Ok, so I am looking at purchasing a home.. I am looking at purchasing a fixer upper.. Most of you are going to .. say I am stupid for wanting this, but .. it is what it is... I don't know what I am asking for so bear with me..
I want Water based heating and cooling.. I like the idea of individual temperature zones etc.. What I am asking is this.. Residentially, has it been done to take a High Efficiency Boiler and have it hooked to two buffer tanks, one tank being used for the house heating system and the other tank being used for the hot water supply for the plumbing?
The theory behind this is that the boiler for the heat system would be used all the time anyways, so why not use the high BTU to always have a hot water supply that never has to regenerate... I am understanding these boilers to be more powerful than a standard hot water heater so if the boiler makes the heat supply for both tanks, I'd never ever run out of heat for the house or heat for the water, correct?
Essentially, both tanks are hooked to the same supply lines that would be pumped through the boiler, but the energy is transferred to the water being held in the tank, so if ignition is called for one take, the thermal transfer would carry the heated supply to both tanks, both tanks would always be at the same temperature regardless of usage. Right? Also with that thermal transfer, say I wasn't using any hot water that day, but the radiant heat reached low temp in the buffer tank, since the water is being circulated through both tanks, there wouldn't be an over pressure on one tank from the heat cycle..
On the exact opposite of the spectrum, I'd want to use a heat pump/AC unit as a water chiller, and use water valves/solenoids that would allow each zone to switch over to cool mode and circulate cool water through and chill the house.. The radiators or whatever you wanna call the units in each room/zone would be fan blown so I could have zone heating / cooling.. There would be a third smaller tank to store the chilled water. I know there are condensation issues, I just need to find the kind of radiators that are made for both hot and cold water, and put drip pans in.
I plan on gutting the house, rewiring it and re plumbing it. I'd use pex tubing for the heat/cool system. I was thinking I could put the supply, return and drain lines all in a PVC pipe plumbed to each zone so when the system is on chill mode, incase the pipes sweat, they would sweat in the PVC and it would be carried down to a floor drain in the basement.
Also, each floor would have radiant heat as well so the bathroom floors would always be warm when needed.
Has any one gone this route? I don't want whole house HVAC because its moving the same stale are around and not individually zoned. It circulates odors and dust all through out the house. Also, I am going to have a rental in the basement. Independent climate for each zone seems like it would be cheaper this route in the long run instead of several split systems. Split systems have such a high up front cost, plus the energy cost. Also, it would be something that I could maintain my self since it truly is just water being circulated.
Plus it seems more feasible to do it this way instead of re-ducting the entire house. I wouldn't have to worry about energy loss when the air gets to the third level, and the comfort options seem to be better. Also, with everything having a zone and a coil of some sort, having make up air brought into the house when I install my exhaust hood would be easier to temper because I'd just add a radiator coil or two into the makeup duct instead of having another expensive burner/chiller installed.
This is all, of course, if I am understanding that the water used from the boiler that is circulated into the buffer tanks never actually mixes with the water that is in the tanks.. I have it in my mind that this technically would be 3 closed water systems, meaning the water for the house supply tank would never mix with the heated water from the boiler and the water in the hydronic heat/chill would never mix with the water in the boiler. If the boiler actually physically circulates the water from the buffer tanks, then back to the drawing board.
Thoughts, opinions?
I want Water based heating and cooling.. I like the idea of individual temperature zones etc.. What I am asking is this.. Residentially, has it been done to take a High Efficiency Boiler and have it hooked to two buffer tanks, one tank being used for the house heating system and the other tank being used for the hot water supply for the plumbing?
The theory behind this is that the boiler for the heat system would be used all the time anyways, so why not use the high BTU to always have a hot water supply that never has to regenerate... I am understanding these boilers to be more powerful than a standard hot water heater so if the boiler makes the heat supply for both tanks, I'd never ever run out of heat for the house or heat for the water, correct?
Essentially, both tanks are hooked to the same supply lines that would be pumped through the boiler, but the energy is transferred to the water being held in the tank, so if ignition is called for one take, the thermal transfer would carry the heated supply to both tanks, both tanks would always be at the same temperature regardless of usage. Right? Also with that thermal transfer, say I wasn't using any hot water that day, but the radiant heat reached low temp in the buffer tank, since the water is being circulated through both tanks, there wouldn't be an over pressure on one tank from the heat cycle..
On the exact opposite of the spectrum, I'd want to use a heat pump/AC unit as a water chiller, and use water valves/solenoids that would allow each zone to switch over to cool mode and circulate cool water through and chill the house.. The radiators or whatever you wanna call the units in each room/zone would be fan blown so I could have zone heating / cooling.. There would be a third smaller tank to store the chilled water. I know there are condensation issues, I just need to find the kind of radiators that are made for both hot and cold water, and put drip pans in.
I plan on gutting the house, rewiring it and re plumbing it. I'd use pex tubing for the heat/cool system. I was thinking I could put the supply, return and drain lines all in a PVC pipe plumbed to each zone so when the system is on chill mode, incase the pipes sweat, they would sweat in the PVC and it would be carried down to a floor drain in the basement.
Also, each floor would have radiant heat as well so the bathroom floors would always be warm when needed.
Has any one gone this route? I don't want whole house HVAC because its moving the same stale are around and not individually zoned. It circulates odors and dust all through out the house. Also, I am going to have a rental in the basement. Independent climate for each zone seems like it would be cheaper this route in the long run instead of several split systems. Split systems have such a high up front cost, plus the energy cost. Also, it would be something that I could maintain my self since it truly is just water being circulated.
Plus it seems more feasible to do it this way instead of re-ducting the entire house. I wouldn't have to worry about energy loss when the air gets to the third level, and the comfort options seem to be better. Also, with everything having a zone and a coil of some sort, having make up air brought into the house when I install my exhaust hood would be easier to temper because I'd just add a radiator coil or two into the makeup duct instead of having another expensive burner/chiller installed.
This is all, of course, if I am understanding that the water used from the boiler that is circulated into the buffer tanks never actually mixes with the water that is in the tanks.. I have it in my mind that this technically would be 3 closed water systems, meaning the water for the house supply tank would never mix with the heated water from the boiler and the water in the hydronic heat/chill would never mix with the water in the boiler. If the boiler actually physically circulates the water from the buffer tanks, then back to the drawing board.
Thoughts, opinions?
