Happy New Years ! Ba Hum Bug for sure

Discussion in 'Off Grid Living' started by Nadja, Jan 3, 2011.


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  1. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    I can understand your reasoning on the special tool and don't fault you for it, if you were to have a failure in a SHTF situation. I just thought I'd throw out a better option than PVC, since you mentioned that you never wanted to do this again.

    If you decide to change your mind, let me know and I'll ship you my Wirsbo tool to borrow for installation.

    If interested, I'll ship you a piece of Wirsbo full of water and capped on both ends for you to put in the freezer, to freeze and thaw repeatedly showing the durability of the product.
     
    ColtCarbine, Feb 4, 2011
    #21
  2. Witch Doctor 01

    Witch Doctor 01 Mojo Maker

    Colt... would this product work well in a "Florida heat pump"? we are thinking of changing the existing heating/ac system with a more energy efficent system...
     
    Witch Doctor 01, Feb 4, 2011
    #22
  3. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Ghrit, awhile back a buddy sent me some pics of when Niagara Falls literally froze over in the very early 20th or very late 19th century. AWESOME spectacle! Had to be Hellishly cold to do that. But it shows that even huge masses of fast moving water CAN freeze!

    Makes me glad I am in sunny Florida. We have had pipes freeze and burst, but it's rare. I do always trickle my water when it drops to 20 or so degrees. My pipes are buried, except the faucet pipes coming out of the ground - they are foam-wrapped. Temp has been in the low teens here, and I haven't had a problem yet at this property in ten years.
     
    Seawolf1090, Feb 7, 2011
    #23
  4. ColtCarbine

    ColtCarbine Monkey+++ Founding Member

    No, heat pumps use refrigerant and heat transfer from the condenser or coil depending which mode it is in. The refrigerant is under higher pressure than Wirsbo Pex can withstand and it is not intended to be used for refrigerant. Pex intended use is for domestic (potable) and heating (hydronic) water.

    However, if your heat pump is used for heating water rather than air. Then the answer is partially yes. The tubing in which the water runs through could be installed in Wirsbo heatpex.

    To give you a better answer on what you options might be, start another thread asking the same. Make sure to give as much detail as possible on current HVAC system, budget, square footage of home etc........

    Please keep in mind I do not work on HVAC systems but do work for a plumbing/HVAC contractor. I am a plumber who does work on boilers and hydronic systems. If I do not know the answer to all your questions, I can find out the answers. It might take a day or so to ask the guys at the shop who do work on HVAC.

    Also, there is a mechanical engineer and one of the other Administrator's here used to work on HVAC systems.

    I sure somebody will be along to correct me if I missed something. I do not know all there is to know about heat pumps by a long shot but do understand how they operate.
     
    ColtCarbine, Feb 9, 2011
    #24
  5. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Heat Pumps can the thought of as just fancy Refrigerator Systems. Heat Pumps just move BTUs from one side to the other and can be made to work either direction. They can have Air cooled coils or Water cooled coils, on either side of the of the pump. It just depends on how the system was designed. Some folks use them to pull BTUs from Lakes, or Streams, to heat, and cool, homes and cabins. The technology is the same it is just which direction the BTUs are moving.
     
    BTPost, Feb 9, 2011
    #25
  6. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    If you are heating with hot water, you can use a heat pump with a refrigerant to water heat exchanger, can easily be changed over. Need more info to make a better assessment, but I can say that a few more things would be necessary. Radiators (baseboard or otherwise) will NOT do a very good job as coolers, an air duct system will be needed. Now, depending on what your existing system looks like, it very well may not be practical, and could/would be very expensive.

    (I get that you are heating with hot water, or at least making it outside the residence. That is good. And, by the way, you can add antifreeze to that circulating system if you are not co-generating domestic hot water in the same system. To convert to a/c you'll need an air handler with an evaporator coil, then the system can be reversed to heat in winter.) If you use anti freeze, then burial becomes less critical like I was raving about in post #9.

    CC is pretty close to on point with this, much more info needed to do a design.

    Dunno which pipe material you are going to select, but CPVC is a "better" material than PVC for long term exposure to almost anything.

    Wolfie, the Niagara river wasn't moving very fast when it froze. The river upstream was plugged with ice dams. I saw those pix, I think that was before even I was born. 1932?
     
    ghrit, Feb 9, 2011
    #26
  7. Nadja

    Nadja RIP 3-11-2013 Forum Leader

    First of all, thank-you for your very kind offer. However, being a retired house framer, I have seen it installed many times. Also talking with the plumbers hanging it , I quickly learned that it is not for me.
     
    Nadja, Feb 10, 2011
    #27
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