Another hot water tank heat pump - Page 7

NiHaoMike · 11-13-13, 06:45 PM

Where's the liquid line filter drier? While you're at it, it's also a good time to put in a high side service valve.

jeff5may · 11-13-13, 07:46 PM

Where's the evacuated tube solar collector? I didn't see one in the pics...

Edit: Sorry, I forgot. That's on the other side of the shop.

randen · 11-14-13, 04:08 AM

Jeff5may

The solar collector is actually a flat plate collector. Very primitive but has shown to be quite effective. And yes it is at the other side of the shop and outside where the sunlight is. Its been quite miserable here wind rain and snow, not conducive for outside work.
At this time I have about 4 projects running simultaneously. As components arrive and daytime work will allow, facets of each project will be accomplished. The flat plate collectors now require the fin & tube risers to be made. But waiting for some silfos braze to arrive. Of late some components for the truck have arrived so some time will go there.

Until the flat plate collector is functioning the little 2 ton home made geo-heatpump is purring away keeping the shop warm & comfy. (Thanks AC.) As a side note the office area has in-floor heating, 6" concrete and tube and wow is that efficient. The floor temp is 26 Deg. C making the air temp about 20 Deg. C If anyone is still on the fence the geothermal and hydronic floor work together real well.

Next order of business for the HWHP is to fab some brackets to mount the condenser followed by brazing the whole works up. (again waiting for some silfos braze and anode) I should at some point put a coat of paint on the thing. My dads basement area is quite neat and tidy and its going to be sitting next to a brand new furnace. We can't have something sitting there looking like its just out a scrap heap.

Randen

jeff5may · 11-15-13, 10:18 PM

I was kidding! You're the man and deserve some rest. Take a seat, have a beer, watch some football or something. This water heater can wait.

randen · 11-16-13, 08:43 AM

Jeff5may

Thanks for the break, just finished a (2) nice made in America Blue Moon harvest beer. Good idea you had!!
We have to be extra careful here as projects can be started with much enthusiasm and putter to a crawl and stop. (Don't want to end up there). I had though maybe you where going there with the comment "were is the solar collector"

I took the comment as a note of encouragement.

As AC_Hacker coined,: I'm on one of those "Jihad's" for the reduction of energy.

I'm on a roll here. 4 years ago 40875 kwh usage and this year is looking like 30600 kwh as I'm guesstimating Dec. bill. That's a sizable reduction I'm sure you would agree. I've been of late replacing all our lighting with LED's. So all the efforts have not been in vain.

From furnace oil to Geo-thermal and solar hot water equating to a 66% reduction in money spent to stay comfortable. Mostly found in my tool box.

Randen

randen · 11-22-13, 03:40 PM

Slowly and steady the components are coming together. The silphos braze and anode rod finally arrived. Today the anode rod was installed and a condensate tray was fab'd up. Should be too much longer.

Randen

AC_Hacker · 11-22-13, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randen

...and a condensate tray was fab'd up...

A stainless condensate tray, no less!

Class act.

-AC

randen · 01-31-14, 05:26 PM

The hot water tank heat pump has come out from the back-burner to one on the front. I couldn't tolerate the "out of the scrap pile patina" on the tank so we scuffed it up and gave it a quick paint job. My parents basement is quite neat and tidy and when the guys come to recover the expensive, rented, gas hungry, existing propane fueled HWT I want the response "what is that" flavour, to be more, "I would like one too" rather than the rolling of eyes.

As seen we installed a new anode rod and the tank was cleaned prior with hydrochloric acid and perfectly clean inside. It looked new with the glass enameled factory protective coating. The exsisting upper element was left in place and both thermostat controls are there and we're using the bottom therostat to operate the system. I'm expecting a good long life on this DIY HPWH.

At this point the HPWH is near ready for installation. (possibly this weekend) The last half of the cover needs to be installed. It so happens with the high efficiency propane hot water tank required a 110 V receptacle as well, so the install will be a walk in the park. Some couplings, copper soldering and presto plug it in. The sump-pump is close as well for the condensate tube to be placed.

