CMX 2004 - Plumbing & HVAC

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Hot Water Heating The perfect way to heat a garage or workshop By Roy Collver 5 M 2 4 1 2 3 4 5 HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAT SOURCE INJECTION MIXING PUMP RADIANT FLOOR - STAGE ONE HEAT HYDRONIC UNIT HEATER - STAGE TWO HEAT UNIT HEATER ZONE VALVE Experience is a great teacher. I have listened to many complaints over the years from people who wanted the ultimate in hydronic luxury and paid a big price to get it – only to be disappointed by the end result. I’m not talking about hydronic towel warmers, radiant bathroom warm floors or great room panel rads – I’m talking about something far more important – the heated garage/workshop. (Now you’re talking! – ed) You can tweak the interest of many consumers with granite counter tops, hot tubs, theater rooms and other such trivial luxuries for their new house, but one of the most appealing upgrades you can offer is a heated garage where they can keep not only their precious classic car, but keep themselves comfortable while they pursue their favorite hobby. The decision to heat a garage is a logical one when you have already decided to put in hydronic heating. The addition really adds minimal cost to the heating system and is easily done. The trick is to do it properly and avoid some of the most common mistakes I have seen over the years: Common complaint No. 1: Water collects on the floor and the air becomes laden with humidity. This year, we have had a pretty ugly winter all across this fine land. In years like this the complaints are numerous as people bring their snow encrusted cars cost of fuel these days, it is common to set the temperature in the garage down low (usually 5°C to 10°C), and turn it up to a more comfortable temperature only when it is being used. There are two very important design details that can make this type of operation work very well with a radiant slab-on-grade heating system. First of all, make sure the slab is insulated beneath the concrete so you aren’t sending all of your heat straight down to China. There is some controversy over the benefits of insulating under a slab where dry soil conditions exist, with some people claiming that once such a slab is up to temperature, the underlying soil acts as a big heat sink and stabilizes the temperature of the floor. These people may have a point with some specific slab heating applications, but not in buildings that are subject to rapidly fluctuating outdoor temperatures or systems where setback is regularly used. So definitely insulate, but even when you do, it can take quite a while for a garage to heat up even a few degrees and you run the risk of overheating the space. Temperature swings occur because there is always a lag between the time a thermostat is satisfied with the air temperature and the time the floor stops pumping heat into the room. A concrete slab is still a pretty big heat sink, even if it is properly insulated – which brings us to our second detail. Use a two-stage thermostat to operate a high output, low-mass heating unit to boost your air temperature in conjunction with your radiant slab. Some examples are: Fan coil type heaters (such as hydronic unit heaters, forced-flow heaters or air handlers), fin-tube convectors with lots of element, or panel radiators with lots of surface area. Each specific application will favour a different type of ‘booster’ heat terminal unit. Some suspended unit heaters are no bigger than a breadbox, but put out many thousands of Btus and can bring a large garage up through 10°C in a matter of minutes. However, you would not want to use such a heater in a garage that also doubled as a woodworking shop, due to the fire hazard with sawdust. Panel radiators might be a better choice (no air blowing around and no coils to fill up with dust). Keep in mind that you may have two different water temperature requirements for this approach, mixed water for the slab, and high temperature water for the low mass heater. If you design the low mass heater for lower water temperatures you might get away with using a single mixed water temperature for both. into their nicely heated garages and watch helplessly