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  1. Chessie Following on from the previous thread. Regeneration of Zeolite is normally done at the Beginning of EACH season.  WHY? Because it’s done to maximise the benefits of the UNIQUE quality of Zeolites and that is Ion/Canton Exchange, which means that this material has a capacity to 'absorb' Ammonia (NH4) along with a number of other unwanted compounds and metals in your pool water.  For your wider comprehension, Ammonia will be produced in the process of Oxidisation of organic matter in the water from chlorination. Ammonia aids and amplifies the IsoChloramines which is the by-product responsible for the nasty smell and taste of pool water (often mistaken for chlorine). So once the season is ready to start if you dose your filter with the right number of Kgs of Rock Salt (quantity depends on volume of the filter) and let it soak for 48 hours then a strange thing happens, meaning that the Sodium atoms in the Salt (NaCL) displace the Nitrogen in the Ammonia which is trapped in the Zeolite and therefor liberate the space so that the Zeolite can go on absorbing Ammonia for another year....   MAGIC!  Cleaner water and a nicer pool for another year...  all because of a gift from nature....  Mineral Zeolite! So your job is to keep it at its best and that means - regeneration using rock salt. O  
  2. Chessie The simple answer to your question is - It Depends!   More Info: As All Zeolites are NOT the same, it depends on the origin of the Mineral you have installed. If it originated from Eastern Europe then it may well be close to end of its usefulness, South African source is a little better but not appreciably, Mexican and South American are a good bit better, but the Best by a country mile is that Zeolites originating from Australia. Why ?  Its a function of hardness, as the first bunch are around 5 on the Mohs hardness scale (quite soft like calcaire nearly or like sand)  http://geology.about.com/od/scales/a/mohsscale.htm  whereas Mexican is nearer 6 (like glass) but the Australian source is the ONLY one which is 7 (similar to Quartz) which offers the longest life of any.   So, it depends on the Brand of Zeolite which can sometimes identified by the colour- so if yours is a reddish pink colour (Australian Source) then you're good for another 5 or so years at least as it will be largely as it was when you first put it in. If yours is beige/grey then it’s very soft and could well be starting to degrade into a powder which will eventually be worse than useless as a filtration media because it will 'clog and cake', so it could well be time to change.   So answer the question then hubby will have to take the lid of the filter and find out what is in there. While he is at it then regeneration of the Ion/Canton exchange properties is a good idea (normally done at the beginning of EACH season).  More on that in the next thread.   O    
  3. [quote user="powerdesal"]'' You know that climate change is here and that it will get worse.'' I presume you are a believer in the religion of man made climate change. Wake up to reality.[/quote] Well to that provocation I can only answer the following; Whereas for Religion (of all kinds) there is no proof whatsoever that the doctrine is true Whereas for Climate change as a consequence of manmade activity not only has substantial proof  supported by fact but EVERY respected scientist supports the JURY which is IN to verify it as fact. I can’t believe that in this age you can come on to a public forum and bleat 'wake up to reality' which now puts you into the diminishing group of zealots who cannot or will not accept responsibility for your (and everyone else’s) misdeeds despite the certain knowledge of its consequences, meaning that there is no credibility what so ever to your case. So to compare the concepts of Climate change to Religion shows no understanding of either. O  
  4. [quote user="sallyMcC"]hi sorry to hijack, but rather than start a new thread, ........ Ive inherited a rather large 4 floor if you include cellar and attics house in northern Mayenne 53, it has an oil chaufaudiere which was probably old when noah was a lad, of about 65Kw, it takes up a large cupboard in the hall about 3 ft by 10 ft, and I would like to change it for something a. smaller in physical size. b. more enegy efficient c. cheaper to run we think the energy output is about right for the house, as when fully renovated it will have 9 double bedrooms and bathrooms!!!!! and pleanty of common space as well. there is gas in the village, but not to our house, and not easily accessed, we face south, but are the old presbytre,  and overlook the church, so will not be allowed solar.  we plan to have at least 2 big woodburners as back up, and I rather fancy a woodburning oven/backboiler combo if I can persuade himself, the plombiere who has had a look (devis awaited) seemed to think we couldnt get a much smaller boiler, although i have found smaller 65-70Kw oil boilers on t'interweb wich are about a 10th the size of what we have now, but they are english websites, what am i missing, and what might the issues be? [/quote] Sally If I would feel sad at the passing of the day if I had not at least tried to persuade you to avoid any re-subscription to oil as a heating fuel. You know that climate change is here and that it will get worse. All of the adverse weather events of the last decade have been made worse by the millions of us who have made wrong choices about heating fuel and cars and so on. Oil must be avoided at all costs as a fuel for home heating, gas to be minimised if possible, choose carbon neutral options like wood, and solar combinations. Electric in France is nuclear as is well known but it should be a backup to minimise the impact. Be aware and not blind to the consequences and dragged by the nose with all the sheep bleeting on about 'payback' and costs blah blah blah! They have no idea the damage they cause. Look for yourself at 'WHOLE OF LIFE COST' you'll find out that there is more to the number than the cost of installation. Get some smart advice; What can we all do about climate change.....?  