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Ebunk
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Posted: Tue Nov 20th, 2007 02:49 pm |
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Ben,
First of all, You are building on incredible home. Your attention to detail, materials, efficiency, and luxury are fantastic and the workers you've choosen should be proud. Also, the pictures and descriptions are priceless in the sense that they're better than some mags and how-to books. 
That said, one of your pics showed 2 men installing flex lines to the geothermal pump (i think their pumps) and the lines went to the right. Then there's a pic where the lines were on the left. Are my eyes deceiving me ... was this to organize flow?
Also, on another topic, the GFX exchanger, what did you plumb to flow through it (shower, tubs, sinks only)? Does the toilet(s) have to be seperate?
thanks and keep up the great work.
Eb
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Benito Loyola
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Posted: Wed Nov 21st, 2007 02:40 pm |
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Dear Eb;
Thank you for the kind words. My degree is from the Naval Academy in Marine Engineering and the experience I gained from shipboard and aircraft systems guess shows a bit on how I have engineered the home. It’s a challenge across all trades to bring my desired level of attention to detail for systems that are behind the scenes and not normally viewed. They are just as important to me as the finish coat of paint or a piece of trim.
Each of the 6 geothermal units HVAC and 2 water-to-water heat pumps have a corresponding circulation pump pack. There is a lot going on in the equipment room and in order to keep things organized we installed a panel that comes down from the ceiling which supports the unit’s corresponding pump pack. Depending on the size of the unit they either have one or two circulation pumps. The two flexible orange-red supply and return hoses convert over to a much stiffer black plastic line. These two lines penetrate the rear wall of the equipment room and are heat welded to a reducing T to the main 3” supply and return lines that go down from the third floor to the 16 wells along the left side of the house. This line took four men to wrestle in place. We purposely kept the hoses on the same side for organization sake until we got to the water-to-water units which are stacked on top of each other so we had to switch sides at that point. Interesting observation on your part. Currently we are testing and setting temperature drop/rise on the units and will be insulating all of the lines soon. They will all get temperature sensors and will be integrated into the home’s automation system for monitoring purposes. More pictures to come.
The GFX exchanger is located on the left side of the house and picks up all of the master bathroom drains. The main target for the GFX is the master shower which would have both the most and longest hot water flow of all of the bathrooms and fixtures. The GFX works with hot draining water so in filling up a bath tub it would not provide any captured waste heat. This is why one was not installed on the right side of the house that would have captured the two kids’ bath and the laundry room drains. For showers it seems as such an obvious device to capture wasted heat that would normally go down the drain that at least every two story home should have one installed. Even instant water heaters would benefit from a preheated water supply. The GFX exchanger will also get temperature probes so we will be able to see it in action online.
Sincerely,
Ben
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