hot water heating

[vdubnut62]

Very nice Bruce. You do good work. I think that I will just take a wait and see on the temperature question. I believe  that after the house coil and then the coil to heat the garage,
the residual temp will be ok for domestic hot water. (crossed fingers)
Ron.

[BruceM]

Casey-  In spring through fall, the backup propane heaters are off and insulated 800 gallon tank water temperature is near the max of 140F, with water at the tap a bit less, so at least there are no surprises.  Putting in a mixer to regulate temperature is problematic when you only have 12PSI to start with.  Between the puny 12 psi and fairly hard water (mineral deposits), a temperature mixer seemed like it was unlikely to work without excessive pressure drop or work for long.  I prefer the simplest water system possible. 

You do raise a valid safety point. If I feel I'm getting too impaired for very hot water I'll just turn the max temperature setting on the solar pump controller down.

[LowGear]

12 PSI reminds me of the good old days.  My adolescence was spent in a duplex where the the water pressure was 25 PSI.........down stairs.  And everything was plumbed with 1/2 inch cast iron.  No clothes washing before 8:00 AM or after 8:00 PM.  Stuff dies at 140 F.

[vdubnut62]

Hard water? Sampled any Tennessee Limestone water lately?  Toilets will last probably 7-10 years before a severe limestone coating starts depositing in the bowl. I could dump Sulfuric acid in 'em, but not sure how that would affect the septic.
  Plumbing was 1/2 inch cast iron in this old house, with severe flow restriction due to, you guessed it, lime deposits. A Milwaukee sawzall works wonders in rusty pipe removal.
Ron.

[glort]

Acid in the septic is OK as long as you do it slowly or neutralize / compensate for it.  I'd add some baking soda to the system as well after the acid and also a good lot of yogurt or those enzyme  pellets if you have them there. They put the bacteria back into the system.

Yogurt works well. I have been house sitting for the outlaws for the last 3 weeks. When they first left the bio cycle pump out stank which it shouldn't.  Put yogurt down it once a week and now can't smell a thing.

Did it here the other week as well when I realised Daughter had used half a bottle of bleach to whiten some clothes and put it down undiluted pretty much.  Didn't have any problems which everyone I spoke to said  " Oh ohhh!".
Thing is just to keep the balance of the PH and as long as you do that, you can put down any acid you like if you put down something to neutralise it and give the bacteria a help along as well.

The water pressure at outlaws for me would be unliveable. You turn on more than 2 taps at a time and the water literally stops.  The sprinkler was on, and one son was taking a shower. I went to the toilet and realised it wasn't re filling. pulled the lid off and no water. Went and told BIL and he laughed and said no, you only get to use 2 taps at a time here, it will refill when somone is finished with a tap.
Bugger me.
I'd be taking the mains to a 1000L tank with a ball valve to keep that topped up and feeding the house with an automatic electric pump.

Watering his garden is painful. The stream out the hose and the stream out of me after a few drinks is about equal.  Here at home I have a 1000L tank I fill then use a fire pump with a 1" Hose for watering the lawn and garden.  lays down a great stream of water and gets the job done fast especialy on those hot stick evenings where all you want to do is be in front of the AC.
Watering with the same output as your windscreen washers was an exercise in frustration that brought on a touch of ADD like symptoms.


I remember as a kid the failing water pressure in my grandparents house due to the corroding galvanised iron water pipes. Gran never wanted them changed because she said it would just let Grandad put more water on the garden and they already had a high water bill . Pipes started leaking everywhere in a real short time so had to be replaced with Copper.

For months we were always splashing ourselves by turning on the water way too hard as we had before expecting a trickle and getting a torrent.
Grandad was adamant he never used any more water on the garden, he just got through the watering quicker.
Gran was adamant he took the exact same time as before and the higher still bills tended to support that.

Grass always looked like carpet though where grandad was always watering it.  :0)

[BruceM]

I planned for low pressure so have no troubles.  1.5" supply line down the hilll to house and shop, with a second 1.5"  line for just for the outside freeze-proof hydrants.   Supply lines in house and shop are 1" with 3/4 copper to fixtures, all faucets selected for low pressure use.  It really is just a matter of over-sizing the pipes.  When you open my kitchen or bath faucets, the flow rate is above average. For a large home/family situation with lots of long plumbing runs. I'd opt for a boost pump.

I do find the use of a 3/4 ID garden hose mandatory if over 50 feet and hose spray does not measure up well to a typical 60PSI service.  My solution is to use a gas powered pressure washer with a long hose at 2400 psi for outside cleanup, which solves the pressure problem and then some.

[vdubnut62]

Well I am back again with absolutely no progress to report. I do have a slab and studwalls are partly up, but we have all been under the weather at one time or another since the first of the year. Flu, Bronchitis, Pneumonia, for me and the wife. Then when they did my chest X-rays, they found a 9mm nodule on one of my lungs that the CAT scan ruled as a "nipple shadow"! Aw hell come on it was funny! I thought it beat the crap out of cancer.
  On a better note, I have a line on a bunch of solar panels and associated electronic bits and pieces. IIRC there is 10kw worth that some guy didn't like the look of on his house, so he had it removed and sold it all to an acquaintance of mine  for cheap.
I'll be back later with an update.
Ron.

[glort]

I have had the electric hot water heater running off my solar feed indirectly for almost 3 Weeks now.  Working great.
I got a couple of Voltage monitoring relays Bruce put me onto and built a control Box with a meter, PWM controller and  the voltage relay.

When the solar is backfeeding and the mains voltage goes High, the relay kicks in diverting the power to the heater. When there isn't enough solar generation, the heater kicks out.
I was going to leave it on the off peak as well but so far even 2 cloudy days have still made enough power and more for the heater and I'm still in front on generation over consumption.

8.5 KW of panels working now, another 9 to put up.

[vdubnut62]

Well, I know that it has been quite some time, but does anyone have a source for weld in bungs? I don't know what else to call them. Threaded inserts to weld in the 500 gallon converted propane tank to make pipe connections?
Ron.

[Henry W]

Hi Ron,
I think these are what your looking for.

https://www.mcmaster.com/weldolets

Henry

[vdubnut62]

Hallelujah! I had called Ferguson supply here locally, and they were clueless, sent me to a propane supply!
Just what I need. Thanks Henry!
Ron.