as the snow and frozen mud plops off onto the floor and forms a rapidly expanding pool that soaks into the drywall, rusts any metal object on the floor (like that brand new table saw) and freezes the overhead door shut. When the water does evaporate, it fills the air with humidity which streams down and frosts over the windows and creates a clammy, mold-inducing atmosphere sure to cause no end of trouble down the road. A few simple design details can help you avoid all of this grief and give your customer the system they thought they were going to get when they hired you. First of all, put in a floor drain and properly slope the garage floor towards it so that excess moisture can drain away. Make sure you use a good quality drain that can be cleaned easily of all of the sand, gravel and other flotsam and jetsam that is brought in by your average car. Second, install a good exhaust fan (I have seen some people go as far as to put in an HRV) and operate it with a de-humidistat so you can chase that moist air outside. These two details are hugely important and, in my opinion, are an absolute necessity in order to make a cozy, clean work environment. Common complaint No. 2: Many garages in newer homes use a radiant slab as the heat source. This is a particularly elegant way to heat such a space, since it will help with problem No. 1 (above) by speeding the evaporation of excess water on the floor, as well as providing a quiet and extremely comfort- Real life operation This may all seem a little extravagant for a mere garage, but let’s look at how this perfect garage system works in real life: You pull into your driveway after a hard day and you are looking forward to a good dinner and a couple of quiet hours to yourself afterwards: restoring your latest baby – a vintage Norton Commando able working space. you picked up last summer. (Sounds like 1 WARM WATER HEAT SOURCE 2 RADIANT FLOOR - STAGE ONE HEAT The problem is that it pure Heaven, but the wife might have 3 3 HYDRONIC UNIT HEATER - STAGE TWO HEAT takes too long to something to say about it! – ed) 4 UNIT HEATER ZONE VALVE bring the garage up to You pop the garage door and the air 4 a comfortable working temperature from drops from plus 10°C to minus 10°C as temperature in your garage immediately M setback. it fills with cold outside air. Your twostage thermostat reacts immediately and 1 2 Most homeowners only use their brings both your radiant slab and your garage/workshop on 18,000 Btuh unit heater on full blast. - TWO STAGE GARAGE/WORKSHOP HEATING WITH A WARM WATER HEAT SOURCE (CONDENSING BOILER, HEAT PUMP, ELECTRIC BOILER, ETC.) - THE BOILER SUPPLIES WARM WATER TO BOTH THE RADIANT FLOOR SLAB AND THE UNIT HEATER AND THIS STARTS TO GET QUITE TRICKY - weekends or after After the door closes, the room immediately starts to warm up. You crank THE UNIT HEATER MUST BE OVER-SIZED IN ORDER TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT HEAT AT THE LOWER WATER TEMPERATURES TYPICAL OF A RADIANT SLAB HEATING SYSTEM AND IN ADDITION, THE WATER TEMPERATURE work, and then for TO THE SLAB MAY HAVE TO BE ELEVATED MORE THAN NORMAL TO MAKE THE UNIT HEATER EFFECTIVE only a few hours at a the thermostat up to 20°C as you go into On the other hand, this system works well too. time. With the rising the house for dinner. All of the snow and slush drops off of the underside of your car and quickly melts on the warm floor. The water runs down the floor drain or INTRODUCING the NEW WD SERIES GREASE INTERCEPTORS... quickly evaporates. As the humidity COMPETITIVE, COMPACT, AND UNPARALLELED FLEXIBILITY rises, the de-humidistat turns on your www.wattsdrainage.ca heat recovery ventilator and exhausts Flow Rates from 4 to 75 GPM the moisture to the outside. By the time you’ve had dinner and Grease Capacity from 8 to 150 LBS watched the evening news, the garage is up to 20°C, the floor is dry and the unit Bolt-on Extensions available in two configurations for flexibility heater has kicked off leaving the radiant floor to quietly and gently warm the room. You go out into your warm garage and start stripping down the motor- WATTS INDUSTRIES (CANADA) INC. Other Commerical Drainage TEL: 1-888-208-8927 FAX: 1-888-479-2887 Products