Comment

Comment by Rick Stillwagon on October 18, 2011 at 9:57pm

Aye!

Comment by David Waite on October 18, 2011 at 9:49pm

That makes more sense . Radiant heat is more stable as well.

Comment by Rick Stillwagon on October 18, 2011 at 9:41pm

The copper pipe and the water running through it is never exposed to the water in the system.  They are two separate systems. The copper or possibly stainless is only to run through the stove, (to prevent melting) then it will change to cpvc that lies in the grow bed. the heat then radiates into the grow bed the water does not mix with the AP water.  Think of it like a steam radiator. You dont come in contact with it it is kept in the pipes and heat sink tank.

Comment by David Waite on October 18, 2011 at 9:34pm

Rick you will run into problems with copper in a recirculating system with fish. You will be exposed to copper toxicity or copper concentrations getting to high for fish health. Keep in mind copper is what is mixed with paint for painting the bottom of naval vessels to inhibit marine growth. It kills algae in salt water and fresh water enviorments. Might consider stainless braided line around your  stove with pex or cpvc from there. Be careful.

Comment by Rick Stillwagon on October 18, 2011 at 9:12pm

The plumbing will probably be copper to the grow beds, then switch to CPVC (plastic hot water pipe) through the beds, fish tanks, and heat sink tank. Then switch back to copper when it gets near the stove again.  I am still working on the plumbing layout. We have to make sure it wont auto-siphon or drain dry if the pump stops. This requires backflow preventers and a "waterford" loop in the right positions in the system.  Once I have the layout correct I will share it with you.

Comment by Sahib Punjabi on October 18, 2011 at 6:17pm

Although this may be obvious to many, could you please enlighten me as to the type of material the pipes carrying the hot water will be and how you intend to plumb them...I guess a diagram, if possible, will help explain better.

 

Thanks

Comment by Sahib Punjabi on October 18, 2011 at 6:13pm

Beautiful...you put a lot of work doing this...excellent results. I hope that you grow lots and lots of food.

 

 

God bless,

Comment by Darlene Skellion on October 18, 2011 at 5:13pm

We've thought about trying that around our tanks - we'd have to drain & dismantle the water troughs to get the tubing under them. We have radiant heat in our floors and wouldn't have any other type of heat - very efficient. Great idea using the pellet stove!!

Comment by Rick Stillwagon on October 18, 2011 at 4:47pm

Thanks Darlene.  There is room for 9 tanks.  But I will probably use only 4 to start, two of which will be unseen heat sinks. The other two openings will be sunken beds under the bench height beds.  We are refitting the pellet stove to be a water heater that will circulate hot water into the heat sinks (IBC tanks) with a loop that runs through the grow beds and the fish tanks. The heating system is a seperate water system; the two bodies of water do not mix.

Comment by Darlene Skellion on October 18, 2011 at 3:38pm

Very nice!!! How many IBC fish tanks do you have? I see 4 floor openings. And I gather you'll be heating with a pellet stove in the winter? Keep us posted on how that works for you. We live in Colorado and will be addressing the need for heat in our greenhouse next year.  Great job!!!