I'm wanting to buy or build a electric/wood fired water boiler to put in my in-floor heating system-any ideas?
I've got an outdoor, atmospheric pressure, wood fired unit; 500 gal. tank. Installed myself 15 years ago. Installed 2 copper pipe w/4 radiators under floor (no 'snake' tubing). Takes 1 full hopper of maple slab wood from the nearby mill, per day temp. is close to 70F all day, with NO COLD FEET! And it's been below 20F for 6 weeks; some nights -30F, but still toasty warm and no hotcold, hotcold fan induced cycles. Tips: make sure to get a commercial grade boiler 'conditioner' put that in the very first thing! It creates a layer or barrier on the inside of the entire system, preventing premature rust failure, especially inside the boiler jacket (unless you go with stainless: very $$$$). I rigged a small portable tire compressor (the cheap kind) with pipe fittings to hook into the finished pipe/radiator installation; then pressurized the whole works went around with a brush bottle of dish soap checking all solder joints for leaks (rather than fill with water, and having to drain down the entire system to fix a bad solder joint; this is called a 'static' test). Build your system with a dual voltage circulating pump systems right from the start: one 120VAC (house current; I bought a new Grondfus from WWGrainger) and one 12VDC for emergency backup (there will be times when you have no 'juice' to run the circ. pump, and if you don't, pipes will freeze outside, rendering the system useless). It takes a little thought about the bypass valve arrangement, but it's worth doing right from the git-go, especially in these uncertain times about the economy and all. 3-5 backup deep cycle batteries, charged with solar panels should do for short term needs. Log home (also hand built; 1300sq. FT.) More questions? Drop me a note...
Without any doubt, it's a wiring fault. when the zone valve opens it should send a live back to the boiler and pump. the fact that it works when you are asking for both heating and hot water confirms this. You may have lost a link in the JB. The fault is almost certainly with the zone valve wiring. I have copied a s plan diagram. Good luck
