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Old 07-01-13, 02:44 AM   #301
ctgottapee
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There shouldn't be any overheat problems with solar as its fairly consistent.
The T&P valve will handle any rare events, might have to plump the drain line so it is not as messy (which is often against code), and test it more frequently.
Now if you have a check valve at the water main, then an expansion tank which you should already have would be needed.


Do you think the A7 units with R410a will be that much more efficient?

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Old 07-01-13, 08:32 AM   #302
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Not sure how those new systems will run. I have heard from at least one DIYer
about replacing R410A in a modern central air system, with Propane.
He said the Propane caused his system to draw much less current, and provide better cooling.
But, in my own experience using R410A Sanyo mini-split units, they work great,
using low power during the hot summer and providing very efficient heat during in the winter.

So, I think it's going to depend on the design of the new A7 units.
Are they optimized for R410A, or is the design and hardware the same as it was?
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Old 07-06-13, 01:43 PM   #303
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Default Water tank Modifications for A7, or 12k AC unit

Hacked a electric 40g AO Smith water heater. My phenumatic saber saw made short order of this strip 8" wide out of jacket of tank. Ran a sharped putty knife in saw slot, and peeled the metal 22g jacket off, then finished off with a 5in1 painters tool to strip polyiso foam insulation. Drilled a chase hole from the top thru the foam fill hole. Cleaned up the hole with a 5/8" threaded rod file. Rolled 1/16" aluminum transfer plates and aluminum taped them in place. ( Nashua Aluminum tape is amazing stuff, clean all surfaces with Alcohol) Rolling rig worked well this is 50' of 1/4" line. With room to spare for another 50'. but wonder if I will need it.
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Old 07-06-13, 03:00 PM   #304
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kbonk View Post
Hacked a electric 40g AO Smith water heater...
Are you doing this as an alternate to putting your condenser tubing inside the tank?

-AC
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Old 07-06-13, 04:02 PM   #305
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Yes, this is all from stuff I have around the shop at this point.
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Old 07-06-13, 08:06 PM   #306
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Xringer-

What temperature is your basement now and can u tell that it stays drier/cooler? My problem is i need to drop the humidity in my basement, and if they would work, , the cost isn't that much different from a dehumidifier... FYI..my basement is 70F/71% humidity...
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Old 07-15-13, 01:34 PM   #307
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Default Mid month report

It's very hot outdoors this week, but the basement is 69F right now..
We have the ventilation blower running today, since the humidity isn't real high today.
My wife has been commenting about how nice the basement smells these days.
I plan to automate the ventilation with an outdoor humidity sensor.
Don't want to pump in too much wet air..

Today we are seeing about 966 PV watts going into the tank.
The tank is at 54.5C. Yesterday I noticed it was at 60C.
Four showers yesterday (due to deck rebuilding project).

Kilo-Watt meter is at 107 kWh. (Was 100 on 6-29-13)
So, for the last 17 days, we have burned up grid power at the rate of 0.412 kWh per day.
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Old 07-15-13, 02:44 PM   #308
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Xringer,

How long have you been measuring your usage? I ask to get an idea of minimum usage. I know you've been supplementing your DHW with PV Watts also. On cloudy/stormy days, how does the airtap keep up? I am seriously considering hacking together a dual-purpose device, a deep-freeze water preheater. The deep-freeze I have would be ridiculously easy to modify.
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Old 07-15-13, 03:21 PM   #309
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[QUOTE=Xringer;30661]It's very hot outdoors this week, but the basement is 69F right now..
We have the ventilation blower running today, since the humidity isn't real high today.
My wife has been commenting about how nice the basement smells these days.
I plan to automate the ventilation with an outdoor humidity sensor.
Don't want to pump in too much wet air..

Today we are seeing about 966 PV watts going into the tank.
The tank is at 54.5C. Yesterday I noticed it was at 60C.
Four showers yesterday (due to deck rebuilding project).

Kilo-Watt meter is at 107 kWh. (Was 100 on 6-29-13)
So, for the last 17 days, we have burned up grid power at the rate of 0.412 kWh per day.[/QUOTE

The only issue I have with a dehumidifier is that they actually warm the area around them...so if the airtap cools and dehumidifies...that would be great. I'll have to look into it a little more. I have a 40 gallon powervent NG heater now which works fine, but have no idea what the costs would be between the 2 (operating)... and if the airtap would work with the current heater or would i need a separate tank...
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Old 07-15-13, 03:27 PM   #310
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jeff5may View Post
Xringer,

How long have you been measuring your usage? I ask to get an idea of minimum usage. I know you've been supplementing your DHW with PV Watts also. On cloudy/stormy days, how does the airtap keep up? I am seriously considering hacking together a dual-purpose device, a deep-freeze water preheater. The deep-freeze I have would be ridiculously easy to modify.
Now that we are having nice sunny weather, the A7 is fully in Solar PV assist mode.
Solar PV is providing the majority of the BTUh.
There isn't any problem on cloudy days. But we are running a timer on the A7,
and that could cause a problem if we were to use a lot of hot water after 8PM.
Meaning a warm shower, instead of hot.
IIRC, the timer allows power to the A7 between 1PM and 8PM.

I reset the Kill-a-watt meter on 2-4-13. (162 days ago) Since then the A7 has used 107 kWh.
On 4-22-13, I connected the upper heating element to the 500W tracker array. Use was at 73.33 kWh.
6-29-13 it was at 100 kWh.
7-15-13 (today) it's 107 kWh.

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