Hello -
I'm a DIY person trying to install a radiant floor heating system powered primarily by an evacuated tube solar collection system. The solar heat is a closed loop glycol based system with an 80 gallon storage tank. The heat will be transferred from the solar system to the radiant system via heat exchanger. I think I understand the radiant system pretty well, and the solar collector system is pretty straight forward. My question concerns controlling temperatures between the two systems. I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep my radiant system source temperature at 110 F, when the temp in the solar storage tank can vary from 110F (min temp at which the back-up electrical heat element turns on) to 180F (max temp set point of solar collector system). I've researched mixing and tempering valves, but they all seem to 'mix down' from a known hi temp source to a manually set lower temperature. Is there a tempering valve out there that will let me set it to 110 F, and mix hot and cold in proper proportion to maintain the temperature? If not, what other options are there?
Thanks.
I'm a DIY person trying to install a radiant floor heating system powered primarily by an evacuated tube solar collection system. The solar heat is a closed loop glycol based system with an 80 gallon storage tank. The heat will be transferred from the solar system to the radiant system via heat exchanger. I think I understand the radiant system pretty well, and the solar collector system is pretty straight forward. My question concerns controlling temperatures between the two systems. I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep my radiant system source temperature at 110 F, when the temp in the solar storage tank can vary from 110F (min temp at which the back-up electrical heat element turns on) to 180F (max temp set point of solar collector system). I've researched mixing and tempering valves, but they all seem to 'mix down' from a known hi temp source to a manually set lower temperature. Is there a tempering valve out there that will let me set it to 110 F, and mix hot and cold in proper proportion to maintain the temperature? If not, what other options are there?
Thanks.