Again I'm going to use the stainless steel washing machine drum for the cover as my brother has a lot of this junk and its the perfect size for my projects. In the photo with the cover installed the HPWT is powered up briefly and one can make out the frost on the evaporator. It runs quite quiet and smoothly. I had popped a hole in the side and installed a 4" dia. duct. With this we can augment the summer air-conditioning but more importantly keep the air directed to the warmer basement floor and from re-entering the evaporator reducing the efficiency.

A couple other details for augmenting the frugal operational cost would be a "time of use" timer and possibly a better electronic thermostat.

The operation costs are expected to be approx. $7.00/ month. The rental of the propane water heater was $20.00 plus propane and taxes.

Hey X-ringer what do you see for operating costs on your A7.??

Randen

Xringer · 01-31-14, 06:23 PM

The last time I checked it, http://ecorenovator.org/forum/geothe...heater-25.html

It was around 1 kWh per day. $5 to $6 a month? We are now at 17 cents per kWh.

For the last two months, the basement has been so cold that I've left the A7
shut down and relied on Solar PV, most of the time.
Solar has been working very well in this cold weather. Just have to keep the snow off the panels.

We turn the A7 on for 2 or 3 hours when it's overcast, or when we need
hotter water than we have in the tank. We do that about once a week.
Our power usage is very much controlled by the current climate.

It was nice and sunny all afternoon, so I'm about to hit the stationary bike,
followed by a hot shower..

jeff5may · 02-01-14, 08:58 AM

This thing will look better than a GEospring unit when it's buttoned up. Running on R22/290 (I assume) it should get better COP than R134a.

One question: did you intentionally paint it propane bottle blue, or were you going for more of an easy-set pool tint?

11-13-13, 06:45 PM	#61
NiHaoMike Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,154 Thanks: 14 Thanked 257 Times in 241 Posts	Where's the liquid line filter drier? While you're at it, it's also a good time to put in a high side service valve. __________________ To my surprise, shortly after Naomi Wu gave me a bit of fame for making good use of solar power, Allie Moore got really jealous of her...

11-13-13, 07:46 PM	#62
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	Where's the evacuated tube solar collector? I didn't see one in the pics... Edit: Sorry, I forgot. That's on the other side of the shop. Last edited by jeff5may; 11-13-13 at 08:23 PM..

11-22-13, 03:40 PM	#66
randen Uber EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Strathroy Ontario Canada Posts: 657 Thanks: 9 Thanked 191 Times in 129 Posts	another hot water tank heat pump Slowly and steady the components are coming together. The silphos braze and anode rod finally arrived. Today the anode rod was installed and a condensate tray was fab'd up. Should be too much longer. Randen Attached Thumbnails

01-31-14, 05:26 PM	#68
randen Uber EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Strathroy Ontario Canada Posts: 657 Thanks: 9 Thanked 191 Times in 129 Posts	another hot water tank heat pump The hot water tank heat pump has come out from the back-burner to one on the front. I couldn't tolerate the "out of the scrap pile patina" on the tank so we scuffed it up and gave it a quick paint job. My parents basement is quite neat and tidy and when the guys come to recover the expensive, rented, gas hungry, existing propane fueled HWT I want the response "what is that" flavour, to be more, "I would like one too" rather than the rolling of eyes. As seen we installed a new anode rod and the tank was cleaned prior with hydrochloric acid and perfectly clean inside. It looked new with the glass enameled factory protective coating. The exsisting upper element was left in place and both thermostat controls are there and we're using the bottom therostat to operate the system. I'm expecting a good long life on this DIY HPWH. At this point the HPWH is near ready for installation. (possibly this weekend) The last half of the cover needs to be installed. It so happens with the high efficiency propane hot water tank required a 110 V receptacle as well, so the install will be a walk in the park. Some couplings, copper soldering and presto plug it in. The sump-pump is close as well for the condensate tube to be placed. Again I'm going to use the stainless steel washing machine drum for the cover as my brother has a lot of this junk and its the perfect size for my projects. In the photo with the cover installed the HPWT is powered up briefly and one can make out the frost on the evaporator. It runs quite quiet and smoothly. I had popped a hole in the side and installed a 4" dia. duct. With this we can augment the summer air-conditioning but more importantly keep the air directed to the warmer basement floor and from re-entering the evaporator reducing the efficiency. A couple other details for augmenting the frugal operational cost would be a "time of use" timer and possibly a better electronic thermostat. The operation costs are expected to be approx. $7.00/ month. The rental of the propane water heater was $20.00 plus propane and taxes. Hey X-ringer what do you see for operating costs on your A7.?? Randen Attached Thumbnails Last edited by Daox; 01-31-14 at 05:44 PM..

