Advice on whether pumped radiator circulation can go in two directions with stove in centre?

[dcs]

Hello all,

 

I hope you can offer advice about the following scenario. We have a 61ft cabin and will live aboard with 1 and sometimes 3 young children so keeping warm is really important to us. We have installed a Stratford TF30 solid fuel stove which outputs 2KW to room and 5KW to water (since it has integral boiler on 3 sides). We are presently planning the radiator system. There are 4 tappings - two of which are used for a gravity system with one radiator (heat sink). The other two are used for a pumped system with feed and return lines - we will use a Bolin circulation pump. The attached diagram illustrates the proposed system (slightly simplified). Also for reference, I have shown the recommended configuration from the installation guide.

 

Proposed radiator layout

Installation guidelines from manufacturer

(sorry - I don't know how to insert images directly but the links should work ... they are in an album in the gallery).

 

My questions are:

a. will a pumped system circulate in two directions as illustrated?

b. if so, would there be advantage in increasing the final return to the stove to 28mm?

c. either in this split configuration, or in the classic configuration shown in the manual, should the hot feed be 15mm or 22mm, given that the return is 22mm and the radiator connections are 15mm?

 

I would appreciate any and all advice.

 

Thanks and happy new year,

 

David and Tanya

[the grinch]

yes you can do a split circuit but the pump must be on the primary pipes, before(flow) or after(return) the split.

 

all pipes should be 22mm with the rad branches in 15mm

Edited January 2, 2010 by hamsterfan

[Smelly]

there will be an advantage in shifting up to 28mm though. The lesser friction will mean better circulation.