jb1390
Gold Member
We have been heating exclusively with wood for the past number of years, we have not used the hydronic system at all. I am working to revamp it a bit - and I'm replacing the original (General Motors) boiler, with a Liberty Slant Fin (LD-30P I believe) I bought secondhand. I have some questions about how to set up zone and boiler controls. House is 1150 sf, poorly insulated with single pane windows.
1. We heat Domestic Hot Water with an electric water heater. There is not a DHW coil on this boiler, and I'm not planning to add one. If we end up tying in a wood boiler someday, we may connect DHW to that, but I'm not currently planning to alter the DHW system.
2. I would like to zone with separate pumps. The pumps are relatively cheap, and contain check valves. It seems this is the easier way to go - and will allow appropriate flow for each zone. Otherwise it's a bigger pump with zone valves - and chances are only one zone will ever run due to continued heating with the wood stove. Using separate smaller pumps seems more appropriate and simpler for this application. The pumps would be controlled via relays and thermostats.
3. For ease of control, I was planning on controlling the boiler purely off an aquastat - and the thermostats would tie in only to the pumps. So the boiler would run independently, maintain hot water, and the pumps would move it as required. From what I've read, it seems some systems will increase the boiler temp when it calls for heat, but allow the temp to relax when there is no call for heat, but maintain a lower temp for DHW. Since I am not doing DHW, I was going to get an adjustable aquastat, and adjust the range as required so the boiler doesn't short-cycle excessively. Is this approach ok?
4. We would like 3 zones - one that will be shut off most of the time. This space is not typically used during the winter due to very poor windows and insulation. I was planning on including glycol for this zone - and it will have a heat exchanger and separate pump. I did not want to include glycol throughout the entire system - but would not be strongly opposed if that's the better way to go. It seems the drawbacks outweigh the slight increase in cost and equipment to isolate that particular zone.
Am I missing anything major? Any suggestions on a different approach?
1. We heat Domestic Hot Water with an electric water heater. There is not a DHW coil on this boiler, and I'm not planning to add one. If we end up tying in a wood boiler someday, we may connect DHW to that, but I'm not currently planning to alter the DHW system.
2. I would like to zone with separate pumps. The pumps are relatively cheap, and contain check valves. It seems this is the easier way to go - and will allow appropriate flow for each zone. Otherwise it's a bigger pump with zone valves - and chances are only one zone will ever run due to continued heating with the wood stove. Using separate smaller pumps seems more appropriate and simpler for this application. The pumps would be controlled via relays and thermostats.
3. For ease of control, I was planning on controlling the boiler purely off an aquastat - and the thermostats would tie in only to the pumps. So the boiler would run independently, maintain hot water, and the pumps would move it as required. From what I've read, it seems some systems will increase the boiler temp when it calls for heat, but allow the temp to relax when there is no call for heat, but maintain a lower temp for DHW. Since I am not doing DHW, I was going to get an adjustable aquastat, and adjust the range as required so the boiler doesn't short-cycle excessively. Is this approach ok?
4. We would like 3 zones - one that will be shut off most of the time. This space is not typically used during the winter due to very poor windows and insulation. I was planning on including glycol for this zone - and it will have a heat exchanger and separate pump. I did not want to include glycol throughout the entire system - but would not be strongly opposed if that's the better way to go. It seems the drawbacks outweigh the slight increase in cost and equipment to isolate that particular zone.
Am I missing anything major? Any suggestions on a different approach?