Now with two polar vortex periods that descended on Chicago producing super cold weather - with a two day period of -23 F (- 30 C), a was holding my breath about what the heating bill was going to look like. Surprise! it was $212, which was about the average winter heating bill in the old house in Oak Park, which had leaky old windows, drafty doors, an open vented attic and mystery coldness on the kitchen floor. This house has more square footage but super insulated walls and ceilings, as well as a very high tech heating system, designed and installed by Mike Ackman of MRA Comfort Solutions (contact info link on Professional Services panel). Here is what this all looks like:
There is a single, wall mounted boiler (the cabinet with the screen, second pic below) that is able to provide hot water to air handlers on the first and second floor, a radiant tube system embedded in the cement floor of the garden level, and a big tank used for domestic hot water. So when the thermostat calls for heat, hot water is directed to the heat exchanger in the air handler, where a fan brings cool air from the house to pass through the hot heat exchanger and heat the air for the house. Very efficient, quiet, and I really like that there is only one "flame" doing the heating.
In the summer, the same air handlers now request the cold coolant from the air conditioning compressors on the roof.
Sound a bit complicated, but here is a drawing that makes it seem more understandable:
The wall mounted boiler:
The hot water routing system. Yes there is a logic controller involved, to activate pumps, etc. It really doesn't photograph very well, but trust me - it is a work of art.!
Haven't talked about this yet, but the unit below is a fresh air exchange unit. It draws air from the house, and exchanges it with the outside air, via a few filters and a really interesting heat exchanger. The heat exchanger actually tempers the incoming air using the heat of the outgoing air, so its not a total loss of heat (or cold). The intakes for this system utilize its own network of piping, and are located in the bathrooms for obvious reasons. While the system operates automatically on a timed program, there are buttons in each bathroom which will manually activate it for a 15 minute cycle.
There is a single, wall mounted boiler (the cabinet with the screen, second pic below) that is able to provide hot water to air handlers on the first and second floor, a radiant tube system embedded in the cement floor of the garden level, and a big tank used for domestic hot water. So when the thermostat calls for heat, hot water is directed to the heat exchanger in the air handler, where a fan brings cool air from the house to pass through the hot heat exchanger and heat the air for the house. Very efficient, quiet, and I really like that there is only one "flame" doing the heating.
In the summer, the same air handlers now request the cold coolant from the air conditioning compressors on the roof.
Sound a bit complicated, but here is a drawing that makes it seem more understandable:
The wall mounted boiler:
One of the air handlers (left), with the mist injection humidity unit mounted on its side, and the domestic hot water tank on the right. The other air handler is in a tiny space above the ceiling of the second floor, made possible because there is only hot water involved - no flame here - and floor space did not have to be wasted on clearances, exhaust, etc.
Haven't talked about this yet, but the unit below is a fresh air exchange unit. It draws air from the house, and exchanges it with the outside air, via a few filters and a really interesting heat exchanger. The heat exchanger actually tempers the incoming air using the heat of the outgoing air, so its not a total loss of heat (or cold). The intakes for this system utilize its own network of piping, and are located in the bathrooms for obvious reasons. While the system operates automatically on a timed program, there are buttons in each bathroom which will manually activate it for a 15 minute cycle.
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