Since I haven't installed a WEL yet, I am coming up with a periodic checklist that I can run through for making sure that my Climatemaster systems are running normal. I'm going to run through what I am doing so far, with values for January 1, 2009. We live in SE Pa with today's Outdoor temp at 16*F.

1. Check Supply/Return Air dela-T
2. Collect Entering Water Temp, Leaving Water Temp
3. Collect Entering Water Pressure, Leaving Water Pressure
4. Calculate GPM of flow
       Look up in climatemaster flow-table (EWT and Delta Water Pressure vs Unit model number)
5. Calculate Heat of Extraction/Rejection
       HE(or HR) = Flow (GPM Total) * delta-T (water) * Fluid Factor (500 for water, 485 for antifreeze) = BTu/Hr
6. compare to Climatemaster projected values for HE/HR
If #6 is not close enough, call HVAC guy to check refrigerent/etc....

Does this sound reasonable to verify that things are within spec/over/time

The Climatemaster rep said that on stage 2, after about 10 min run time, take the above measurements; the resulting HE(HR) should be within plus-or-minus 10-15% of the specifications for heating/cooling BTU. If there is much more of a discrepency, he then said diagnostics of the refrigerent side is necessary.
For a TT064 == Heating (Approx 48,000btu) For a TT026 == Heating (19,500 btu)

?

For those intereted in what some typical values are. I will provide two sets:

1. Climatemaster TT064 5-ton packaged unit on 3x300 closed vertical loop.
     January 1, 2009
     Entering Water Temp (EWT) = 40.4*F
     Leaving Water Temp (LW) = 35.9*F
     Entering Water Pressure (EWP) = 41.5 psi
     Leaving Water Pressure (LWP) = 35.0 psi

     Return Air Temp = 70, (tstat set at 71)
     Supply Air Temp = 91.2 (measured at unit)

     Calculations:
         Water Flow (GPM total)
                    Delta-P = EWP-LWP = 6.5psi
                    Using Climatemaster table for water flow calc, I am off the chart for 40*F EWT. I extrapolated that for every .8 increase in delta-psi, there is about 1GPM increase on their chart.
                    So, GPM = 17
          Heat of Extraction/Heat of Rejection
                    HE(HR) = Flow-Rate * delta Water Temp * Fluid factor = BTU/h
                    HE(HR) = 17 * (40.4-35.9) * 485
                    HE(HR) = 17*4.5*485 = approx 37102 BTU/h

          Climatemaster spec at second stage with desuperheater off states approx 48,000 btu/h. This unit was in stage 1.

2. Climatemaster TT026 2.5-ton split unit on 2x250 closed vertical loop with long line set (70ft). no desuperheater.
     January 1, 2009
     Entering Water Temp (EWT) = 42.2*F
     Leaving Water Temp (LW) = 38.5*F
     Entering Water Pressure (EWP) = 26.0 psi
     Leaving Water Pressure (LWP) = 20.0 psi

     Return Air Temp = 71, (tstat set at 71)
     Supply Air Temp = 82 (measured at vent)

     Calculations:
         Water Flow (GPM total)
                    Delta-P = EWP-LWP = 6.0 psi
                    Using Climatemaster table for water flow calc, GPM = 9 (extrapolated again, since it appears higher than their chart)
          Heat of Extraction/Heat of Rejection
                    HE(HR) = Flow-Rate * delta Water Temp * Fluid factor = BTU/h
                    HE(HR) = 9 * (42.2-38.5) * 485
                    HE(HR) = 9*3.7*485 = approx 16150 BTU/h

          Climatemaster spec at second stage with desuperheater off states approx 19,500 btu/h. This unit was in stage 1.

FYI, the formulas, tables, spec sheets are a must, downloadable from the Climatemaster web site under residential systems literature. The Rep was kind enough to leave me a nice toolkit/calculator (paper) that they use as lookups during system checkout.

Measure return temp at units (at filter if installed on unit) If any of your ducts or unit itself is located in unconditioned space.

Overpumping (GPM values off charts) is not recommended since pump power is a significant part of overall system power, although this may be difficult to correct.

If ECM blower equipped and ESP is within limits, actual CFMs should be within 5-10% of set CFM, and this serves as a basis for total heat delivered.

Total heat should be sum of heat extracted plus system power

Thanks engineer....

in our case, the 5-ton unit has basement ductwork, but that area is actually conditioned, but split units do have attic-ductwork. In that case, I need to measure close to the airhandler in/out (fortunately, its a walk-up and lots of room).