Available. Contact Us Today. cycle’s engine while your Husband finishes up the dishes. (Yikes!) MADE IN Floor Drains Parking Area Drains Trench Drains Roof Drains Special Purpose Drains Drain Pro CANADA Floor Sinks Grease Interceptors Oil Interceptors Solids Interceptors Hydrants Fixture Carriers Cleanouts Perfect. Circle Number 119 for More Information 20 Plumbing & HVAC Product News – March/April 2004 www.plumbingandhvac.ca 1 - TWO STAGE GARAGE/WORKSHOP HEATING WITH A HIGH TEMPERATURE HEAT SOURCE - THE MIXING SYSTEM SUPPLIES WARM WATER TO THE RADIANT FLOOR SLAB AND THE UNIT HEATER IS SUPPLIED WITH HIGH TEMPERATURE WATER DIRECTLY FROM THE BOILER LOOP There are many ways to pipe garage heating. This is one good way, says Roy. 3
Instant hot water The Pronto RTG-42PV on-demand gasfired tankless water heater delivers up to 4.2-gal. of 100 to 140°F hot water/minute at a 45°F rise with a Btu/hr range of 31,500 to 118,000. This self-modulating unit weighs 35- lbs., measures 22- 1/4 x 13-3/4 x 5- 1/8 inches and has an energy factor of .81. See it at CMX. The whole-housecommercial RTG-7 debuts this summer. Rheem Canada Circle no. 313 Condensing oil boiler See the Monitor FCX condensing oilfired boiler at CMX. This unit features a steel primary non-condensing heat exchanger coupled to a condensing stainless steel secondary heat exchanger, a built-in three-way mixing valve, dual-temperature circuit capability and is rated at 76,100 Btuh output at 95% efficiency. Enairco Circle no. 314 Tankless water heater The Takagi’s T-KJr, a compact 30 lb. wall-mounted on-demand DHW heater, provides 19,500 to 140,000 Btu/hr. of continuous hot water at output temperatures up to 182˚F. Approved by CSA for DHW and combination systems, the wallmounted T-KJr features an 83% efficiency rating, no stand-by heat loss, no pilot light, and savings up to 45% of total hot water heating costs. See the full line of Takagi solutions at the CMX show. Takagi Circle no. 315 Four-pass boiler The 4S four-pass wetback scotch boiler for low and high pressure steam features positive water flow circulation and maximum heat transfer from waterbacked surfaces, high volumes for low volumetric release rates, innovative high tech rear access door with lightweight vacuum formed insulation. Burnham Commercial Circle no. 316 Steam trap monitor SteamEye is a wireless steam trap monitoring system using FM radio waves to monitor critical steam systems. It saves energy by instantly identifying leaking and failed steam traps. It is compatible with building automation-energy management systems. Provides measurable reductions in energy and maintenance costs, product loss and improves profit and safety. See it at CMX. Preston Phipps Circle no. 317 Electronic descaler The LiquiPlus electronic water descaler conditions hard water to prevent and remove scale deposits as an alternative to salt, harsh chemicals or on-going maintenance. Its advanced technology is based on proven heavy-duty industrial applications. Equipment-specific units and models are available for residences, agriculture, and industry come with 180-day performance guarantee and five-year warranty. LiquiPlus Solutions Circle no. 318 Steam heat exchanger EasiHeat steam heat exchanger modules are designed for process, domestic and hydronic water heating applications. These modular packages also include all control instrumentation necessary to control heat transfer and condensate removal, and are available in both standard and custom configurations. See them at CMX. Spirax Sarco Circle no. 319 Steam trap kits Eight Edison steam trap repair kits feature a factory-calibrated and live steam-tested thermostatic element with stainless steel valve, seat and body. Attach the designated colour-coded spring to the correct size element and the cage unit is ready to install. Kits are also available for thermostatic air vent and F&T traps. See them at CMX. Keystone Steam Supplies Circle no. 320 RFH insulation Reflecto-Foil is a high-performance reflective insulation that helps radiate the energy in the slab, is installed over sand or concrete, aluminum side down, has a 60 psi crushing resistance. Adding one-inch of sand over the foil allows for water drainage from the concrete