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HOT WATER HEATING - How to Use a Tank-Style Water Heater
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00:00:00.060 in this video I want to show you two 00:00:02.72000:00:02.730 different methods for using a tank style 00:00:05.11000:00:05.120 gas-fired water heater to power a 00:00:08.33000:00:08.340 hydronic heating system so that's hot 00:00:11.41900:00:11.429 water heating either an in-floor system 00:00:14.18000:00:14.190 like you see here or a radiator system 00:00:17.42000:00:17.430 so this is the tank style heater one of 00:00:20.24000:00:20.250 the advantages of this approach as 00:00:21.74000:00:21.750 opposed to a boiler is that you've 00:00:24.01900:00:24.029 automatically got a feed for domestic 00:00:27.05000:00:27.060 hot water at taps and fixtures and 00:00:28.97000:00:28.980 things so this line here we've got the 00:00:31.88000:00:31.890 cold water coming into the tank and then 00:00:34.81900:00:34.829 up here we have the hot water going out 00:00:38.00000:00:38.010 to the taps and fixtures this is a heat 00:00:40.28000:00:40.290 trap here this is just a two 90 degree 00:00:43.04000:00:43.050 bends and the purpose of that is to stop 00:00:45.97000:00:45.980 the hot water from from conducting all 00:00:49.97000:00:49.980 the way up and and getting wasted by 00:00:52.72900:00:52.739 radiating out of the hot water pipe so 00:00:55.16000:00:55.170 this stops the conduction from going on 00:00:57.70900:00:57.719 so it saves a little bit of energy we've 00:00:59.66000:00:59.670 got an expansion tank here because when 00:01:01.40000:01:01.410 the cold water goes in it's going to 00:01:03.88900:01:03.899 expand as it gets hot and in many 00:01:06.62000:01:06.630 situations you need a tank there's a 00:01:09.73000:01:09.740 membrane in here and there's air in part 00:01:13.49000:01:13.500 of it so it can take the expansion 00:01:15.64900:01:15.659 what's going on so this approach this 00:01:17.81000:01:17.820 side here the domestic side is common to 00:01:20.30000:01:20.310 the two systems I'm going to be showing 00:01:21.95000:01:21.960 you and it's what happens on the other 00:01:23.71900:01:23.729 side of the tank that really matters so 00:01:27.32000:01:27.330 here in this simple system we have the 00:01:30.17000:01:30.180 hot water coming off the tank in this 00:01:32.92900:01:32.939 particular case the tank has two sets of 00:01:35.71900:01:35.729 heat taps or heat outlets so the hot 00:01:40.03900:01:40.049 water comes off here and it goes around 00:01:42.46900:01:42.479 and it goes through the hydronic heating 00:01:46.03900:01:46.049 system and then back into the tank for 00:01:49.94000:01:49.950 warming now all of this happens when the 00:01:53.69000:01:53.700 thermostat calls for Heat 00:01:55.96900:01:55.979 so the thermostat detects that the room 00:01:58.58000:01:58.590 is too cold and it delivers it triggers 00:02:01.88000:02:01.890 this circulator pump here which starts 00:02:04.81900:02:04.829 the flow of water you'll notice that the 00:02:06.80000:02:06.810 circulator pump is installed in a fairly 00:02:09.35000:02:09.360 low part of this 00:02:10.59000:02:10.600 it saves a lot of trouble because it 00:02:12.75000:02:12.760 means they're far less likely to have 00:02:14.19000:02:14.200 that pump prevented from working by an 00:02:17.82000:02:17.830 airlock I mean there's lots of water 00:02:19.38000:02:19.390 down here and that pump is going to to 00:02:21.66000:02:21.670 pump that water fine so the thermostat 00:02:26.24000:02:26.250 calls for heat turns on the circulator 00:02:29.97000:02:29.980 pump circulates hot water through the 00:02:32.91000:02:32.920 system until the room is warm and then 00:02:36.18000:02:36.190 the thermostat shuts off the pump 00:02:37.98000:02:37.990 so cooler water is returning to the tank 00:02:40.14000:02:40.150 and the tank has its own aqua stat 00:02:43.77000:02:43.780 inside so it will be able to fire up and 00:02:47.07000:02:47.080 keep the water in this tank hot as 00:02:50.27000:02:50.280 needed in a kind of a separate loop than 00:02:54.42000:02:54.430 what's happening here in the room