- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
Is it possible/cost-effective/common to set up a gasification boiler to supply DHW when it's not heating the rest of the house? Just a random thought I had. When we finally build our dream house a gasification boiler is on the must have list, but I'm also planning on doing a flat-plate collector solar hot water heater as well. This guy built one for $1000 from stuff you can buy at Home Depot:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PEXColDHW/Overview.htm#Objectives
It looks professional and supplies nearly all of his DHW even in the winter-I figure I'd want to rely mostly on that during non-heating months, but lots of cloudy days/rain could necessitate the need for supplemental heat for the boiler. I guess my question is, if the solar is going to supply most of the DHW, is it even worth it to integrate the DHW with the boiler? Or is it maybe not as difficult as I'm imagining? Combining the two is attractive to me because at least in theory I could supply all heat and hot water using nothing but firewood and the sun-no propane or oil needed unless we happened to be away for more than a day or two during the winter months.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Experimental/PEXColDHW/Overview.htm#Objectives
It looks professional and supplies nearly all of his DHW even in the winter-I figure I'd want to rely mostly on that during non-heating months, but lots of cloudy days/rain could necessitate the need for supplemental heat for the boiler. I guess my question is, if the solar is going to supply most of the DHW, is it even worth it to integrate the DHW with the boiler? Or is it maybe not as difficult as I'm imagining? Combining the two is attractive to me because at least in theory I could supply all heat and hot water using nothing but firewood and the sun-no propane or oil needed unless we happened to be away for more than a day or two during the winter months.