well it starts here, make the right choice for your home heating and feel that you've done the right thing. Our GENERATION ARE RESPONSIBLE for this climate problem because we knew about the problem and still did not change our practices. SO now WE have to start the change so that our children can live in a world that is liveable; Rather than a constant war between civilisation and the weather. I know some expert technician who can design a multifuel systems that can heat your (large) house and not impact the carbon loading..... I'll send you their contact details if you want. but please THINK before you start your project, and not just about your pocket. O
  5. Such a shame to loose those wonderfully engineers internal steps you made, I guess that they will be on ebay by and by. Never mind, I'm sure that you'll make a nicer job of the builtin steps too John. You know that you'll have to be careful of the details in the liner as your water is so clear that everyone can see the smallest defect. Of course you know who to thanks for that.   O
  6. Frank You'll find that LPG (bottle or cistern gas) is probably the most expensive option you could pick.  Ground source heat (not geothermic)  is expensive to install as you say but cheap to run. The best whole of life cost by far is a combination system using solar and something else, perhaps Wood chip or pellet. What ever, you need expert advice from a heating engineer to see what will suit YOUR house as no 2 systems are the same and everything is variable. If you want to talk to one such then I do know a few and give you the contact detials if you wish. O
  7. Well it seems nothing much changes in forum land. I don't intend to do anything more to guide either you as clearly that is a lost cause. But for anyone else out there who might be considering such things, know that when you calculate something like this, the best results will be gained considering ALL the factors not just the one to get the outcome you expect.What has just been illustration in the posts above is the way NOT to make a fiscal analyis of heating technology. If cost/payback is the only issue in the deliberation for what ever the system should be,  then add Installation + (running costs x compound increase over the rest of your life) + maintenance + possibile replacement cost of both systems and at least then a realistic comparison might begin to emerge.For reference, the result you should get is something between 3 to 6 years. Mine was a big system and has just now reach its amortisation point after 5 years. That'll do I think. O
  8. Quillian Yes an attempt but too pessimistic. If you rely purely on cost/payback calcualtions to make this particular decision, then you could probably convince yourself of anything. Just get the right numbers and it looks great or conversely like a disaster. Most of the people who buy solar are a fair bit more sophisticated than that, including me, I use reason too. So if you are stuck with your pêncil and your calculator then consider the following; whole of life cost, including increases in the price of energy you didn't say how much water you need but let us say its 200lt -€5kis on the high side, €1000 installed is also possible more and more home owners think that its a responsible choice, home value increased. Its a simple system, very little or no maintenance or replacement cost. there are lots of other reasons, but you either like it or you don't. O
  9. [quote user="nomoss"] Maybe you would understand better if your house roof faced north, or you didn't expect to live another 50 years[:D] [/quote] No ! Niether of those issues are a constraint necessarily. O
  10. Well Johnnyboy When your solar system does eventually get up to speed and there is really no reason why it shouldn't (perhaps with the exception of .... installers who are not great at their job) then you will have the advantage over most if not all of the previous posters. The future for them is certain - certain to feature rising costs and as they have chosen these bought fuel systems with no thought for the future, then, up and up and up it will go (the cost of their fuel). Whereas yours (and mine ) will never change not so long as we live - our cost was (virtually)NOTHING when we installed it; it is NOTHING today and it will be NOTHING in 50 years to gain all the energy we can from the sun to heat our water. We have chosen to take advantage of the radiation which is available to everyone, only not everyone want's it (something I really don't understand). I'm more than happy that my 120 tube system has paid for itself in cost savings, more than happy that it does for most of the years HW and more than happy that it contributes to the heating of house besides (especially during these glorious sunny winter days). I'm a happy man, hope that you will be too. Fuel prices can do what they like... I'm OK Jack; O
  11. Graham who would that be then...? O
  12. Vernon So considering all you have said, you need to call Andy [removed] as he is about the only one I know who can fullfill all of your requirements at the moment. Don't be surprised however when you are asked to pay for the site visit as I understand it, his services are in demand. I think that the last one he built was 14 x 7 but there might also be one of his quite near to you. Anyway, good luck with that one. O Post edited by a mod. Please refer to the forum Code of Conduct.