during curing. Kovacs Enterprises Ltd. Circle no. 321 Zoning aid The Hydrolink by Caleffi is a new device combining a hydronic separator and distribution manifold, to be used in heating and air conditioning systems to allow different heat adjustments of the various rooms when there is only one boiler or chiller. The various configurations are compact and can be easily fitted in any kind of hydronic circuit, with the advantages of ease of installation and a saving of useful living space. Gas Solutions Inc. Circle no. 322 Oil-fired condensing boiler the only small fired condensing boiler available in North America Many advantages to work with the FCX - Fully condensing - Direct vented or chimney venting - Sealed combustion - Silent - Dual-temperature circuit capability - Clean and nicely finished Dealers wanted, contact us www.enairco.com MONITOR FCX Features - Steel primary, non-condensing heat exchanger coupled with a condensing stainless secondary heat exchanger - Burner with pre-heat - Completely assembled with the expansion tank, pump, safety pressure valve, three-way mixing valve, etc. - Residentials applications Toll Free : (800) 463-8019 Fax : (418) 228-8028 CMX2004 booth#525 Hot Water Heating Radiant manifolds Precision Hydronic Products offers a full range of pre-fabricated manifolds for radiant floor heating, snow melting and general hydronic use. They come in various sizes to serve from two to 12 loops with sweat, compression, MIP and PEX-barb fittings. Manifolds are also available with ball valves attached. Gas Solutions Inc. Circle no. 323 “We aim to be the burner of choice from the company of choice,” says general manager Garth Hunt. That means building the best burner, then doing everything that is required to meet the Canadian customer’s needs. Beckett’s roots are in Canada, and “our team is passionate about the industry here.” 1-800-665-6972 info@beckettcanada.ca After 30 years in oilheat, sales manager Glen Austin says it’s all about the people. “I value trust and relationships.” That’s why he spends most of his time visiting customers where they work. Listening. Learning. “Without partnership, how can we understand our customer?” Circle Number 120 for More Information Circle Number 121 for More Info www.plumbingandhvac.ca March/April 2004 – Plumbing & HVAC Product News 21
Page 1 and 2: Volume 14 Number 2 March/April 2004
Page 3 and 4: In This Issue Special Feature: The
Page 5 and 6: Hot Seat Know your customer Acommon
Page 7 and 8: Industry News Low flush revisited T
Page 9 and 10: Industry News In Brief (continued f
Page 11 and 12: Letters Hydronic heating efficienci
Page 13 and 14: You’ll Be Proud To Install One Of
Page 15 and 16: Cover Story The UOIT well field. Un
Page 17 and 18: Drain Tech There are specialty nozz
Page 19: Heating Mid-efficient furnace The P
Page 23 and 24: Ventilation Air conditioner The Sma
Page 25 and 26: Refrigeration Fast charging manifol
Page 27 and 28: Advertising Supplement
Page 29 and 30: A.M.T.S. Canada Limited Proven qual
Page 31 and 32: Copeland Canada Look for certificat
Page 33 and 34: Flexible Eutectic You have to love
Page 35 and 36: ISH NORTH AMERICA 2004 ISH NORTH AM
Page 37 and 38: KeepRite Refrigeration - The Right
Page 39 and 40: MITS MEANS THE BEST! Specializing i
Page 41 and 42: Moen Inc. High tech faucet has low
Page 43 and 44: NTI Inc. Trinity boiler is quietly
Page 45 and 46: Redmond/Williams Distributing Amana
Page 47 and 48: Looking for… ◗ New Plumbing or
Page 49 and 50: Viessmann Manufacturing Company Inc
Page 51 and 52: Weil-McLain Canada Win ultimate toy
Page 53 and 54: Building Wolseley from the branch u
Page 55 and 56: Trucks for the Trade Truck Graphics
Page 57 and 58: Circle Number 161 for More Informat
Page 59 and 60: Faucets & Fixtures Programmable fau
Page 61 and 62: Tools & Instruments Jobsite estimat
Page 63 and 64: Atofina Canada Inc. 1007/1009 Bacha
Page 65 and 66: Western Update In Brief Calgary to
Page 67 and 68: Coming Events World Building Congre
Page 69 and 70: Mechanical Marketplace The bulletin
Page 71 and 72:
Keep cool customers even cooler. Co
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CMX 2004 - Plumbing & HVAC

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