I'm in the tail end of having a 4 ton Waterfurnace split system installed, with 3 vertical bores of 250 feet deep.

Tomorrow, the heat pump will  be installed, and the loop field will be filled and hooked up.  The installer has informed me that there will be PT ports I can use to instert a temp probe to check the loopfield temps, but I would really like guages that are permanently mounted.  He claims there aren't any decent gauges they can install, and that they have tried to use boiler gauges in the past with poor results.

Are there any affordable gauge options you folks are aware of that I could ask them to install?  I would like to be able to read loop temps entering and leaving, and also loop field pressure.

Thanks!

Dan in MN

As far as affordable I am afraid you are left wanting.  The wel system is very well liked and acurate but.... money and being computer network savy required.  There are a miriad of options to take a temp on the unit adapters where the pt ports are usually mounted.  Some use the infra red thermometers like you can buy at napa or a grainger supply.  I found them to be innacurate when compared to the probe type, other people find them to be the opposite, very accurate.
Hope this helps

I have a Fluke 62 Mini IR thermometer. I can't get a good reading on any of the metal where the loop enters or exits the unit. However, I can get good readings with it on the black rubber hose that connects to the HDPE loop lines. The problem doing this is that the hoses are covered with insulation and I need to slide back the insulation to get a reading. I don't like doing this since I don't want to tear the insulation (or cut it back).

I use the PT ports to get loop readings. Easy to do with a digital thermometer as long as the probe is thin enough to insert easily. After the first year with your system, you probably won't check loop temperature very often anyway. If you get a DSH, you may want to consider getting PT ports for those lines as well. I wish I had ports on our DSH lines.

I think Curt has a tin foil method to check loop temps, but I'll leave the explanation to him since it is his idea. :-)

Spray a metal pipe with flat gray paint and the IR thermometer will work.

A Cooper Atkins DFP450W electronic probe thermometer has a reduced tip diameter excellent for use with PT ports. It is arguably more accurate to use the same thermometer for both EWT and LWT measurements so as to cancel out inaccuracy; the difference between EWT and LWT is often as important or more so than the figures themselves.

Aluminum foil has excellent conductivity. Take a piece around the size of a 3x5 card and fold it a couple times, then wrap it around the probe of an electronic meat thermometer. Tape that assembly to any metal whose temp interests you; add insulation to prevent influence by ambient air

Check thermometer calibration using both ice bath and boiling water; my Cooper reports about 2 degrees high, more than I'd like but at least it is consistent.

Beware two issues with IR thermometers: Accuracy depends on knowing and compensating for the emissivity of the material being checked. Emissivity figures for common materials are available online; better IR units allow emissivity to be adjusted. Also it is a fallacy to assume the IR thermometer reads the temp at the precise spot lit by the laser. IRs have a focus ratio ranging from 8:1 on up to 60:1. A unit rated 8:1 aimed at something 8 feet away reads an average temp of a circle one foot wide. In addition, most will not focus below 1" no matter how close the range or how high the ratio. Some units with 'CF' (Close Focus) in their model string get down to 1/4"

Someday I'd like to own a high ratio (50:1 or better) Close Focus IR thermometer with adjustable emissivity and I'd like to check it against more time consuming ways of measuring register and line temps, but that's $600 better used elsewhere, and meanwhile most old school HVAC techs won't abide IR readings in lieu of traditional contact methods

I would suggest you keep the p/t ports and invest in a nice digital thermometer with a probe you can insert in the ports, and also a pressure gauge with a nice large analog display. Both together should run you about $150, which is probably cheaper then installing permanent pressure and temp gauges which have not the accuracy you desire.

Or get the WEL system (at least for the temperatures), and never look back. The sensors are amazingly accurate, usually within 1/10 of a degree F.

I second (or third) the suggestion to use the Web Energy Logger. If you're at all technically inclined, this is the thing for you. As far as multi-purpose data loggers go, it is incredibly cost effective. And its flexibility and ability to monitor your system operating parameters while you're traveling is invaluable.Since you keep long term data, you can see how performance is year-to-year, helping to ensure that you're getting the most from the system. And, if you add the current logging capacity (which is NOT inexpensive) you can really monitor compressor draw which will really help you know if something's going wrong with the system.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll look into that WEL system.