  13. [quote user="cruddler"].... We have a 2000l EK+K tank.... Your pool assumptions are pretty much spot on in that we would hope to achieve 25 degrees+ and use the pool from April/May - September depending on the weather. The pool will be 10x5 with average depth of 1.5m I would hope to try and insulate the pool as much as possible too. ......... I think I could squeeze 90 tubes on the south facing roof plus another 30 on the vertical wall it sits on which should be useful in the colder months when the sun is lower. .............One question about potentially running under floor heating in the colder months, is there any reason why water can't be sent straight from the panels into the UFH bypassing the accumulator? As the temperatures required are only in the 40 degree range, is it not more efficient to pump it straight into the floor when the panels are operating at lower temps? Thanks[/quote] Andy Interesting questions. So the accumulator has standard insulation and I assume 2 heat exchanger coils. Your spec is doable but you are going to have to watch for losses if you want to get good results and you are right to pay attention to the construction of the pool by insulating all sides, surface and the floor, but don't bother with UK firms, there are people here I know who know a lot more about it. In particular about integrating heat from solar or bought fuel and retaining it. These people are at the cutting edge and not stuck in the 1960's like most of the firms here (and in the UK). You can't use the solar circuit as a distribution circuit on this scale, as there is no controllability. There will also be issues with air pockets and glycol and a lot of other stuff, don't go there, you already have the (nearly?) best 'heat hub' you could possibly have, now you need some who really knows how to make the best use of it to design your system for you. If you really want to make the best project possible you are aiming for what I call 'ENERGY 'A' rated pool. If that's what you want then its very possible and you'll enjoy the benefits of these decisions for decades to come as you pool costs a pitance to operate when everyone elses becomes so expensive to keep up that they have to choose between rennovations, or filling it in.  To get this advantage, you need to make decisions at this point and to work with specific people who understand what to do, else you'll be amongst the latter group.  More details by email. O 
  14. La Motte colour Q7 PM me for details on where to get it. If you don't invest in good test equipment then you will never get to know what is going on with your water chemistry and any sort of diagnostic will be impossible - or guesswork. O
  15. Andy I know the Akvantti very well as I've got one too, Mine is a 2400EK which means that it has a coil (heat exchanger) up high on the left for preheating domestic hot water and another below that close to the bottom which is for accepting the Solar circuit. So yours might have just the bottom coil in which case it would be the 2000E or two coils in the it would be the 2000EK. Neither of us therefore has the addition of the acid proof coil exchanger for accepting chlorinated unfortunately. But don't despair I know what needs to be done and I've contacted the installer I mentioned who lives in Dept 73, he also has a solar multi-system and will be well able to reproduce that for you. He is in the swimming pool and spa business and so understands what is needed. I'll send you his contact details via PM. The second question you asked requires the answers to more questions before you can get close to a cogent response. Firstly, What will be the pool volume, 10 x 5 x ?, if we can say that its 75m3 then that would be about average. Next, the insulation on the pool surface matters more than anything else as whatever energy you put into the pool needs to be preserved and not lost to the night sky. So I suggest a floating security cover, which will also comprise your complaint security obligation. Finally what is the temperature you want and when do you want to start swimming; let’s say that you like it 25°C and you want to swim in May till end of September. If all of those assumptions are true then 16m2 of evacuated tube solar panel is not enough to get close to that wish list. I suggest that you will need closer to 20m2 (4 x 30 tube panels or more). But your installer is an expert at this and he can advise you better than I can once a site survey has been undertaken (which matters a lot by the way). Make no mistake; a swimming pool of that size needs a serious amount of energy to raise the temperature even a little bit. The Solar system I discussed is a ‘medium solution’ but not so much that you have a problem to dump lots of heat in high summer when your pool has had enough and there is still more to be had. The real benefit here is that all of the energy is FREE and if, you have a system like you are contemplating which can make use of the energy whenever it occurs throughout the year then it’s absolutely ideal. You will be well set up for the rest of your life. The purchase of the Akvantti even though it wasn't set up perfectly was the best purchase you have made so far.(well done!) O
