Home Run from manifold to pump

[terry]

We are installing a radiant heat system in a very small Creamery. One of the zones is about 35 feet from the boiler and equipment. The plan is to put a manifold in the wall in that section with three circuits.

My question is what do you make the run from the manifold to the boiler with, tubing, pipe and second does it go in the floor?

An additional question. We have one zone that will include three "caves" which are coolers, basically, that we will use to age the cheese. They will be at about 55 degrees with very high humidity. We want to be able to introduce a small about of heat to these caves because it drops well below freezing here in Wisconsin. The plan is to have a manifold and a electronically controlled valve on each circuit as they may each open and close at different times ( I know these have a name but it has escaped me). Are these valves wired in parallel with the zone pump so that it comes on anytime anyone of these is opened and is there some type of control electronics scheme set up for this.

Thanks, Terry Woods - Highfield Farm

[Jeremy]

Terry,

Good questions. I'll start with the first.

You can make the run from the source to the zone with whatever pipe you like.It can be copper, PEX, or Onix. PEX is probably the least expensive of the three. This is really just up to your personal preference.

As for your "cave" zones, you could install pipe in the floor, then use zone valve actuators on the return circuits that would open on a call for heat from your stat. If you wire these to an actuator control, you can wire an end switch from the control to your pump so it operates when any one of the zone valves is opened.

I hope this helps. If you have more questions or need more info, just let us know. Thanks!

- Jeremy Wilson

[terry]

Jeremy - thanks for the reply.

The source to run pipe, would that go in the floor as well and will it cause a problem as it is passing through a different zone and dispersing heat as it goes.

Also, the zone actuator valves that you are talking about would be on each circuit for that specific zone. The thought was to make all of the caves, the cooler and probably the mechanicals room all one zone with one zone pump but then have it divided into 6 separate circuits as each would be pretty small. The caves are 8 by 12, the hall is about the same, the cooler a little bigger and the mechancials room would be about 14 by 12.

To add to my questions. We are planning to use the same boiler for both the floor and the cheese vat which we will also use to pasteurize milk which means I will need water at 180 for about 30 minutes every few days. What are your thoughts on a boiler for this application and should I look for a dual temp or just shut off the floor, adjust the temp up and then turn the floor back on when I'm done.

Terry