The pictures and video from my install are in the post below.
its just me, but before I spent 9 or 10 bucks on foam in a trench without a protective coating I would spend that money on a 3 or 5 wrap product in a tile
I did a LOT of research on pipe before I decided to do this, I read so many horror stories of people buying 3 or 5 wrap products and finding out the drain tile had a small leak which allowed the pipe to fill with water, soak the insulation and become worthless. I also saw this happen first hand with a cousin who purchased a high quality 5 wrap product, he was very careful when installing it but still ended up with a pipe that leaked and within two years had a bare strip of ground with no snow all winter and water seeping into his basement from the pipe. I had to install this line across a very wet part of my yard and I decided the foam in place method with was best for me. I am not sure how much experience you have with closed cell spray foam but it cures almost rock hard and in my case the foam is protected by a layer of clean stone. I also wanted to heat two building that were side by side but I only have one pump on my stove, so my line runs from the boiler to my house, the return comes out of my house and follows the supply trench for about 30 feet before making a 90 degree left bend to 30' run to my garage, the return from my garage runs 30' back to the original trench and makes a 90 degree bend to the left and follows the house supply back to the stove. I would not have had the ability to do this with a premade product and would have had to install a 'Y' at the stove and run two separate lines to each building which would have doubled the amount of pipe I needed.
Have you measured for any temp loss while in use through those lines? How's it performing? How many years you been using it?
The total loop that supply's my house and garage is close to 400' of pipe, when there is no call for heat I see about a 3 degree temp drop between my supply and return at the stone. The water leaves stove at 180 and returns at 177. I contribute at least some of this drop to the 40' of pipe and two plate heat exchangers that are un-insulated in my basement. This is my first year with the stove so I am not sure about longevity but there are several people on the hearth forum that have used this method and have had it installed for longer.
Did that 9$include your extra labor And time ?
I am not sure there was any extra labor or time involved. I had to dig the trench regardless of what I installed. I also had to back fill the trench regardless of what I installed. Those were the two most time consuming things. I had to throw the drain tile in the bottom, backfill with a layer of stone and then lay the pex on top and wait for the spray foam guy to show. I have read some stories about people trying to unroll and wrestle logstor into the trench, so this method may have actually saved me a little time. It may have added a little time backfilling with stone instead of just pushing the dirt back in but I enjoy the time on my tractor, plus I needed the fill dirt that was left over for other parts of my yard.
I agree 100% with the people that say the pipe is not the place to cheap out, that is why I really wanted my lines insulated with closed cell foam and not with a wrapped product that could have a leaking drain tile and get wet insulation. I priced both thermopex and logster at multiple places and both of them were over $17 per foot delivered to my house. I just couldn't afford that, plus I wouldn't have had the flexibility to run the lines to two building like I did and I still would have had the cost of the stone and drain tile because I wanted a french drain across that part of my yard anyway. I put a lot of thought and planning into doing it this way and it was the best method for my particular situation. It may not be for everyone. Time will tell how it holds up but I am really happy with the results so far.