  16. HI Andy What you are asking is feasible but there are a a few problems to be solved in the design of your Solar thermal multi system. The Solar Systems which are design for this configuration combining DHW space heating in winter and pool heating in summer usually have special acid proof coils already installed in the accumualtor to transfer heat to the pool water. I gather that you don't have one so it's going to have to be done another way which is a pity because the internal Heat exchanger is very efficient compared to an external one. There are a number of installers I know who have a good deal of experience with this sort of solar system which is very specialised and not the sort of stuff for a common garden plumber. If you want me to send you their contacts just send me a PM and I'd be happy to oblige. O
  17. I don’t wish to ‘rain on your parade’ so I’m not going to say very much.   It’s just that you spent well on a high standard of finish for the terrace and then it seems, economised in the local technique – that makes me sad.   I was hoping to see the standard of pool construction in France moving on a bit into the modern era but it’s clear that it’s not going to happen anytime soon.   O
  18. [quote user="NuBeginningsFrance"]We are not a gite. The pool is heated by a 1000kw bio boiler via using a heat exchanger. The bio boiler heats the various buildings during the winter and the pool in the summer. This is the internal setup [IMG]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/Facebook/Project%20Swimming%20Pool/IMG_1829.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [IMG]http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k562/NBeginningsFrance/Facebook/Project%20Swimming%20Pool/IMG_1827.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/quote]   Oh dear, Oh dear me...!! That has gone and spoilt it for me. O
  19. Hi From the pics you have posted it looks quite handsome. I presume from the size, the numbers of chairs and chaise longue you are using it with in support of a Gite. In which case I can see that you have spend a large amount of your budget on the surrounds and the decore, just for my own interest I would be interested to know what the water quality spend was (as a proportion if you are shy about revieling numbers) Will you be heating it - if so with what system. I can see a immerged floating security cover which is good insulation Thanks you for posting this album of your project, as it refreshing to see a project with a least a little panache in this time when people everywhere are cutting their budgets. O
  20. [quote user="JohnRoss"]  So if you have dumped wood fires in favour of something else your input would be much appreciated............................JR [/quote] Sid I think that most would agree that 'debate' (not argument) is what this forum thrives on, or if you would have it removed to the rest with the opinions of only a few then the forum will certainly fade into obscurity. Notice the OP quote where he is asking for peoples input - I think that is sufficient context for everyone to say their piece- don’t you? I concur with Teapot insofar as this subject is somewhat technical in nature and the proliferation of misinformation or misguided viewpoints are unhelpful to someone like JohnRoss who after following 'a popular solution' finds that it doesn't suit him -he now wants to look at something different. The fact that you want to defend the original stove for whatever reason of your own is a moot point in my view - he said that it didn't suit him and he wants to look at something different. So what is going to be an improvement.... well as has been amply demonstrated in the last pages, the idea of Heat pumps, whether they are air to air, air to water, or ground source has exploded in popularity over the last decade have suffer equally with the same sort of misinformation and mythology about what they can and cannot do. There is no heat pump so far invented that can create energy, that is simple fact. What they do is to exploit a temperature difference between the source temperature and refrigerant, compress it and deliver it. The only units which will give temperature difference below zero are filled with CO2 and are very expensive. So unless we are talking about a CO2 unit I'm afraid Teapot is right in that at the