Idling engine to power AC or heater

[eDJ_]

Leaving some air in the line could take care of those concerns. (saving money at the same time). This isn't going to be steam heating just hot water. It won't need a zone valve either. But like I said, it was the beginning thought. .

 

[Overland One]

Leaving some air in the line could take care of those concerns. (saving money at the same time). This isn't going to be steam heating just hot water. It won't need a zone valve either. But like I said, it was the beginning thought. .

If it were me, I learned that any time water is heated you need a failsafe (blow-off valve) in case your heat source, in this case you mentioned propane, or the thermostat malfunctions. Otherwise, you will have made a very powerful explosion device as steam expands to 1600 times its original volume so, if you had a gallon of water in the system, you would need to be able to handle 1600 gallons in the expansion air you left in for this purpose. I know you said you are not intending to make steam, but, stuff happens. I have had thermostats on hot water heaters go bad and blow all the water out of the tank through the pop-off valve instead of blowing up. Remember, they used heated water to operate trains for many, many years as it is a very powerful system. You probably know all of this already and may also know a lot more than I do about it. I just wanted to post this just in case you didn't or someone else reading it does not. Maybe that's why the guys in my machine shop used to call me Mr. Safety?

 

[eDJ_]

Yes & thanks. The first sketch showed the expansion tank which would have had those provisions and bleed valve. I didn't explain all of that as my post often grow long and detailed enough.

The house I live in had baseboard hydronic heat with a boiler and I learned to service it. It was fired with fuel oil and I learned about servicing the burner/blower etc. There were four zones in the home and thus four zone valves with four thermostats in different parts of the house. A friend of mine who worked HVAC taught me much about this stuff as I live out a way from town in the Wayne National Forest. So being able to look after myself is key to living as I do.

An electrician friend of mine and I converted the electrical from 100 amp to 200 amp to provide for the central heat and AC which we installed together.

Although I no longer work in machine shop operations I still have my IAMAW card. I can't say enough for safety. After all it is #1 on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.