Can you do an update on Ecohome’s new demo house?
Legalett's air heated radiant floor system uses a sealed, closed-loop system, in part, to control moisture in the tubing and therefore mold growth. In Ecohome’s new demo house, did Legalett also build the Solar Air Panels to ensure a continuation of its closed loop system?
In the last article about this latest demo house, it was stated that when the heated air generated from the Solar Air Panels is not needed during the summer months to warm the cement floor slab, the heated air is diverted to an air/water heat exchanger for heating the hot water tank instead. Is the closed loop system maintained when diverting heat to the air/water heat exchanger for the water tank?
I look forward to reading about the effectiveness of this Solar Air Panel tie in to the Legalett system once the system has gone through a full heating season. Ideally it would be great to compare the operational heating costs with the assist of the Solar Panels, to the cost of using the heater box alone. I also look forward to reading about the savings generated by diverting heat to warm the water tank.
The Legalett air heated radiant floor is a closed loop system as you mention, separated from the air of the house, and the integrity of that system will be maintained when the solar water heater component is operational in the summer months.
The house has been installed now, and you can see the total carbon footprint of the S1600 Eco-Habitat prefab kit house that the slab was made for is now finished, all except the solar panels unfortunately! We hope to have everything completed and be able to provide actual performance data in the winter of 2020/21