01-31-14, 06:23 PM	#69
Xringer Lex Parsimoniae Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Woburn, MA Posts: 4,918 Thanks: 114 Thanked 250 Times in 230 Posts	The last time I checked it, http://ecorenovator.org/forum/geothe...heater-25.html It was around 1 kWh per day. $5 to $6 a month? We are now at 17 cents per kWh. For the last two months, the basement has been so cold that I've left the A7 shut down and relied on Solar PV, most of the time. Solar has been working very well in this cold weather. Just have to keep the snow off the panels. We turn the A7 on for 2 or 3 hours when it's overcast, or when we need hotter water than we have in the tank. We do that about once a week. Our power usage is very much controlled by the current climate. It was nice and sunny all afternoon, so I'm about to hit the stationary bike, followed by a hot shower.. __________________ My hobby is installing & trying to repair mini-splits EPA 608 Type 1 Technician Certification ~ 5 lbs or less..

11-14-13, 04:08 AM	#63
randen Uber EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Strathroy Ontario Canada Posts: 657 Thanks: 9 Thanked 191 Times in 129 Posts	Jeff5may The solar collector is actually a flat plate collector. Very primitive but has shown to be quite effective. And yes it is at the other side of the shop and outside where the sunlight is. Its been quite miserable here wind rain and snow, not conducive for outside work. At this time I have about 4 projects running simultaneously. As components arrive and daytime work will allow, facets of each project will be accomplished. The flat plate collectors now require the fin & tube risers to be made. But waiting for some silfos braze to arrive. Of late some components for the truck have arrived so some time will go there. Until the flat plate collector is functioning the little 2 ton home made geo-heatpump is purring away keeping the shop warm & comfy. (Thanks AC.) As a side note the office area has in-floor heating, 6" concrete and tube and wow is that efficient. The floor temp is 26 Deg. C making the air temp about 20 Deg. C If anyone is still on the fence the geothermal and hydronic floor work together real well. Next order of business for the HWHP is to fab some brackets to mount the condenser followed by brazing the whole works up. (again waiting for some silfos braze and anode) I should at some point put a coat of paint on the thing. My dads basement area is quite neat and tidy and its going to be sitting next to a brand new furnace. We can't have something sitting there looking like its just out a scrap heap. Randen

11-15-13, 10:18 PM	#64
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	I was kidding! You're the man and deserve some rest. Take a seat, have a beer, watch some football or something. This water heater can wait.

11-16-13, 08:43 AM	#65
randen Uber EcoRenovator Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Strathroy Ontario Canada Posts: 657 Thanks: 9 Thanked 191 Times in 129 Posts	Jeff5may Thanks for the break, just finished a (2) nice made in America Blue Moon harvest beer. Good idea you had!! We have to be extra careful here as projects can be started with much enthusiasm and putter to a crawl and stop. (Don't want to end up there). I had though maybe you where going there with the comment "were is the solar collector" I took the comment as a note of encouragement. As AC_Hacker coined,: I'm on one of those "Jihad's" for the reduction of energy. I'm on a roll here. 4 years ago 40875 kwh usage and this year is looking like 30600 kwh as I'm guesstimating Dec. bill. That's a sizable reduction I'm sure you would agree. I've been of late replacing all our lighting with LED's. So all the efforts have not been in vain. From furnace oil to Geo-thermal and solar hot water equating to a 66% reduction in money spent to stay comfortable. Mostly found in my tool box. Randen

02-01-14, 08:58 AM	#70
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,428 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	This thing will look better than a GEospring unit when it's buttoned up. Running on R22/290 (I assume) it should get better COP than R134a. One question: did you intentionally paint it propane bottle blue, or were you going for more of an easy-set pool tint?