Weather and my OWB

[doctorb]

December has been crazy warm here.  I started my OWB at Thanksgiving, so a good period of this last month has called for meager amounts of heat in my house. My situation is much like those who run their OWB all year to provide domestic hot water, even in the summer months.  This has caused problems.

I have extensive piping in my basements (yes, plural with an "s"), and I have to split my OWB lines, once inside the house, to feed 2 separate heating systems.  This is because we live in a very old added-on farm house with two, unconnected basements with two unconnected furnace heating systems.  It's actually like living in two separate houses joined on one wall.

Anyway, my problem is that the basements stay pretty warm from the constant OWB inflow, and that heat rises up into the first floor.  My kitchen thermostat read 76 degrees the other day!  We had windows open to bring down the temperature of my kitchen in the middle of December!

My point of all of this is that, if you run your OWB in the summer to get free DHW, you are going to pay a price.  Now, my set-up with my extra piping certainly magnifies this problem, no question, but my house would get warm enough that I would need to turn on the AC much earlier in the year than normal to be comfortable.  I know, I know.  Why bring this up at the start of winter?  It's because it feels like summer here. 

Merry Christmas to all those OWB guys out there.

[Ivan49]

 I shut my heat source off during the summer with valves in the lines and this allows the hot water to go thru the plate for hot water. Our house stays cool during the summer unless I forget to shut the heat exchanger off

[thecfarm]

I have ball valves that I turn off and on in the warmer months. I also insulated my lines to the hotwater tank too. If I had planned for an OWB I would of had the hot water tank next to the pipes coming into the basement. I even unplugged one of circulators in Nov. for a day or 2.
I think I got my OWB in '07. Been off maybe 5 days in all that time when we went on vacation. I burn alot of limbs in the summer months for hotwater,better than a brush pile.

[hedgerow]

I have my lines insulated  in my basement. I have two feed lines coming from my Garn and two returns as I have three furnances with heat exchangers and have a bypass set up to use in the summer when I only heat my domestic hot water. My basement says where the thermostat is set down there.

[lopet]

It sure has been a challenging season so far. I 've got mine going since end of October and just running the house, but it stalled several times with the low demand for heat. Since December I am running my second pump for the shop, but just have it circulating without drawing any heat.  With the return running through the office and the bathroom it's way too warm in there.  If I had to burn propane or oil , I sure would have to rethink my setup, but with it being wood, it's only burning a few more calories.     

[jgoodhart]

I have a pump just for the boiler to circulate and it runs when the boiler is being fired and the pump for the house runs when the house calls for heat, other then that the heat stays in the boiler.

[doctorb]

i understand.  But it seems to me the lines running into your basement, before they get to your heat exchanger, are hot - from your boiler.  It's those lines that overheat my basement.

[Ivan49]

 Get some foam pipe insulation and insulate them. I have mine uninsulated and I don't have a problem but I know f a few that had long runs with the same problem as you and insulation stopped it. If you have it set up right just run to your water heater and shut the lines off going to your heat exchaber

[thecfarm]

doctorb,I know what you mean about the lines,they are hot.Sometimes in the late spring and early fall I will turn off my thermostat and just let the heat from the lines heat up the basement. When I don't want the heat is when I turn the valves off and on.

[NWP]

I have the same problem when it's a nice day outside.