now 00:02:56.66000:02:56.670 the the simple system is good but it 00:03:00.63000:03:00.640 can't be used in all jurisdictions 00:03:02.81000:03:02.820 because of a potential problem and that 00:03:06.51000:03:06.520 problem has to do with the fact that in 00:03:08.79000:03:08.800 the off season the water that's in the 00:03:12.14000:03:12.150 heating side of the system is going to 00:03:15.63000:03:15.640 just sit there and it's possible that 00:03:18.53000:03:18.540 microbes could grow in there because the 00:03:20.67000:03:20.680 water is not circulating it's sitting 00:03:22.20000:03:22.210 there for months on end and some 00:03:24.75000:03:24.760 jurisdictions do not allow that so there 00:03:28.29000:03:28.300 are ways around the problem and that's 00:03:31.74000:03:31.750 what I want to show you here one way 00:03:35.49000:03:35.500 around the stagnation problem is to wire 00:03:38.40000:03:38.410 in a timer like you see here now this 00:03:43.26000:03:43.270 will activate the circulator pump 00:03:46.04000:03:46.050 whether heat is called for or not for 00:03:49.28000:03:49.290 about 10 minutes each day and that 00:03:52.62000:03:52.630 serves to to move the water through the 00:03:57.24000:03:57.250 hydronic system long before it would 00:04:00.12000:04:00.130 ever get stagnant so in the summer when 00:04:02.85000:04:02.860 things aren't working you're still gonna 00:04:04.11000:04:04.120 have that circulator pump kick in and 00:04:07.25000:04:07.260 for about 10 minutes the water will 00:04:09.84000:04:09.850 circulate through it's actually good for 00:04:11.79000:04:11.800 the pump for it to run regularly like 00:04:14.13000:04:14.140 that even in the off season and some 00:04:16.22900:04:16.239 jurisdictions will say yes that's okay 00:04:19.71000:04:19.720 and this simple system as I call it is 00:04:23.22000:04:23.230 is what you can use in places like that 00:04:25.17000:04:25.180 now a more complicated system that 00:04:29.19000:04:29.200 eliminates the need for a timer and any 00:04:31.23000:04:31.240 possibility of stagnant water is also a 00:04:34.14000:04:34.150 possibility and it does have some 00:04:37.28000:04:37.290 efficiency and performance gains 00:04:40.38000:04:40.390 possible as well so that's what I'm 00:04:42.03000:04:42.040 going to show you next the more 00:04:43.35000:04:43.360 complicated heat exchanger system here's 00:04:47.04000:04:47.050 the second system I call it the 00:04:48.45000:04:48.460 exchanger system and you'll see it's got 00:04:51.36000:04:51.370 the same tank style water heater but the 00:04:54.06000:04:54.070 cold water Cimino's up a water supply 00:04:56.31000:04:56.320 coming in the hot domestic supply coming 00:04:59.67000:04:59.680 out so it handles everything you need in 00:05:01.59000:05:01.600 the house the same expansion tank here 00:05:04.74000:05:04.750 but the difference is what happens on 00:05:07.17000:05:07.180 this side the hydronic heating water 00:05:10.10000:05:10.110 never mixes with the water in the tank 00:05:13.47000:05:13.480 and and the way that happens is through 00:05:16.91000:05:16.920 this heat exchanger here so what happens 00:05:21.66000:05:21.670 when the thermostat calls for heat we're 00:05:25.83000:05:25.840 here the thermostat triggers two pumps 00:05:29.90900:05:29.919 to circulate our pumps instead of one it 00:05:32.40000:05:32.410 triggers the circulator pump here which 00:05:35.52000:05:35.530 circulates the hot water off the top of 00:05:38.13000:05:38.140 the tank down through the one side of 00:05:41.94000:05:41.950 this heat exchanger and then back into 00:05:45.48000:05:45.490 the tank at the bottom now the second 00:05:48.09000:05:48.100 the second circulator pump is also 00:05:50.55000:05:50.560 triggered and it circulates the hydronic 00:05:52.86000:05:52.870 heating water through however the water 00:05:55.92000:05:55.930 heat is radiated in the house back 00:05:58.68000:05:58.690 through and on the other side of this 00:06:00.60000:06:00.610 heat exchanger now a typical heat 00:06:03.96000:06:03.970 exchanger like this a flat plate style 00:06:06.63000:06:06.640 works really well three by eight inches 