trying to anticipate the comedic abrupt ending without looking at the timeline is my favorite thing to do besides listening for often useful information
Hi Joe, It would be interesting if you could share the diagram of those pipes. The ideal would be that it always works with either of the 2 systems? or should one be preferred in particular?
Yes it can be configured to work with one, the other, both, or failover both ways depending on the valves and temperature settings. There are better diagrams out there, and this system is definitely not setup correctly. The zone pumps should not be pulling down; as bubbles immediately cause cavitation and air lock.
Wonky is a good term for it. I've owned this home for just over a year and I have it figured out, I think. Still takes too long to purge the zones of air.
Use motorized valves instead of pumps and put a pump on the wood boiler, you said the gas boiler already has a pump right? Put the flow and return from both heat sources into a low-loss header to ensure a balanced flow then put the flow from the low-loss header into the heating manifold for the zones. That's the right way to do it You dont need a low-loss header but it would help you. Could just put both flows together to the heating manifold but would hurt your efficiency You Could also get a logic board to run the heating so you can switch between wood and gas automatically
Can you link to a diagram of what you are describing? Can you do a low resistance header with valved zones? Wouldn't the zones part of the system need at least one pump? I could probably add a bypass and a circulator on the wood boiler, and spring check valves so the zone pumps only pull heat through the two bypasses/headers from the boiler that is on.
@@JoeMalovich I dont know how I would send you a diagram. But the first thing you should do is replace the pumps with two-port zone valves, Honeywell ones are quite good. once you've done that put a pump on the wood boiler and one on the gas one if it dont have one already. Be aware some gas appliances are directional sensitive read the manufacturer's instructions before swapping the flow and return directions. I think you said the pumps flow into the appliances that's bad make the pump flow go into the house, not the heating appliances. Unless the wood boiler has a requirement for a pump flowing through it. I dont know the size of your property but most modern systems make do with one pump. it really depends on a lot of factors so you could just put a third pump before the two-port zone valves. You can also get a dedicated bypass valve that will open automatically when there's no flow to the house.
trying to anticipate the comedic abrupt ending without looking at the timeline is my favorite thing to do besides listening for often useful information
When I'm done I'm done.
Hi Joe, It would be interesting if you could share the diagram of those pipes. The ideal would be that it always works with either of the 2 systems? or should one be preferred in particular?
Yes it can be configured to work with one, the other, both, or failover both ways depending on the valves and temperature settings.
There are better diagrams out there, and this system is definitely not setup correctly. The zone pumps should not be pulling down; as bubbles immediately cause cavitation and air lock.
Could you have an auto feeder for your wood burner that feeds pellets (like the auto feed grills)…
I wish I could set this up to automatically use wood chips that tree service guys will dump for free
U friend need a plumber !! Lol I thought my boiler system was kinda wonky , but u def got it hands full there
Wonky is a good term for it. I've owned this home for just over a year and I have it figured out, I think. Still takes too long to purge the zones of air.
Deleting the firewood furnace entirely would increase the system efficiency by 10 to 20%.
Also look into motorized three-way valves.
I can just shut the valves to the wood boiler if I'm in gas only mode
Use motorized valves instead of pumps and put a pump on the wood boiler, you said the gas boiler already has a pump right? Put the flow and return from both heat sources into a low-loss header to ensure a balanced flow then put the flow from the low-loss header into the heating manifold for the zones. That's the right way to do it
You dont need a low-loss header but it would help you. Could just put both flows together to the heating manifold but would hurt your efficiency
You Could also get a logic board to run the heating so you can switch between wood and gas automatically
Can you link to a diagram of what you are describing? Can you do a low resistance header with valved zones? Wouldn't the zones part of the system need at least one pump?
I could probably add a bypass and a circulator on the wood boiler, and spring check valves so the zone pumps only pull heat through the two bypasses/headers from the boiler that is on.
@@JoeMalovich I dont know how I would send you a diagram. But the first thing you should do is replace the pumps with two-port zone valves, Honeywell ones are quite good. once you've done that put a pump on the wood boiler and one on the gas one if it dont have one already. Be aware some gas appliances are directional sensitive read the manufacturer's instructions before swapping the flow and return directions.
I think you said the pumps flow into the appliances that's bad make the pump flow go into the house, not the heating appliances. Unless the wood boiler has a requirement for a pump flowing through it. I dont know the size of your property but most modern systems make do with one pump. it really depends on a lot of factors so you could just put a third pump before the two-port zone valves. You can also get a dedicated bypass valve that will open automatically when there's no flow to the house.