Quote:
Originally Posted by Drake
If whole fluid system only held 10 gls glycol mix would it be expensive to drain/fill each winter(only want to use for space heating)?
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You still risk damage to the panels, that is one risk with buying used panels is you need to check that they have not over heated as it can melt the solder joints if they were soldered instead of welded or brazed, if they have wood frames the wood can be scorched, the rubber seals brake down faster when the panels over heat, all in all I don't see it worth draining them, you would be better off shading them in the summer.
But to answer your question, the last system that I worked on (A number of years ago) I think was around 5 3x10 foot panels, had loops heating 1,900 sf of cement slab and a 300 foot dump loop, I think they had around 60 gallons of glycol mix in there, but you should be able to get specs on how much a panel in your system holds, how much the heat exchanger holds, how much tubing you have and from that figure out how much fluid you will have, but if you did want to drain it you might as well get an empty storage tank and pump it in there in the summer, or shade your panels if you don't want to have a dump loop and don't need hot water in the summer.