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Old 02-20-11, 01:15 PM   #41
AirSepTech
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Default What is the penalty?

Just my opinion, between pots of coffee, before I get realllllly amp-ed up.

Is there a fine? Do they send in the RCMP to tear it out? Will they even be able to see it? Will they come onto your property to look?

I am not saying to be ILLEGAL, but, bend it to your advantage. Get your "ducts" all in a row, so to speak. The Media could be your friend, if done right.

Is it REALLY illegal to build an EXPERIMENTAL solar collector in your back yard, freestanding and NOT connected to any PERMITED structure? With no pressure on it, wood, glass, and pipe are ILLEGAL in this form? WHY?

Is it REALLY illegal to drop a loop of tubing in some hot water, to see what happens? What's illegal, hot water, tubing, both???? WHY?

From there it gets-----more difficult, but not impossible. The BIG HEALTH PROBLEM.

Do they come and check PRIVATE pools and spas for temp/bacteria? You need a permit to operate one? No one ever gets hurt/sick around these????

Do you eat enough fiber, water, etc. How bout your kids? You smoke, drink, race cars, rockclimb, read, knit, sleep enough? Why are they SO CONCERNED with this hot water thing? Sales/Taxes/Permits/Regulations=Income-----for them.

It's all BULL$#!T.

If you had a spa, or small pool, would it be ILLEGAL to DIY solar heat it?

If you put a coil from your cold water to your water heater in it, to reduce your heating cost, conserve energy, reduce the hydro load, reduce the need for fossil fuel, slow down the need for new power plants, reduce your carbon footprint, and I'm sure many more buzz words,,,,,,,,,is that ILLEGAL?????? WHY????

I wish you the best of luck, I will soon enough be faced with the same BS myself, fooling around with a bunch of fools. Not the first time. I will give them their chance, and fair warning. I am not above making a spectical of the BS. It might not be permitted, but it could be ignored. Thats good enough for me.

I better get some decaff!!

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Old 02-20-11, 08:31 PM   #42
Indyplumber
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Default concerns on contamination

Quote:
Originally Posted by AirSepTech View Post
Just my opinion, between pots of coffee, before I get realllllly amp-ed up.

Is there a fine? Do they send in the RCMP to tear it out? Will they even be able to see it? Will they come onto your property to look?

I am not saying to be ILLEGAL, but, bend it to your advantage. Get your "ducts" all in a row, so to speak. The Media could be your friend, if done right.

Is it REALLY illegal to build an EXPERIMENTAL solar collector in your back yard, freestanding and NOT connected to any PERMITED structure? With no pressure on it, wood, glass, and pipe are ILLEGAL in this form? WHY?

Is it REALLY illegal to drop a loop of tubing in some hot water, to see what happens? What's illegal, hot water, tubing, both???? WHY?

From there it gets-----more difficult, but not impossible. The BIG HEALTH PROBLEM.

Do they come and check PRIVATE pools and spas for temp/bacteria? You need a permit to operate one? No one ever gets hurt/sick around these????

Do you eat enough fiber, water, etc. How bout your kids? You smoke, drink, race cars, rockclimb, read, knit, sleep enough? Why are they SO CONCERNED with this hot water thing? Sales/Taxes/Permits/Regulations=Income-----for them.

It's all BULL$#!T.

If you had a spa, or small pool, would it be ILLEGAL to DIY solar heat it?

If you put a coil from your cold water to your water heater in it, to reduce your heating cost, conserve energy, reduce the hydro load, reduce the need for fossil fuel, slow down the need for new power plants, reduce your carbon footprint, and I'm sure many more buzz words,,,,,,,,,is that ILLEGAL?????? WHY????

I wish you the best of luck, I will soon enough be faced with the same BS myself, fooling around with a bunch of fools. Not the first time. I will give them their chance, and fair warning. I am not above making a spectical of the BS. It might not be permitted, but it could be ignored. Thats good enough for me.

