beatlife's Profile
- Kurt Will
- 1996
- Brooklyn
- Carroll Gardens
- House
- Male
Author's Posts
May 14, 2008
Solar hot water and radiant floor heating
Following a recent post on solar water and electric, it seems a lot of people are interested in pursuing solar energy options and are having a hard time finding reliable information and real-life experience. Anyway, that's been my impression as I've been doing research on installing a solar hot water system coupled with radiant floor heating throughout a 3 story brownstone.
Here's what I found: even though solar hot water would SEEM to be the ideal match for a radiant floor heating system, the engineers my architects have retained are adamantly opposed to pursuing this. The rationale is that, ironically, in summer you end up producing way too much hot water, and if you don't have a way of dumping it into a pool or hot tub, for instance, you just have to dump thousands of gallons of hot water down the drain. Instead, we have scaled back the hot water system to produce enough water for domestic use only, and will install a high efficiency condensing boiler (whatever the hell that is) to heat water for the radiant floor system.
As for a PV installation, I have been advised on many fronts that now is not the time for that (despite the on-again off-again federal and state incentives). In the near future, rapid technical progress on PV panels may alter that calculation. So we are preparing for an eventual PV installation by reinforcing the roof and putting in an electrical junction box (or something like that).
Anyway, that has been my experience to date in the world of solar solutions. I am curious if anyone else has attempted or actually installed a solar hot water and radiant floor system.
May 13, 2008
Free salvage - take my house apart, please ..
I am gut renovating a three story brownstone in Carroll Gardens. I have stripped and sold most everything of any value, but in the interest of keeping as much as possible out of the landfill - if anyone wants to have one last go at anything left that is salvageable, pls contact me. There are doors, molding, kitchen appliances, washing machine, etc., that might be of interest.
And to all my "green" friends, don't worry: anything left of any use will go to Build it Green or Rebuilder's Resource. Kurt - 917-886-9323 or kurtdwill@yahoo.com
April 7, 2008
Need advice on whole house fan
We are planning on installing a whole house fan on a three story brownstone. As several previous posters have observed, almost all whole house fans are designed to vent into the attic. However, given the nature of Bklyn brownstones (flat roofs, no attic), we need a fan that mounts on the roof.
What have people trying to install whole house fans on brownstones found out? We have 3600 sq ft of space we are trying to ventilate, so it needs to be a powerful fan. I don't think other solutions previously mentioned such as turbines would work in this case.
Can anyone recommend an HVAC engineer that might be able to consult on this?
Thanks for any advice.
April 3, 2008
What can I do with old tin ceilings?
I am gut renovating a 3 story brownstone, and sadly the tin ceilings will have to go, It's basically 9 rooms worth of ceilings, and I am trying to find a solution other than simply chucking them into recycling. Can they be reused by someone? Does anyone need pieces to patch a ceiling. Can I sell as scrap metal?
thanks for any advice
March 4, 2008
Fees for expediting
I'm just beginning work on gut renovating a three family brownstone and making it into a one family. I have two proposals for expediting services, both are in the vicinity of $10,000. The scope of work is for filing an Alt Type I permit and a change of C of O. I may be cheap, but this seems twice as much as I expected, at least. Thanks for any input on this.
Author's Comments
Thanks to all for the feedback.
It"s just the paperwork, I have an architect for the drawings. I did the filing for the work permit last time myself, so I know the drill. basically, it's a lot of waiting in line (outsourced to some industrious kids) and having the inside relationships to move the paper along.
It's a real pain, which is why I'm glad to hire someone this time. Still, $10k is $10k ....
Posted by: beatlife at March 5, 2008 12:24 PM in response to Fees for expediting
Running a fan at night consumes a hell of a lot less electricity than running AC, be it CAC or a window unit. Besides the potential cost savings, environmental benefit, etc etc, I just don't like AC air. Anyway, we are also installing a solar thermal system coupled with radiant floor heating and may or may not add PV panels if we have ANY money left.
From what I've read, whole house fans are a fantastic way of cooling down your house naturally, it's not gonna help much when it's 105 outside, but let's say 90% of time in summer it will be sufficient.
Posted by: beatlife at April 8, 2008 3:33 PM in response to Need advice on whole house fan
I'm doing similar installation on my gut reno in Carroll Gardens, except we are probably not doing the PV at this point and only solar thermal for hot water - which I thought we would also use for radiant floor heating. Our engineer is throwing up roadblocks on that last front. We are getting ready to go to bid shortly. Call me at 917-886-9323 or kurtdwill@yahoo.com if you want to compare notes - would be helpful for me as well.
Posted by: beatlife at May 13, 2008 8:49 AM in response to Solar Water and Electric
OP here. I need to make some clarifications to my original post. But first, to those of you who asked: uh yes, I did vet the engineering group. They are LEED certified and have done many solar installations, both thermal and PV, around the world. Although, most if not all of their projects are large-scale museum type deals, not single-family brownstones - so maybe that is an issue.
