solar rods and back boiler is it possible.

giardiniera

i'm building and my builder says i cant have a back boiler on a stove heating my radiators upstairs (ufh downstairs) as i'll have solar rods on the roof. does anyone know if there is a way to use both systems?
A guy in a stove shop said i'd just need a bigger tank and it is possible but the plumber says i cant.
i'd just like to know who's right.

thanks

ThePiedPiper

giardiniera wrote: »

i'm building and my builder says i cant have a back boiler on a stove heating my radiators upstairs (ufh downstairs) as i'll have solar rods on the roof. does anyone know if there is a way to use both systems?
A guy in a stove shop said i'd just need a bigger tank and it is possible but the plumber says i cant.
i'd just like to know who's right.

thanks

My hosue will have the exact set up you're talking about.. plumber is more than happy with it, we're just using a triple coil tank (300 litres). your builder might just be saying it cos the triple coil larger tanks are more expensive and it's a bit more work for the plumber..

giardiniera

that is great news thanks at least i've something to go back to him with now.
thanks so much.

gman2k

OP, I'd recommend you get speaking to a professional who knows what they are talking about. You are spending too much money to be told - can't be done' by someone who doesn't know/ care what they are doing.

PeteHeat

Hi,

It may be possible that your builder / plumber were not sure about the question you were asking, if they thought you wanted the stove plumbed into the standard twin coil cylinder they were correct.

As you are using underfloor heating it might be worth considering connecting the stove into the buffer store instead of the cylinder.

.

giardiniera

i asked could a stove and back boiler be used with the solar rods, the plumber said no. i then asked him to look into a thermal heat exchange system (someone else here mentioned one), so he's doing that now. i mentioned the triple coil tank to the contracter yesterday and he said he's speak to the plumber about it.
i'm hoping to use the heat from the stove in some way rather than just send it up the chimney.
i dont know much about plumbing and heating systems i do trust the plumber and builder to come up with something, so any suggestions people have i'll forward onto them.
thanks for the help.

quentingargan

I'm not sure I would put so much trust based on your advise so far, but basically the best way to have various sources of heating water is to provide one coil for each application.

Normally a solar cylinder has two coils - one for the central heating system and one for the solar panels to heat the water. If you have a third heating system, such as a solid fuel, this will neeed its own coil because you can't control a fire once it is lit - there must be an open circuit at all times for the heat, and so you need a dedicated coil that isn't relying on pumps.

That third coil should be a 1" one to optimise syphoning. If your entire hot water system is open vented, a copper cylinder with a third coil will be about €60 more than a solar twin coil version (usually for up to 200L cylinders). In stainless it is usually a bit more because of the production process, but they are available. PM me if you want sources.

JuniorB

giardiniera wrote: »

i'm hoping to use the heat from the stove in some way rather than just send it up the chimney.
quote]

I was/am in the same boat. Have been to a few stove suppliers and they keep telling me that it's not just going up the chimney - it is heating the room that you have it in. If you want to heat a backboiler you will need a bigger stove and will use a lot more fuel as the back boiler will get 'first call' on the heat produced.
The best way I've seen to combine back boiler/stove/solar is to use a thermal store.
Another option that I'm looking at more favourable is to have vents coming off the stove and venting the heat directly into other rooms - bedrooms in particular. The stove will generally be on in the evening when you will want the heat in the bedrooms. I need to investigate more but as one supplier said - why heat water in back boiler to heat rads in rooms when you can just pipe the warm air directly to the room?
Tis all fun and games looking at all the options ... we'll get there yet

PeteHeat

Hi,

Ducting the heat to adjoining rooms is a good option however it is important to design the fireplace to include the ducting, one of the most popular is to use a false chimney breast to cover the pipes.

With any good stove properly sized to suit the room there is very little heat lost up the flue, in fact the percentage does not change by much if at all with or without a boiler or ducting.

I know people who with the benefit of hindsight would not install a boiler model if building again as the water takes the majority of the heat from the stove which means they must always have big fires to get the desired level of heat into the room.

.

homer911

I would avoid warm air ducting for health and hygiene reasons...