New Heating Installations:
Facts
Many of Camphill Village’s houses lack individual heating controls to allow for room temperature adjustments according to individual wishes. The CHV Building & Maintenance group explored different options for the New House to improve individual heating control possibilities.
 |
Undina manifold connecting |
Initially we focused on panel radiators with thermostatic radiator valves (TRVs) but the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) does not allow high surface temperatures to be located in bedrooms and common spaces. This limited us to either radiant floor heating or low-surface temperature radiators. Both options proved to be prohibitively expensive.
We therefore chose for baseboard heaters with room thermostats. Baseboard heaters in each room are connected by Pex-tubing to a manifold of a type that is usually installed in radiant floor heating systems. Electric valves on each manifold port are connected to room thermostats to achieve temperature control in each room.
Objectives
- Energy efficient
- Low maintenance
- Individual control on a room by room basis
- Affordable installation costs
 |
Undina Viesmann condensing boiler with indirect hotwater cylinder |
Implementation
- Propane condensing boiler with hotwater priority (see Boiler Replacements for more information)
- Outdoor reset controls with night setback
- Baseboard heating with pex-tubing and localized manifolds for room controls
- Local thermostats connect to the manifolds to limit maximum room temperature
- Baseboard heater sizes are typically increased by around 10% to 20% to allow for maximum efficiency of the condensing boiler.
Heating controls considerations
The outdoor reset controls will modulate the supply water temperature to the baseboard heaters according to the outside temperature. The outdoor reset controller is initialized in such a way that the heating needs of the coldest room in the building are met. The room thermostats can then be used to reduce heat output for each room according to each individuals needs.
 |
Undina zone circulators |
A night-setback timer is installed to reduce the supply water temperature to the baseboard heaters during non-occupancy or night-time.
Baseboard radiator sizes were increase by around 15%. This increase allows for lower supply water temperatures to be used with consequently lower return water temperatures. Condensing boiler efficiency is to a large part determined by the amount of energy that can be extracted from the flue gases. Cooler return water will allow for higher energy extraction from the flue gases and therefore a more efficient operation of the condensing boiler.
Click the links below to learn more about Camphill Village Environmental Initiatives.
• Underground Oil Tank Removal
• New Construction and Renovations
• New Heating Installations
• Fountain Hall Geo-Thermal System