00:06:10.46000:06:10.470 with about 20 plates 00:06:12.63000:06:12.640 I find that sufficient for most houses 00:06:16.05000:06:16.060 where I live in fairly cold part of 00:06:19.02000:06:19.030 Canada so the hot water from the tank 00:06:21.75000:06:21.760 heats this side of the exchanger and the 00:06:24.47000:06:24.480 water from the heating system picks up 00:06:27.45000:06:27.460 that heat from the other side of the 00:06:29.85000:06:29.860 heat exchanger 00:06:30.75000:06:30.760 you'll notice that the 00:06:32.61000:06:32.620 the cooler water enters here and the 00:06:37.80000:06:37.810 flow of water runs opposite to the flow 00:06:42.99000:06:43.000 through the other side of the exchanger 00:06:44.58000:06:44.590 that's the way you get the most heat 00:06:46.47000:06:46.480 exchange from this arrangement so why 00:06:50.31000:06:50.320 would anybody want to do this well if if 00:06:53.31000:06:53.320 you're not allowed to have domestic hot 00:06:56.43000:06:56.440 water and heating water mix then this is 00:06:59.90900:06:59.919 the system for you there's another 00:07:02.01000:07:02.020 advantage too and it has to do with the 00:07:04.37900:07:04.389 operating pressure of the heating system 00:07:06.62900:07:06.639 now typically the the optimal pressure 00:07:09.99000:07:10.000 is anywhere from 15 to 30 psi so that's 00:07:16.21900:07:16.229 pressure of the hydraulic system and 00:07:19.68000:07:19.690 that's measured with a gauge here and 00:07:21.96000:07:21.970 you can monitor that if you have a 00:07:24.09000:07:24.100 system that's directly connected to the 00:07:26.90900:07:26.919 water tank is in a simple system I 00:07:28.53000:07:28.540 showed you before then you're looking at 00:07:31.73000:07:31.740 anywhere from maybe 40 to 60 psi that's 00:07:36.65900:07:36.669 you know you know typical municipal 00:07:38.34000:07:38.350 water pressures and that's somewhat 00:07:41.07000:07:41.080 higher than it should be for maximum 00:07:42.81000:07:42.820 pump life and functioning yeah it's not 00:07:45.18000:07:45.190 a big deal it's what I would consider a 00:07:47.40000:07:47.410 minor advantage to the heat exchanger 00:07:50.67000:07:50.680 system but this is what this is what you 00:07:54.15000:07:54.160 need to do if you can't have any 00:07:57.42000:07:57.430 exchange of the two sorts of water so if 00:08:01.62000:08:01.630 a system like this with a tank style 00:08:03.15000:08:03.160 water heater is such a good way to power 00:08:06.71900:08:06.729 hydronic heating system how come 00:08:08.61000:08:08.620 everyone doesn't use it why are there 00:08:10.40900:08:10.419 such a thing as boilers instead of hot 00:08:12.71900:08:12.729 water tanks well first of all the tank 00:08:16.02000:08:16.030 needs to be up to the job 00:08:17.82000:08:17.830 it needs to have enough heat output the 00:08:20.07000:08:20.080 tank I've installed at my own place has 00:08:21.87000:08:21.880 a hundred and fifty thousand BTU per 00:08:23.70000:08:23.710 hour input so that's plenty for heating 00:08:28.44000:08:28.450 needs as well as domestic hot water most 00:08:31.37900:08:31.389 standard tank style water heaters won't 00:08:34.70900:08:34.719 produce that much and depending on where 00:08:37.07900:08:37.089 you live you can Emma size of your house 00:08:38.90900:08:38.919 and how well it's insulated you can get 00:08:40.46900:08:40.479 away with less than that but the heater 00:08:44.19000:08:44.200 also has two 00:08:45.26000:08:45.270 be able to put out heat more 00:08:49.13000:08:49.140 consistently it's going to have a far 00:08:51.29000:08:51.300 shorter rest period when it's used as a 00:08:54.29000:08:54.300 as a space heating engine like this is 00:08:57.50000:08:57.510 here so you need to have a water heater 00:08:59.93000:08:59.940 that's up to the job and the 00:09:01.07000:09:01.080 manufacturer can tell you that I mean 00:09:02.60000:09:02.610 some companies will not want their tank 00:09:04.52000:09:04.530 style heaters for this application and 00:09:07.06000:09:07.070 others will the unit that I'm using is 00:09:10.76000:09:10.770 called the Polaris and it's made by a 00:09:15.64000:09:15.650 North American