters. Note: Compare your actual cost of fuel to the tag. Your cost may vary considerably (my guess your cost will be more expensive than national ave). Here is a link that might be useful: Rebates...See Morehydronic system with indirect water heater
Comments (7)Another way would be to use a modulating/condensing boiler since it would give you the best of both worlds. It will modulate to a lower temp when you need heat for the radiant, but when there is a call for hot water, the boiler will fully fire to recover the indirect very quickly. This can be the most efficient method for both radiant heat AND hot water(when using fossil fuels, of course). Tankless vs. tank water heater proponents can quibble all they want about which is more efficient, but indirects, coupled with a modulating/condensing boiler are more efficient than both for hot water production. What type of radiant install are you planning to do? If you can use lower water temps in the radiant heat, you can get the efficiency up to 98% on certain boiler models....See MoreElmer J Fudd
11 years agoGurvy
11 years agofsq4cw
11 years agodavid_cary
11 years agomike_home
11 years agoElmer J Fudd
11 years agofsq4cw
11 years agoweedmeister
11 years agoionized_gw
11 years agoElmer J Fudd
11 years agofsq4cw
11 years agoionized_gw
11 years ago
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