coldest time when you need the heat the most then the COP will be something like 1:1 which , as I said before is no better than a bar radiator. Pretending that it can be other than that is extremely unhelpful to those who are asking for guidance - because it’s just wrong. As I said before debate is good, but there must surely be a duty by all contributors to verify that what they post is not only valid but is also correct, example Quillian said “ it brought down her electricity bill" - fair comment and probably true, what was not at all true was the proposition that ‘the unit has a COP of 3 at minus temps’ - it doesn't. I can post the details of plenty of these units with COP of 6 and above (at 24°C) and in the same sentence I would say that that will provide COP 3.8 at 15°C, these two numbers provide the buyer with the concept that as the source temps drop then so does the economic advantage. The only exception to this is effect where the source temps are constant such as ground sources, or subterranean water source – a system which is notoriously expensive to install. I also agree with Teapot in the matter of the design of wood stoves, because in this day and age there is simply NO excuse for a stove to perform less than 80% efficient. For there is so much on the market which is better than that, with 90% or as much as 95%, that the decision to stick with 'the ol banger' is really only nostalgia and not at all common sense. Wood is expensive and takes some effort to process before its burnt, it may as well be burnt in a stove which will get the most out of it – to do anything else is wasting of resources which is by far the biggest scandal of this generation who certainly know better. There is no excuse. O     
  21. JohnRoss I agree with both of the above posters (to some extent). Root of the problem is that the stove you have isn't being run hot enough and you are right to be concerned. When I see a stove fire smoldering away on slow combustion as many are want to do, I really fear for the consequences. Virtually without exception, stove fires need to maintain certain flue gas temperature to remain safe to use and so it’s a good idea to have a flue stat to know if its burning well or not. Saves a lot of effort and could save a catastophe. On the system design side, all the Heating Engineers I know, have much the same mantra in that; once all the draught proofing and insulation has been taken care of, then the supply and distribution of the heat has to take form depending on the demand and the building layout. The bigger the house, the bigger the problem to make a single source of heat go everywhere. You say that you've got only 9kW supply which is not enough (but I'm no electrician) to run a decent size heat pump and the other appliances in your home at the same time. So you'd have to run it at night which defeats the purpose of buying a heat pump which is at its most efficient during the daytime higher temperatures. Once the Night falls to 0° C and below, then they are pretty well useless as an economical heat source... you may as well plug in a bar radiator. Teapot was referring to my system which is a combi or multi source heat system with an accumulator. I get heat form a number of sources (solar, wood, electric, gas)when its economical to do so and then store it, then take it as I need it. It works for me.. I suggest that you talk to a heating engineer (not a salesman) to look into and decide what's best for you. O
  22. [quote user="Philippa"].... look at job/work opportunities for my son in law who is a buyer - are there any opportunities out there in this field, or is that such a vague question and a bit ridiculous to ask? Where might I find a website that has jobs in france for large corporations? On a slightly different note, what is most in demand in france work wise? ....[/quote] Philippa I think that you get the idea from the previous posters how things are in France. Trusting that employment will be available for nearly any profession became a slim hope long ago. For most who perserver, self employment is the only viable path to tread and that is as may have found out, not at all an easy one. However, I can point you in the direction of a project in France where your son could contnue his activity as a Buyer in a self employed capacity. If you want to PM then I'll be happy to put you in touch. O
  23. Hi Paul I answered you over on the other Forum. Glad you got it right and it works well.  Interested in your reflections over time. O
  24. Vernon I've sent you an email with a contact number for an expert Heating engineer in your area. O
  25. Dan   If you can send me your email address then I will send you some info on that sort of thing.; O
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