Recent content by BirchwoodBill

I recently installed warmboard through out the house during a remodel. Everything is Rehau, it works well. The floors are run between 85 to 105f on outdoor reset, using a taco XPB off the DHW tank. Very efficient.

My contractor installed a wm97 70 boiler, it is stainless steel not aluminum. I also replaced the slant fin in the basement with European style baseboard that keeps it warm using 120f to 140f water temperature. Properly sized components is the key to comfort. I hired a professional to size...

i have a WM 97 boiler and WM 85 gallon indirect tank. The tank is connected to a Taco XPB heat exchanger which supplies heat to radiant floor heating (warmboard). I also have a thermostatic valve which limits dhw at 127f. Right now, the tank is set to 145f. The sensor for the heat...

Old system was Weil McLain cast iron 85% efficient with a triangle smart40 set at 125f. The new tank is set to 145f and with the thermostatic valve mix to 125f.

New WM97 boiler and WM Aqua Plus 85 DHW tank was installed at the end of July. We also added Thermostatic valve . Being August - we were not running any heat - but I am seeing the therms cut in half? Our water usage was the same. I was expecting a reduction of 10-15% not 50%. Is this...

I am in Minnesota which has design temp of -16f. Just installed warmboard infloor radiant and hardwood floors. The recommendation is to keep hardwood below 85F. You may want to insulate under the floors. I also added 3 inches of closed cell foam on my rim joists to reduce heat loss, plus...

I am in process of upgrading from a 40 gallon to 85 gallon indirect, then running the dhw through a taco xpb to radiant manifold. Radiant is slated for 70 to 90 degree while the dhw is slated for 125 to 145 degrees. The dhw only needs to supply 120f water to the household. Be sure to do...

Interviewing contractors for replacement project. was told it is common practice when using a circuit with zone valves. It cuts down on flow loss.

I am reviewing the one document done by the last professional who installed the Warmboard manifold 18 months ago. He walked off the job with the heat not running leaving me to hire another person to install new valves to bleed the air out of the system. Two of the three Honeywell Zone Valves...

Thanks for the help - my DIY Heatload spreadsheet is updated in the PDF - showing the impact of more insulation in the attic and a small amount of closed cell form on the Rim joist (which is part of the Warmboard insulation). I am starting to dig into the plumbing for low temperature...

Thanks for the help on the model. Will update my spreadsheet. VHE-4 Boiler Input is 100K, DOE Gross is 87K and IBR Net is 75.7K - AFUE is 87.1% - side-vented. A little bit under 1.9.

The basement walls just have latex paint, so things breath. HDD was 1515 Here is the math I put into the spreadsheet (Shown as attached PDF)... Spreadsheet calculates: Therms/Day = Therms / Billing Days = 256 / 32 = 8.0 Therms/Day The next call converts to BTUh = (Therms * 100,000 BTU...

1986 Andersen High Performance Glass for AW and CW U-Factor is 0.30 2003 Andersen Series 400 Awning Casement HP Low E, U-Factor 0.28 2003 Andersen Series 400 Flexi-Frame , U-Factor is 0.27 The original Manual-J was based on - design temp of -16F and with standard U-Factor of 0.52 Our house...

When I ordered the Andersen windows back in 1986 I did get the early version of their "performance-glass" - still have the original catalog. Spend a few years working for Andersen on optimizing their production lines. Good product, good company. Just got the heat bill for January into...

The house 2500 sq ft includes the basement. The basement foundation has 1 inch foam on exterior and 2x4 walls with r13 it is heated to 68f. First and second floor is 2x6 construction with R19 and Andersen series 400 awning and casement. Attic is encapsulated with 2 inch closed cell foam...