38° Posted February 8, 2020 Share Posted February 8, 2020 I did a search but couldn't find any info on this. Is anyone using their boiler to heat the tasting room or other areas? We are looking into this as the only current heat we have is electric wall heat and very expensive. Thoughts on ways to do it or challenges, good set ups? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenlyon Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 We don't have a boiler per see, but we do pump our hot condenser water through radiant floor heating in our tasting room as part of the cooling process. I would imagine it would be pretty straight forward for your steam guy to hook up a modern version of the radiator, using the steam from your boiler. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kleclerc77 Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 21 minutes ago, Glenlyon said: I would imagine it would be pretty straight forward for your steam guy to hook up a modern version of the radiator, using the steam from your boiler. Yep, that's exactly what we do. It draws a surprising amount of energy from the equipment but it certainly heats the place when we need it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38° Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 Both of those options sound worth exploring for sure. We won't be producing while the tasting room is open so that's another consideration. Glenlyon, love idea of the radiant floor especially in the winter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silk City Distillers Posted February 9, 2020 Share Posted February 9, 2020 Easiest would be to use something like a Modine heater. You'll need electric for the blower, steam, and a condensate line back. Wire it up so that you can disable it as necessary, so it doesn't interfere with a run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38° Posted February 9, 2020 Author Share Posted February 9, 2020 Would you let the boiler stay on all day when open and cycle the heater or would that not be as efficient? Also, Glenlyon and cleclerc77, any other details on how you run your set ups? Types of heaters etc? Glenlyon, what does the rest of your cooling system look like? Is your radiant floor self install? Thanks everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 We heat the distillery and our house with hot water produced from our chiller system , we have 2 chillers and lines in our concrete floor as well as a radiator in the plenum of the house furnace . All in all it works very well . Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38° Posted February 10, 2020 Author Share Posted February 10, 2020 That is amazing Tim. It would be a pretty long pipe to heat our house from the distillery 🙂 Great to hear what everyone is doing to capture the energy, really has us thinking. Sounds like there is opportunity and we just nees to figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Our house is about 500 feet from distillery so about 1000 feet of one inch pex insulated and buried . I should add we use a worm tub for our stripping still , hydronic water ciculates from worm tub to house ,then back to hydronic mixing board in distillery , from mixing board to big chiller in warehouse , then back to worm tub . The big chiller is regulated by thermostat to ensure the last of the heat is pulled out before it returns to worm tub . We also added a steam line in the lyne arm so we can heat the worm in the event that the still is not runing and heat is needed . The spirit still (tube and shell condenser and deflag)is plumbed into the small chiller and can be run thru cement floor if small chiller is not able to keep up . Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HedgeBird Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I have also though about hunting down an old steam radiator or two and plumbing it/them to our steam boiler.. I assume the low pressure boiler we have is basically the same unit one would use for a medium sizes building heated with steam radiators where they run the boiler 24/7 over the winter? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hudson bay distillers Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Those old cast radiators are very cool and very artsy fartsy once there all painted up . Keep your eye out for an old hospital or school thats being demolished, the demo crew usually sell them off at scrap price . Some will handle steam while others were used with hot water depending on the type of boiler that was in the facility . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pour Decisions Posted February 25, 2020 Share Posted February 25, 2020 Thats a great idea Tim. I see those old cast iron radiators being sold on facebook marketplace all the time. People just trying to get rid of them. I'll be looking a bit more into integrating one or two into a hot water return line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now