Anyway, here's the deal: if I install sufficient panels to provide my domestic hot water needs - which are fairly constant through summer and winter, then any additional panels that I install in order to produce hot water for the radiant floor system will be superfluous for roughly 7 months of the year. Originally, I said that this would produce large amounts of excess heat - oh, and by the way, the system is vulnerable to overheating and can be damaged if excess heat is not flushed. This statement seemed to cause a lot of disbelief in follow-up posts. However, even Chester, who also protested my point, then went on to say that the hot water could be used in a pool or spa, or somehow dissipated by the wind or redirected to a "drying room." So I guess there is excess heat after all.... I think the problem was that I said that hot water would need to be flushed - this is of course a worse case scenario. Apparently, my engineering group has been involved in projects where they store the excess heat in summer in huge concrete fields.
Then there is the option of taking the additional solar panels off-line in summer, or covering them, etc. I guess this is possible, but I was advised against this whole scenario because it would not make sense financially. Basically, I would have to install a very expensive system, around 50K worth, in order to provide enough hot water for my whole house heating requirements. This system would then be totally under-used for roughly half the year.
So I apologize for getting everybody riled up about the "flushing the water" comment. My main point, and I think it still stands, is that using solar thermal for radiant floor systems has serious issues - unless the installation can take advantage of large amounts of hot water production in summer - so I guess the answer is I need pool in my backyard. Anyone want to help me shovel?
Posted by: beatlife at May 15, 2008 10:23 PM in response to Solar hot water and radiant floor heating
We are installing a whole house fan in our brownstone. It's tricky because we can't use a traditional attic fan, which vents through the gables, because, well, we don't have an attic. You can call me at 917-886-9323 if you want to know more about our house fan experience.
Basically, if you can do it, you should go for it. It's not a total AC solution, but it will go a long way towards keeping you cool 90% of the summer.
Posted by: beatlife at May 21, 2008 3:46 PM in response to Whether to install a Whole House Fan?
Responses to Author's Forum Comments
you might also want to think about where your make-up air is coming from if you put a whole house fan in the roof. you will probably want an air intake somewhere or you might end up drawing replacement air from your brownstone cellar which i would say might not be the best idea. unless of course you always open a window when you run the whole house fan.
Posted by: guest at April 8, 2008 8:47 PM in response to Need advice on whole house fan
The house I grew up in had a whole house fan (vented to the attic), with no AC, and it was fantastic. It pulled air from the basement, which partially below grade and thus always a few degrees cooler than the rest of the house. Far more efficient than AC. If you're concerned about electric (12:57), then you should be concerned about the whole house, not just one appliance.
We've been thinking about getting a whole-house fan for our (atticless) row house. In our case, we have a bulkhead that could be mounted to, which would mean not having to do a roof penetration. I know Home Depot carries "mushroom" fans that look like they might do the job (roof installed or otherwise).
Posted by: WBer at April 9, 2008 12:56 PM in response to Need advice on whole house fan
Whatever type of exhaust fan you use, make sure there is adequate intake air to replace
what is being drawn out.
Otherwise, you'll create a negative pressure (like a vacuum) in your home which will prevent the chimney from doing its job and fill your home with carbon monoxide when the boiler or water heater is running.
That would be bad.
You are right to ask for consultation with an engineer or HVAC Professional.
Posted by: Master Plvmber at April 9, 2008 5:43 PM in response to Need advice on whole house fan
I've got experience with solar and solar contractors. Just by installing solar, you're making an excellent decision. Who is doing the install? Solar Energy Systems?
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 11:44 AM in response to Solar Water and Electric
Please contact brownstoner and do a reno blog so the rest of us can learn from your experiences. This would be very helpful.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 12:05 PM in response to Solar Water and Electric
I second the idea of posting your progress if possible. Keep us posted please.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 4:07 PM in response to Solar Water and Electric
Please please please, post updates.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 6:06 PM in response to Solar Water and Electric
I have an even better idea. Howabout if Mr. Brownstoner establishes a separate portion to the forum where people can exchange ideas and experiences on matters green. I think, judging by the increasing frequency of questions on this subject (which, let's face it, is somewhat out of the realm of knowledge of most of us) this field is one which will grow exponentially in the near future and a conversation place devoted to it would not only prove a valuable resource but would reflect very favorably on the Brownstoner site's relevance and popularity.
Posted by: johnife at May 13, 2008 6:20 PM in response to Solar Water and Electric
Not a green issue to me, I'm just cheap as heck and looking for was to make solar work financially. There are a lot of green issues. Maybe best not to lump everything together.
Posted by: guest at May 13, 2008 9:24 PM in response to Solar Water and Electric
"Cheap" and "green" are two terms that rarely work together. Most people that go green do it to answer a calling to environmental responsibility, not for the wallet.
See the NYS Green Home Guide.
http://nystate.greenhomeguide.com/index.php
And go here: (wink, wink)
http://nystate.greenhomeguide.com/index.php/service_detail/1203/C291
Posted by: Master Plvmber at May 14, 2008 8:20 AM in response to Solar Water and Electric
Steve,
I am beginning a demolition on my house and am getting rid of the awning over the front door. It's brown painted metal I think, looks in good shape, let me know if you are interested.
kurt - 917-886-9323
Posted by: beatlife at March 1, 2008 5:29 PM in response to Where to get Awnings ??