[Greenbuilding] "Succesful" Open Hydroinic Heating System

[Ken Beiser]

I have used an open system designed by me in my own home for over 8 years now and do not find any real problems with the system within my expectations of it.  

I wish I had installed my PEX a little more densely, I wish the pumps were a little quieter, and I did end up with maybe a little noisier floor (creaking) and some water hammer from a cheap check valve.  I have a staple-up system in a well insulated home with 5 zone pumps and air-type thermostats.  We do heat mostly with wood but the floor heat comes on when the house cools to about 59 and that still feels like a warm floor to our feet at 7 am when it has been running from about 3 am and we are starting our day.  

We live where electricity is $.058 per KWH so I use a good electric water heater set to only 120 degrees.  It keeps up just fine and after the system is running for a while and it's about 59 degrees in the home, the water returns after only losing about 5 degrees.  Maybe that's from the staple-up design or from flow rates being a bit high.

I would consider Taco pumps next time so it is quieter, I would install more PEX even in areas like our laundry, pantry, and powder room, use better check valves and glue my wood floor to the subfloor next time.  All in all, it has met my expectations and to my knowledge, we don't get any exposure to Legionnaire's disease.  The water in all the floor is flushed whenever any hot water is used in our home, 12 months a year.  Works for me.

I am doing an addition (master suite) to our home now and I have used a completely different design, but still an open system, to see how it will compare.  The whole project is a series of experiments.

Ken
Whitefish, MT