Do you know what tool can be used to measure CFM in a duct?

I think the grundfos -99s are the smallest pumps for the Climatemaster flow controller. Our 2.5-ton systems each use single pumps on those loops. The 5-ton system is a double pump (i think two 99s) again. I was wondering about slowing things down somehow, as even the rep said we are onthe high side of GPM, but as you said, few options. I might try shutting down one of the double-pumps on the 5-ton loop, although they did say it is recommended to use two on the 3x300 configuration.

Are there smaller pumps out there?

Given the stupendous cost of these systems anyway, what would it take to install a full suite of permanent sensors to monitor everything?

I'm thinking several pressure gauges, 6-8 temperature sensors, and a data acquisition board. It would be much easier to have all these probes installed when the system is installed.

The data acquisition board, from some off the shelf kit, would talk via ethernet or USB to a computer somewhere in your house. You would use some off the shelf software suite to log the data, and then a simple script to calculate all the relevent variables for your system and essentially give an overall picture of system health and efficiency.

There are power usage meters that can report via TCP/IP to a logging program as well, so you could then calculate system efficiency, in order to be sure everything was running to spec.

You can shut of one pump and check the flow.  Even if you are a little underpumped, it won't affect your performance by much.

They do make 3 speed Grundofs 99's where high speed is what you have now.  I am not sure how long it would take to pay back the cost of  new pumps.

On mesuring cfm ( which seperates good companys from great ones ) is 100% nessasary for proper operation , and balancing ,
low airflow will cause higher electric bills , more system noise , less comfort .
Now for a homeowner to measure them himself , you will need at the very least a volometer ( I use a balometer standard from alnor instruments) but I doubt the couple grand investment is worth it for you . a mini/jr probe style volometer ( which alnor makes as well )  will do the trick
If you go this route you will need to multiply duct area squared ( in feet ) times volocity ,
Take several measurments at different points in the duct ( air will move faster in the middle the closer to the metel the slower it gets )
this will get you very close ( minus fricton loss and duct leaks ) to your actual cfm for a few hundred

Check out this system

You can see mine here

I think Phil Malone, owner of the Web Energy Logger ( http://www.welserver.com/index.htm ), has already figured all this out, such that for the cost of $525 plus a KWH meter, with just a couple hours of work you can accomplish everything you note above, including a real-time Web based chart posting system that doesn't require any effort on your part to maintain.

This is the system Dewayne refers to above.  I also have the same system (I'm at http://welserver.com/WEL0043 ).  And here are a hundred or so creative examples of other owner implementations: http://welserver.com/ww .

And if you have substantial DIY skills, you can reduce the cost of the WEL to $375 and 'roll your own' sensors ( http://welserver.com/store.htm ).

Here's a summary description: " ... the WEL is the most economical way to monitor lots of temperature sensors, and a host of other energy related devices in your home or office.  ... It's ideal to verify the performance or a solar thermal system, or to calculate the efficiency of a geothermal installation, or even to prove that your home really is Net Zero.  Not only does the WEL give you a window into your energy environment, but it also provides a live snapshot and a range of trend charts that you can share on the WEB in real-time.  Finally, the WEL records all your sensor data in monthly log files that are easy to download and import into programs like Excel.  It's compact, versatile, and extremely configurable."

What I have not seen yet are economical 1-wire or pulse compatible air presssure sensors.  Still, if you do have an ECM fan blower without zoning, you can still make reasonable Heating and Cooling Capacity calculations with the WEL.

Water flow meters do exist that are compatible with the WEL, but, unless you think of installing it at time of installation, it's pretty expensive to cut into the loop and install a meter later.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

Bill

 

I already have a couple of PCs in my closet running, so I haven't pulled the trigger on WEL yet. I use a Master Hub from Hobby boards, reading a 1-wire network using LogTemp (for the time being). Take a look at www.myblackdog.com for a rough site, I use to monitor my furnace outside the house.

Since it is for my own use, I don't have a legend, but

Light Green -> DeSuperHeater Out
Dark Green -> DeSuperHeater In
Royal Blue   -> Supply Air Temp
Maroon       -> Hot Tub Heater (external)
Pink            -> Return Air Temp
Light Blue   -> Temp at Thermostat
Red             -> EWT
Black           -> LWT
Gold            -> Outside Temp

LogTemp does many things pretty well, decent graph, saves data to MySQL, posts to ftp site, and it is free. The temp sensors can be had for about $1.5 on ebay, and the PC-1-wire interface range from $20-$60 depending on features.