Hello everyone,
Our heating system consumed about 8,700 kWh of natural gas between 12/16 and 06/17, even though the house is still being renovated and unoccupied. All radiators were set to frost protection only, and no domestic hot water was used.
The system was installed in 12/15 by the previous owners and mainly consists of:
This summer, I noticed that the pipe from the solar collector (supply line) was only hot up to the pump, while the return line was almost cold. From this, I concluded that the pump was not running. At the same time, the controller showed 999°C (1,830°F) for the temperature sensor mounted at the top of the collector, which the technician said is the maximum display value indicating no plausible reading.
Testing the temperature sensor (a PT1000) was successful, so the technician concluded that the controller itself must be defective (he believed the pump was still operational).
So, a new controller was ordered, which I am still waiting for as of today, but that’s another story...
Now, with the cold season approaching, we have temporarily installed some radiators to heat the construction site a little and, most importantly, to ensure frost protection.
I was able to reduce the natural gas consumption by lowering the target temperature for domestic hot water to 10°C (50°F); however, I would say the consumption is still quite high (since Saturday, so in 4 days, about 30 m³ [1,059 ft³]... :O).
Is it possible that due to the defective controller, the 800-liter (210-gallon) water volume of the solar thermal system is being kept warm using natural gas, and usually the ESR 31, depending on whether heat is available from the roof or not, activates or deactivates a heat exchanger between the domestic hot water tank and the solar thermal water system, which in our case might currently always be open or something like that?
Maybe someone, even as a layperson, can explain how a combined stratified storage tank works or is constructed?
Many thanks in advance!
Best regards
PS: The heating technician is hard to reach; unfortunately, I have to work with him since this is obviously a warranty case. Once this issue is resolved, he definitely won’t touch our heating system again… -.-
Our heating system consumed about 8,700 kWh of natural gas between 12/16 and 06/17, even though the house is still being renovated and unoccupied. All radiators were set to frost protection only, and no domestic hot water was used.
The system was installed in 12/15 by the previous owners and mainly consists of:
- Viessmann Vitodens 200 gas condensing wall unit 19 kW
- Austria Email KWS 800 combined stratified storage tank
- Flat plate solar collectors 9.36 m² (100.8 ft²)
- ESR 31 solar controller
- Delphis solar station FV 70 (with Grundfos circulation pump on the supply side)
This summer, I noticed that the pipe from the solar collector (supply line) was only hot up to the pump, while the return line was almost cold. From this, I concluded that the pump was not running. At the same time, the controller showed 999°C (1,830°F) for the temperature sensor mounted at the top of the collector, which the technician said is the maximum display value indicating no plausible reading.
Testing the temperature sensor (a PT1000) was successful, so the technician concluded that the controller itself must be defective (he believed the pump was still operational).
So, a new controller was ordered, which I am still waiting for as of today, but that’s another story...
Now, with the cold season approaching, we have temporarily installed some radiators to heat the construction site a little and, most importantly, to ensure frost protection.
I was able to reduce the natural gas consumption by lowering the target temperature for domestic hot water to 10°C (50°F); however, I would say the consumption is still quite high (since Saturday, so in 4 days, about 30 m³ [1,059 ft³]... :O).
Is it possible that due to the defective controller, the 800-liter (210-gallon) water volume of the solar thermal system is being kept warm using natural gas, and usually the ESR 31, depending on whether heat is available from the roof or not, activates or deactivates a heat exchanger between the domestic hot water tank and the solar thermal water system, which in our case might currently always be open or something like that?
Maybe someone, even as a layperson, can explain how a combined stratified storage tank works or is constructed?
Many thanks in advance!
Best regards
PS: The heating technician is hard to reach; unfortunately, I have to work with him since this is obviously a warranty case. Once this issue is resolved, he definitely won’t touch our heating system again… -.-
So,
the system is now running perfectly again! (Let’s see for how long?! :rolleyes)
We rearranged the two pipes (supply and return) at the roof outlet so that they are definitely the highest points of the system and had air vents installed at both locations. After that, we refilled and vented the system again --> functioning properly for about 10 days now.
What completely puzzles me, however, is that the supply temperature of the heating circuit sometimes rises above 60°C (directly indicated at the supply temperature of the circulation pump station), even though there was clearly no heating demand and all underfloor heating circuits were closed...
Is there a function that allows heat to be discharged via the heating circuit when the storage tank exceeds a certain temperature? As far as I can tell, the circulation pump only switches off when the outside temperature is above the set target temperature (I have it set to 22°C (72°F))... Is that correct or is there some logic behind this?
In any case, to avoid what I consider completely unnecessary heat waste towards the underfloor heating, I have set the burner unit to operate only for domestic hot water!
the system is now running perfectly again! (Let’s see for how long?! :rolleyes)
We rearranged the two pipes (supply and return) at the roof outlet so that they are definitely the highest points of the system and had air vents installed at both locations. After that, we refilled and vented the system again --> functioning properly for about 10 days now.
What completely puzzles me, however, is that the supply temperature of the heating circuit sometimes rises above 60°C (directly indicated at the supply temperature of the circulation pump station), even though there was clearly no heating demand and all underfloor heating circuits were closed...
Is there a function that allows heat to be discharged via the heating circuit when the storage tank exceeds a certain temperature? As far as I can tell, the circulation pump only switches off when the outside temperature is above the set target temperature (I have it set to 22°C (72°F))... Is that correct or is there some logic behind this?
In any case, to avoid what I consider completely unnecessary heat waste towards the underfloor heating, I have set the burner unit to operate only for domestic hot water!
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