Radiant & Hydronics

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Viega introduces new products for hydronic and HVAC applications that allow for easy installation and system integration.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced the 20 collegiate teams selected to compete in the DOE’s Solar Decathlon 2015 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif. The teams will now begin the nearly two-year process of building solar-powered houses that are affordable, innovative and energy-efficient.

A homeowner asks his local heating installer if a geothermal heat pump can be combined with radiant floor heating. The system he creates is meant to supply a dozen independently controlled zones of low-temperature floor heating.

Water heaters are the second-highest energy source in the home.

Based on the results from energy simulations of different home types in six regions of Canada, annual energy savings of up to 18% could be realized with radiant heat.

A homeowner wants to use a wood-gasification boiler as his primary source of space heating. He also wants a propane-fueled boiler to automatically come on for backup should he decide not to tend the fire, or if he is away. The owner has read that a generously sized thermal storage tank is necessary to allow a gasification boiler to operate at consistent high efficiency.

A hydronic system is to supply four panel radiators, each with its own thermostatic radiator valve, and an indirect water heater from a gas-fired sectional cast-iron boiler. The system is designed using primary/secondary piping.

The hydronic system shown above was created to connect three gas-fired, cast-iron boilers to a low-temperature distribution system that supplies 12,000 ft. of 3/4 in. PEX tubing embedded in the floor slab.The installer spends several frustrating hours attempting to get the air out of the system. He finally gets it purged to the point that the distribution circulator is at least moving some water through the floor-heating circuits.

Joe Wrenchturner gets a call to install solar water heating for a longtime customer. He buys some flat-plate collectors through an online source and decides to assemble the remainder of the system using hardware he installs for other hydronic systems.

A panel of solar industry judges chose Free Hot Water for its innovative and cost-effective design of a solar hydronic heating, hot water and photovoltaic system that was shown to be cost-competitive with a natural gas system.