Heating Saga Continues

I'm being slightly impatient and turned the buffer tank stat up just a pinch. I don't have a gauge on it so don't know the actual temp there. I'd like to know. The manifold is at 70 entering and leaving at 60, this the nearest to the heat pump. If you were observant and knew of such things, which I obviously wasn't, you'd notice in the photo above that I used galvanized steel with copper/brass. A big no-no due to electrolytic corrosion. Something to kill some spare time, sometime soon!  Oh yea, the floor temp above is now 57-61. The temps are striped which should blend as temps stabilize and more so with floor coverings. 

Ok, time to take the kids to the trampoline place, then work through the night getting "forgotten" wiring in the walls before Wednesday!

Hydronic Heating On Line

Follow on from my last post, I got a surprise the next morning after turning the temperature setting up. The manifold temp had dropped to about 40!  So the heat pump doesn't just run at the set point, it incrementally boosts the water by a few degrees while the floor is sucking the heat out as quickly as it's fed. By today, Friday morning, the floor had come up to around 55-57 with manifold temp of 60. This evening early it was at 61 and 65. I decided to shut off the upstairs loops and turned the pump to high which soon brought the manifold up to 70 and the floor is mid 60's. it's almost comfy in here but a test will be next week when the cold snap may hit us. We still don't have attic or crawl space insulation which will make a big difference. 

Start to Heat

Wow this is a big visual change! This is at 7:45pm and outside air is about 48. We set up fans to help drying so I'm just measuring surface temp. It looks deceiving with no contrast but its about 3' away from my hand. 

The buffer tank was turned down to around 75, and manifold temps near 60 so the concrete pulled lots of hear out. I turned it up to 110 to start. Keeping in mind that there is no control if the system yet except for the buffer tank rough thermostat. More later!

Correction and update

So I was corrected. We are NOT getting Gypcrete. We are getting Level-Rock. Apparently, Gypcrete is a brand name much like Kleenex or Band-Aid. Level-Rock is better than Gypcrete, I'm told by people with more knowledge of this stuff than me.  

That correction made, I have light-weight concrete (sounds like an oxymoron to me) being poured RIGHT NOW!!!  The pros at ComCrete Inc. are doing a fabulous job and I can't wait for the drywallers to start on Monday!!!  

Have a FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!!!LEVEL-ROCK. Not Gypcrete.

The team mixing just the right consistency of mud.
 The team pouring and leveling the rock.
The craft room getting it's official floor.
Equipment showing up for the pour.

Edit...

This is one HAPPY girl!

I <heart> construction!

Inspection PASSED!!!

We have passed inspections for the mechanical rough-in and the hydronic heating today. You can't see me, but suffice to say, I am doing my happy dance while typing. :-)  Gypcrete is being poured tomorrow. Drywall is scheduled for the following Monday. I'M SO FLIPPIN' EXCITED!!!!

It's ready to heat!

A few minor leaks added about an hour to the build but we got the hydronic system filled with water. There is a fair amount of air in the system but I got much of it out and all loops are flowing. 

I turned on the heat pump "just because" and got tubing warm to the touch. Manifold temp was up to about 85 with a 10-degree drop through the loops. Entirely inaccurate, I'll post actual performance data after we pour the slab and as I get the system dialed in. 

We are ready for our final set of inspections prior to starting drywall, scheduled to begin Dec. 1. 

Brown boys are under pressure!

Inspection is scheduled for Monday (tomorrow). Amanda and I finished the tubing yesterday. Tom finished up the manifolds this morning. Tom and Scott connected all the home runs, etc this afternoon.  Well, after a couple minor leaks (from Tom's joints) ALL THE ZONES ARE HOLDING PRESSURE!! Woo-flippin'-hoo!!!!

Rebuttal

Just to set the record straight, the stapler WAS messed up and I was trying to hold tubing in place while stapling by myself... The girls helped when they got home. Amanda was an especially big help with the tubing. Love my girls!

Thus far, I haven't pointed out the bone-headed things TOM has done during this project, but now that I know the gloves are off... Beware, babe.

You WHAT??

I'm at work. I get a text message from my dear, loving, adorable and (typically) capable wife - "the stapler is broken! I stapled a(nother) tube!" . I'm headed home, Hun, I'll take care of it!

COLD

As long as we keep moving the cold in here is tolerable. But stand still and the electric blanket calls. Under the house is a balmy 40 or so, so that's where I am tonight. 

These are floor loops we just pulled in to one of four manifolds. 

Set and trimmed. 

Connectors. Thanks Mike for loaning your ProPEX tool. 

Manifolds installed and mounted. Turns out I did not need the clamps to hold the tubing and had to remove them. I still have to connect the supply lines and I'll do the actuators later. 

Two more manifolds to do, plus a pump and piping. Lots to do this weekend so we can get a final cover inspection on Monday and be ready to pour gypcrete Tuesday. 

Tubing right along...

Living room, kitchen and nook tubing done. The girls even wielded the stapler for a while!  We're getting there...

Feeling RADIANT tonight!

Ahhhh... Radiant tubing done upstairs. Obviously not done by professionals, but should still keep us warm.

Insulation - Batting

Garage Ceiling

Garage Again

Girls' Bathroom

Living Room Ceiling

Craft Room

Craft Bathroom

Living Room Ceiling

Craftroom Exterior door

Insulation, Spray-in layer

This is the living room wall(s) after 2" of spray-in foam before it got covered up with the batting. Hopefully, 'they' are right about the added value of the spray-in in addition to the batts. 

We getting into some hot water around here!

It feels SO good to be back on it, hot n heavy.  We have been signed off on electrical, plumbing and framing is "ok to insulate" with a couple of minor gusseting things to do.

The air-sealing has been completed, and we are scheduled this week to get a coating of spray-foam insulation followed by the batt insulation for the walls.  Insulation is being done by Premier Spray Foam and Superior Insulation who are also customers of Olympic Security.

 A huge part of our home is the heating system.  Using a geothermal heat pump we will heat the lightweight concrete floors as well as heating our water to accommodate the needs of these four shower-loving family members.

This system is built by Mike Saylor, of Stilly River Mechanical.  I can't link to him because for some reason he doesn't have a web or facebook presence.  The open box on the left is a 5-ton water-to-water heat pump. The larger white tank is an 80-gallon buffer tank for the floor heating. It also has a pre-heat coil inside for the incoming water. That warmed water then goes through the middle tank (50 gals) and is b rought up to usable temperature via a "de-superheater" coil in the heat pump which pulls additional heat from the system. It is then stored/delivered through the right tank, also 50 gallons, which if needed will bump the temp up with propane gas.  Sounds complex, simple engineering but circles of pipe and pumps but the end result will be a warm home and a theoretically unlimited supply of hot water.

 

OK, back at it. Cleaning and clearing the house for insulation and drywall!  Woo hoo!!!