hydronic heat for the barn - part 11

 

The much awaited last batch of parts arrived eight days from my online order. Everything I need to procured, not just this hydronic boiler, come mostly from the East Coast. Most things are more expensive in the West Coast.

due to the long radiant loops I was very careful in choosing a circulation pump that I reckon I will need

this is a nice pressure regulator for the price

the three speeds give me more latitude

the 1/2" down pipe is for the 4-gallon expansion tank

I carefully planned the pipe routing such that the expansion tank hugs tightly against the backplane

Rather than buying a purpose made expansion tank support bracket that costs $230 I used a $3 plastic shelf support from Ikea. I also planned the piping and selected the parts for the least number of plumbing parts required. I planned to have all the ancillaries between the boiler and the steel column on the concrete pier so they are least likely to be bumped. 

the pump for the system feed is mounted

the blue tank is a mockup for the supply reservoir

I had a late start that day as this set of Canadian made speakers also arrived and I wasted no time to set them up

the hydronic thermostat I chosen

I was shocked by how big it is; it is 2.5 times the size of the Tekmar that I previously had

I wish they didn't embellish the concave curves into the corners 

I found my surplus 24V transformer

I made this boiled Coke with ginger and lemon

it is a classic Hong Kong tea parlor drink

I debated should I remove the integral check valve to maximize the pump capacity

in the end I decided to leave it in for now

a wholesome breakfast the next morning; the days' goal was to finish the big copper piping with the pump mounted

I'd been using this improvised heat shield for decades

as the manifold ports and the pump flanges are 1" I planned to keep the pipes 1 1/4" to the very last point to down transition them in order to keep the pressure drop minimum

these two ells are necessary to bring the return pipe to the same plane as the return manifold

even without any support the two horizontal pipes are quite sturdy; I will add support brackets to protect them from being accidentally bumped

a one pot dinner

of the 10-foot 1 1/4" pipe I bought there is this two feet left; I didn't even need to use my short piece of 1" pipe as I found enough short stubs in my collection to get the job done