Heating House with coal fired boiler in my detached garage

[465stroker]

I would like to put my coal fired boiler in my detached garage that will run both. My house currently has an airhandler with hydronic coil run off of my boiler for heat and my garage will have hydronic radiant floor heat also. House was built before garage so our well feeds house. I will have to run the following 60' from my house to detached garage to make this all work:

(1) Domestic cold supply from house to garage.
(1) Domestic hot supply from garage to house (I plan on having an electric hot water heater in-line in house to keep temps up).
(1) Boiler supply & (1) return from garage to house coil in airhandler.

Question - What type of tubing should I use? Insulated? I plan on running 4" conduit sleeves to run all piping thru between house & garage. All my house supplies are currently 3/4" - shoud the size stay the same?


Thanks!

[rabadger]

The size of the piping will directly effect the size and horsepower of the pump. The whole thing has to de designed with the exsisting products in mind.

Get with the inspectors and check your local codes. Will they allow a flame in a garage? They may require a equipment room with fire rated bulkheads and auto fresh air combustion damper.

Also how are you going to insure you do not over fire the boiler?

[Sparks]

I agree. This installation could be problematic if not set up right from the get go., but it's not inpossible. I would do this legally and get it inspected so you're covered if something goes wrong. Of course you're going to want to insulate supply and return lines to boiler and domestic hw. I wouldn't worry about your 3/4" supply, your boiler is a closed system, is it not? As for tubing type, check your local codes. Is PEX allowed and if so are there limitations on it's use. There are where I live. PEX would probably be ideal for this situation in regard to ease of installation. The actual sizing would depend on a lot of things.

[465stroker]

Thanks for the replys. We are allowed to have a fire in the Garage plus I have a seperate mechanical room with fire wall that the furnace will be placed in.

Boiler is an EFM 520 Dual fuel - Coal or Oil - closed loop for boiler & domestic. Right now it is just idling to run my 2400 Sq house and I just built a 2000sq garage that would be great to put the boiler in to run both to get the coal out of the house.

I'll be heating the garage with infloor radiant tubing and the house has an airhandler with hydronic coil. Total distance is 80' from house to garage.

Anyone do such an installation? Any tips?

[Sparks]

Depending on your situation you may want to put the house on prioity over the garage. Are you going to use the boiler for domestic hot water? If so, in what type of application? Separate holding tank or coil in boiler on demand. Where would holding tank for domestic hot water be located if used? What temp. is the boiler set for, 180f or less. Theres alot you need to know to accomplish this. What is your expertise or experience regarding boilers and piping?

[rabadger]

Sparks You said a mouth full! The placement of tanks and piping will make or break the job.

If it were me, I would think about the possability of runing the house warming, garage warming on a 50/50 mix. With the potable water tank and heat exchanger in the home. If the system goes down while you are away the return line from the house to garage could freeze. The pumps would have to be sized for 50/50 mix.

I know a contractor that decided not use the mix in his new shop. Worked great for a week and then he went on vacation. He came back and had to tear up his new floor.

[465stroker]

Boiler has it's own domestic coil and currently runs the whole house with no holding tank. My plan was to put an electric hot water heater in the house inline with my domestic feed from the boiler (in the garage) to help maintain the hot water temp or run the house off the electric hot water heater for the house and leave the boiler for heat only..


Boiler & domestic coil (which are seperate) run at 180 degrees currently with a mixing valve on the domestic side to reduce temps.

I installed the curreny system 4 years ago with no problems - everything was sized & designed in the EFM manual - I installed it accordingly.

[Bondo]

I'm building my own outdoor wood boiler,.... That's how I just found these forums,........ :D

Reading thru what You're trying to do,.....
I see some Alternatives,......

If you were to go with an In House Hotwatertank Heatexchanger,.... You could Skip the Electric waterheater,....
And Omit the Domestic Cold water,+ Hotwater lines between the House,+ Garage,.......
All you really Need are the Boiler lines,.. In,+ Out.........
Just do the Domestic water supply to the Boiler,.. From the House...... Either in the Domestic Hotwater Heatexchanger lines,...Or, thru the House Heat line.........

Just as my boiler is "Homebuilt",.... My lines running from the outdoor boiler are to be 1" Hyd. Lines.....
My house is heated by baseboard radiation, with an Oil fired boiler in the cellar,....Domestic Hotwater is from a coil in the oil boiler....
When I installed the Oil boiler a few years ago,... this outdoor boiler was an Active Thought,+ I plumbed in an Extra Zone,......
The outdoor boiler will be on a taco pump from the oil boiler to the wood boiler,..... 24/7/365......
Common antifreezed water from the Whole House......