Had a member who sent me a message asking about primary and secondary loops.
I snapped a few pictures of what I put together downstairs with diagrams.
All elbows are long radius to reduce flow restrictions. Also when purchasing valves make sure they are full port ball valves.
Ideally if your using a side arm it would be first in your loop as it requires the hottest water, with a flat plate though the heat transfer is more efficient. If I really wanted my domestic hot water first it would have required moving the water heater, the gas line, the vent, changing all the existing domestic plumbing….
Wasn’t worth it.
First picture is of the secondary snow melt loop. Which is actually the last thing on the primary loop as I only need 70-80 degree water to keep the sidewalk snow free and dry most of the time.
Second picture is of the secondary loop to the furnace heat exchanger.
Lastly is a close up of the ball valves with drains for flushing your FPH.