EcoRenovator  

Go Back   EcoRenovator > Improvements > Solar Heating
Advanced Search
 


Blog 60+ Home Energy Saving Tips Recent Posts Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-16-11, 04:38 PM   #41
Solaris
Uber Effecient
 
Solaris's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 18
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Default Drainback Level

A drainback tank only needs to be a small distance below the bottom of the solar collector. The shortest distance is best. Not sure why you would go to all the effort to dig through your floor?

__________________
Solaris

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Solaris is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-16-11, 08:07 PM   #42
bennelson
Home-Wrecker
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: SE Wisconsin
Posts: 546
Thanks: 3
Thanked 165 Times in 96 Posts
Default

That part of your basement is weird.

I have no idea why anyone would have built it like that. There was no reason at all for that part to be higher. I thought for sure, there must have been a cistern or something under there!
__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
bennelson is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-11, 11:44 AM   #43
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Solaris View Post
A drainback tank only needs to be a small distance below the bottom of the solar collector. The shortest distance is best. Not sure why you would go to all the effort to dig through your floor?
The panels will be roughly 80 feet from the tank on a rack outside. That means I need 20 inches of vertical slope to have all the water drain back to the tank. The lower I can get the tank in the basement, the less fill I'll need outside to bury the pipes.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-11, 11:46 AM   #44
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bennelson View Post
That part of your basement is weird.

I have no idea why anyone would have built it like that. There was no reason at all for that part to be higher. I thought for sure, there must have been a cistern or something under there!
I talked to my neighbor who used to own my house about 15 years ago. He said at one point there was a shallow well pump right in that area. I don't see why that would have any effect on the platform... But, thats what he was able to tell me.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-17-11, 05:10 PM   #45
dh1
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Ont. Canada
Posts: 99
Thanks: 14
Thanked 11 Times in 9 Posts
Default

Would it be better to have a closed loop with anti freeze and heat exchanger instead of trying to make a drain back system?
If it freezes on you it could be a lot of work to repair.
dh1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-19-11, 10:54 AM   #46
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

Drain back systems are cheaper, simpler and a little more efficient. So, unless I run into some other major issues I'll keep it as a drain back.
__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-22-11, 09:07 PM   #47
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

While adding drain tile to the basement we also used the rented jack hammer to punch a hole in the wall to run pipe out to the solar panel rack, and take out a platform that had been made in the basement.









We also poured a new slab under where a raised platform used to be. This will give me a bit more room for the tank.

__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Last edited by Daox; 10-22-11 at 09:33 PM..
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-23-11, 11:01 AM   #48
zick
Helper EcoRenovator
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: WI
Posts: 42
Thanks: 2
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Default

Keep up the good work!

zick is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-12, 09:01 PM   #49
Northernliving
Lurking Renovator
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Northern USA
Posts: 1
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default

How is your tank project coming along? Please do keep us posted.
Northernliving is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-12, 08:07 AM   #50
Daox
Administrator
 
Daox's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Germantown, WI
Posts: 5,525
Thanks: 1,162
Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts
Default

There are no updates as of right now. However, I was thinking of this just yesterday. With spring here, I'll be starting to work on the whole solar system quite soon.

__________________
Current project -
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
&
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Daox is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:53 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Ad Management by RedTyger
Inactive Reminders By Icora Web Design