As with most things hydronic, there are multiple approaches, and the “best” approach for each installation has to consider cost, aesthetics, access to the existing piping, available wall space and the goal of how the overall system will operate based on existing or newly created zones.

All hydronic systems designed around renewable energy heat sources — as well as those designed around conventional boilers — have at least one controller that measures and responds to temperature. Common examples are temperature setpoint controllers, outdoor reset controllers, mixing controllers and differential temperature controllers. Complex systems that operate in multiple modes, or use multiple heat sources, often have several temperature-based controllers.

One of the most fundamental principles used in all areas of science and engineering is the first law of thermodynamics. 

Every three years the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials publishes a revised and updated version of its signature codes — the Uniform Plumbing Code and the Uniform Mechanical Code. 

Some renewable energy heat sources require large thermal storage tanks. Examples include systems’ biomass boilers and solar thermal collectors.

Because they generate heat intermittently, renewable energy heat sources such as solar thermal collectors and pellet boilers require thermal storage tanks. So do storage-based systems using off-peak electricity, or micro combined heat and power (MCHP) generation.

A commonality among all renewable energy heat sources is that they perform best when coupled to low-temperature hydronic distribution systems. 

The U.S. geothermal heat pump industry was breaking out the champagne on Feb. 9, 2018.  That’s the day President Donald Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, a bill that boosted government spending by hundreds of billions of dollars.

A bipartisan bill would reinstate tax credits that expired at the end of 2016.

A previously condemned historic Detroit home goes geothermal.