I better get some decaff!!
As a licensed plumber in the US I understand the concerns about possible contamination. I assume strider is connected to city water. Even if you are using water as your medium, with a drain back tank and constant heating of the system water, bacteria can develop. If that cross-contaminates the water in his back-up water heater any pressure loss on the city side will suck that right out into the domestic water supply. Hence the backflow preventer.

Realisticly(did I spell that right?) a single wall HX should be fine for years, with PEX lasting much longer than copper. The greatest drawback with using ANY metal HX is that while the pumps are running it is eroding the metal.
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Old 02-22-11, 08:13 PM   #43
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Well the news reported that our electric company wants to increase rates 32% over 3 years, 50% over 5 years. BC Hydro "regeneration" to increase rates 50 per cent or more over five years

guerrilla is becoming more likely by the day
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Old 02-22-11, 09:38 PM   #44
bsmith
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If you end up putting on the camo paint for your project... Here are some low cost differential controller options to control the pump and maybe a few other things as well that can help keep you under $500.

Good Luck...

myDTC Differential Temperature Controller Store - Home

Email me if you have any questions: smith100griggs@gmail.com -- Brian
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Old 03-08-11, 03:18 PM   #45
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Lightbulb Heat-Mover For Free Warm Attic Air

You might want to take a look at a Heat-Mover system which uses solar heat collected in your attic space all year long to pre-heat incoming domestic water supply. Heat-Mover can also be used for supplemental free warm attic air and costs are very reasonable, starting at $199.00. Check out heat-booster.com for more info and or let me know. Thanks.
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Old 03-10-11, 05:30 PM   #46
GaryGary
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Indyplumber View Post
As a licensed plumber in the US I understand the concerns about possible contamination. I assume strider is connected to city water. Even if you are using water as your medium, with a drain back tank and constant heating of the system water, bacteria can develop. If that cross-contaminates the water in his back-up water heater any pressure loss on the city side will suck that right out into the domestic water supply. Hence the backflow preventer.

Realisticly(did I spell that right?) a single wall HX should be fine for years, with PEX lasting much longer than copper. The greatest drawback with using ANY metal HX is that while the pumps are running it is eroding the metal.
Hi,
Don't really have an issue with requiring a back flow presenter just to be on the ultra safe side. But, the water in the combination drain back/storage tank gets hot enough often enough that nothing grows in it. Mine gets up to 160F once in a while.
I don't add anything to the water in my tank, and after 3 years, its fine -- no growth.

There are lots of regular boilers that have the same kind of setup with water heated by a boiler on one side of the heat exchanger and potable water on the other side.

Gary
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Old 03-14-11, 10:39 PM   #47
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Strider, I plan on building a small solar collector water heater for my hot tub, in the interior of BC. I have worked in construction for much of my career, you have lucked in to a bad inspector. One thing to keep in mind, is that if an inspection is requested, and the inspector does not show (same day I think), the work is regarded as passed. I just had a kinda nutty thought, why dont you re-lable your drawing, call the large tank with lid, the solar collector and make it double walled? That is the beginning of any direct connection to city water. You would need to get all your older drawings from the inspector. You could call the flat plate collectors heat exchangers.
The inspector is just afraid of being caught making a mistake, he probably would rather you did not involve him. I will not be getting a permit for my install.
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Old 04-01-11, 12:01 AM   #48
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Wishing you success! Keep up the good work!
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Old 06-07-11, 08:55 AM   #49
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How has this app panned out? Solar thermal is looking more and more promising for my new house.
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Old 06-07-11, 09:54 AM   #50
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I haven't worked on it for a few months. Going legal has basically hit a brick wall so a stealth install is now required.

First thing to get that working is to replace the falling over 4' fence in that area with a nice new 6' one... I wasn't too sure how many people are watching what I do here but last night a neighbour stopped to ask me what the box's on my garage roof were. (They're bee hives) so people are wondering. I suppose it's not too surprising, I moved in added a clothesline on my second day, ripped out a decorative garden and planted tomatoes on my third day and haven't really stopped adding gardens or working on the house since then.

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