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Old 08-20-12, 01:23 PM   #134
Xringer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AC_Hacker View Post

You did say that the temp in the attic is ALWAYS higher than your incoming city water, right?

-AC
In the summer, that's true. But during the winter, it can get very cold up there at night.
I would have to have a drain-down system to prevent freeze up.

I already have a bit of pre-heat from Solar..



I checked my log and it looks like the pre-heat has been hanging at about 80F on most days.

Edit: 8/25/2012
I'm going to put off hacking my attic's hot air as a source for basement heating.
I'll keep a log this winter and see what kind of temperatures I get up there.
One thing that I recall from previous years, snow on the roof will block the sun pretty well.
So, if we have a snowy winter, like 2010-2011, there won't be much attic solar to be had..

My main reason for considering heating the basement is to provide warm air
for the AirTap (ASHP) hotwater heater, during the colder months.

Heavy snow, and weeks of mostly overcast days during the winter are a worrisome factor.

I've been thinking about the problem for a while, and I'm slowly starting to think
that using the heating element (at 1200 w / 4100 BTUh) in conjunction with
the AirTap ASHP should be able to cut the run-time of the AirTap.
That might allow the basement air temperature to fully recover between runs.

~~~

A Reuben Lucius Goldberg picture just popped into my head..
It was a wall-wart plugged into the AirTap 120vac outlet (hot when running),
connected to a SSR, that controlled a 600 W hot-air ceramic space heater.
The space heater would blow on the back of the AirTap, with 90deg F air..

That would double my electricity cost, but since it's peanuts.. Not a big deal!
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Last edited by Xringer; 08-25-12 at 01:19 PM.. Reason: adding pic
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