dbalcom Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 [?]Hi. I've got a question. a found a cheapy heating system using an 82 gallon hot water heater as a source. nothing new there. but it also supplied domestic hot water to the house. I can't find any written advice to the contrary but my gut says this is not right. optinions appreciated. code is even better. thanks. dave from CT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terence McCann Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 I would get in contact with your local A.O. Smith (or other hw tank manufacture) for recommendations on application. Heat load calcs would also be in order. A PE can do this for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 How old was the water heater? Did it have a secondary heat exchanger? Reason being, there's lot's of newer houses that have an 80 gallon water heater supplying both domestic hot water & heating; they're made to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hausdok Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Hi, You should dump the notion that using hot water heaters to heat a house is a 'cheapy' system. It's done all the time around here and some of these systems cost more than a conventional forced hot air system to install. The only thing cheap about them is the savings on heating cost. If the system was specifically designed to do double-duty by someone who knew what he/she was doing, it's probably fine. You do have to learn the differences between good installs and bad though. Look in the Free-Downloads forum. I just added a couple of links to training programs where you can learn the difference between good systems and bad. In the meantime, click the link below for a .pdf article from JLC about using hot water heaters for domestic heat. Ya gotta keep an open mind in this business. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Download Attachment: HotWaterHeatersForHeat.pdf 367.52 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurt Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 I agree completely. The only folks that think water heaters are "wrong" for hydronic heating systems are the boiler mfg's. I've installed a few of these, & they work fine; it's a water jacket, a combustion chamber, & some operating controls. Doesn't matter if it's cast iron, sheet metal, or copper tubing (or ceramic, if you know the Euro stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Moore Posted July 26, 2006 Report Share Posted July 26, 2006 Yep...I'm seeing a lot of them, especially in new or newish townhomes, feeding fan driven wall convectors. Usually only a 50-gallon, albeit high BTU, heater run at higher temperatures with a tempering valve for the potable water. Some homes have a "blown" gas fireplace for additional heat...some not. Aside from no air filtration, they seem like a good, zoned system for a well insulated home. Running the PEX to the heaters is no doubt simpler than forced air ductwork, but the wall convectors obviously cost a lot more than simple floor registers. I wouldn't call it "cheapy" either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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