company called AO Smith 00:09:18.56000:09:18.570 and they specifically build this tank 00:09:21.08000:09:21.090 style water heater for this application 00:09:23.39000:09:23.400 that's one reason they put on two pairs 00:09:26.30000:09:26.310 of taps here we have the the cold and 00:09:30.50000:09:30.510 the hot for your domestic do domestic 00:09:32.99000:09:33.000 side and then they return and the 00:09:36.29000:09:36.300 outflow here on the side of the tank for 00:09:39.35000:09:39.360 your hydronic heating system now another 00:09:44.24000:09:44.250 reason you'd want to use a tank style 00:09:45.71000:09:45.720 heater is because it's just simpler 00:09:47.27000:09:47.280 you've got one appliance and it'll serve 00:09:51.02000:09:51.030 you all year round 00:09:52.13000:09:52.140 for domestic hot water tapping in as 00:09:54.83000:09:54.840 needed during the heating season for 00:09:58.10000:09:58.110 heating so it's it's a simpler system 00:10:00.65000:10:00.660 and if you go with a simple installation 00:10:03.23000:10:03.240 and you eliminate the need for a heat 00:10:06.59000:10:06.600 exchanger maintenance is also lower too 00:10:09.41000:10:09.420 because with any kind of a boiler you've 00:10:11.69000:10:11.700 got a built-in heat exchanger of one 00:10:13.67000:10:13.680 sort or another and that heat exchanger 00:10:15.82000:10:15.830 will form scale and things on the 00:10:19.55000:10:19.560 domestic side of the system so you'll 00:10:21.50000:10:21.510 have to flush some vinegar through that 00:10:23.87000:10:23.880 heat exchanger every so often maybe 00:10:27.50000:10:27.510 every six months or a year or two years 00:10:29.30000:10:29.310 depending on the hardness of the water 00:10:30.65000:10:30.660 you can sidestep that maintenance with a 00:10:33.59000:10:33.600 tank style heater the only maintenance 00:10:35.27000:10:35.280 that a tank style heater requires is to 00:10:38.51000:10:38.520 flush any sediment out from the bottom 00:10:41.45000:10:41.460 of the tank which is quite an easy thing 00:10:43.19000:10:43.200 you flip a valve after you've hooked up 00:10:45.41000:10:45.420 a hose to the tank and the sediment 00:10:46.88000:10:46.890 flushes out now if you do have a 00:10:48.98000:10:48.990 separate heat exchanger like this you 00:10:52.22000:10:52.230 are going to have to do the vinegar 00:10:53.51000:10:53.520 treatment and that's why if I've I've 00:10:54.83000:10:54.840 installed these these flush valves here 00:10:57.59000:10:57.600 that's something 00:10:58.15000:10:58.160 you're gonna want to do so you can shut 00:10:59.43900:10:59.449 off the flow of valve open up these 00:11:03.55000:11:03.560 ports here and you can flush some 00:11:08.86000:11:08.870 vinegars through there with a pump 00:11:10.43900:11:10.449 usually that only has to happen on the 00:11:12.69900:11:12.709 domestic side of the system do not the 00:11:15.28000:11:15.290 hydronic side which doesn't build up 00:11:17.31900:11:17.329 minerals the same way but as I said you 00:11:20.88900:11:20.899 can completely eliminate this altogether 00:11:22.66000:11:22.670 if you go with a simpler non exchanger 00:11:26.30900:11:26.319 installation so just to recap some of 00:11:30.22000:11:30.230 the reasons why you'd want to use a tank 00:11:32.41000:11:32.420 style heater first of all they're simple 00:11:37.19900:11:37.209 it's it's a technology that's been 00:11:40.44900:11:40.459 around a long time it's a simple concept 00:11:43.92900:11:43.939 and it works well another thing is 00:11:48.11900:11:48.129 versatility any tank style heater is 00:11:54.97000:11:54.980 going to do a good job for you both 00:11:57.28000:11:57.290 space heating and for domestic hot water 00:12:01.11000:12:01.120 it's efficient to the Polaris unit that 00:12:08.05000:12:08.060 I've installed has a 95% efficiency for 00:12:13.17900:12:13.189 both legs both the space heating and 00:12:15.10000:12:15.110 domestic hot water and in some 00:12:18.09000:12:18.100 applications it's an especially low 00:12:21.12900:12:21.139 maintenance option as well so there you 00:12:27.69900:12:27.709 have it
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