[painterswife]

We are planning our new home using solar hot water.

I would like to understand how a heat exchanger works.

Does the heat always transfer to the coldest water? or does the heat always travel one way across the heat exchanger?

 

[wy_white_wolf]

....Does the heat always transfer to the coldest water? or does the heat always travel one way across the heat exchanger?

Yes it moves from hot to cold and it can travel backwords in the heat exchanger if your transfer fluid is colder than your storage. That's why they have controls not to start fluid pumping until the panel is hotter than the storage tank.

 

[painterswife]

Thanks! Some times you just need to ask that dumb question to verify everything in your mind.

I am trying to design a system that will use a large water cistern under the garage to use as heat and cooling via an in floor radiant system. We will also have solar hot water for our domestic needs.

It looks like I will need one storage tank for the domestic hot water and when than is hot enough, I can dump the rest of the heat from the solar panels into the cistern. I also want to be able to use the water to moderate the temp. in the summer.

My goal is to not have to use airconditioning.