Print

[Allboutboost]

I have been looking at this site for over a year and taking in all that has been posted. I have been wanting an OWB for over 2 years i really wanted to build my own but the time is here and i needed heat and i am refusing to buy propane as many of us are. I try to be a DIYer as much as possible but decided to buy a burner from a local guy that is building them in his garage. It is everything that i would have done, so i bought it. The boiler is 120 gallon and is the burn box is 1/4 in. and so is the jacket i think its insulated good (we will see). It implements the KISS method which i try to live by. 120cfm fan up front with a solenoid connected to a chain which operates a flapper which intern opens and closes a draft door right at the inlet of the fan. It is using a taco pump and every electronic piece i can get at the local grainger outlet. I have also made my own insulated PEX we will see if it works, first i used the double reflective double bubble reflectix from lowes i used 2 48"x25' rolls. I first cut down the reflectix so it was 10"x48" and cut enough pieces for 50ft. i then wrapped each individual piece around my feed line (2 good wraps) and used the Red Green method and used gorilla duct tape (very very sticky) then when i got done with that i duct taped my return to it, i then cut more insulation to 21"x48" and wrapped the both of them with that (3 more wraps) and taped the seams, the seams are butted up tightly. seems to work good so far not been cold yet but not getting any temp drop form jacket to exchanger. Just havent seen it done like this maybe i missed it i dont know very time consuming yes but i think it will work, oh yea im going above ground also. Just wondering what you guys thought if you want more pics of the boiler i can take them tomorrow. I have my aquistat set at 140 started at 120 but 140 seems good and its set to kick with a 10 degree variance, boiler has been recovering without firing up the blower in between furnace cycles, so far.


[attachment deleted by admin for space issues]

[AirForcePOL]

I think what you have should work ok.  What did you put the pex into after you insulated it?  Also, are you saying that you will leave the pipe above ground all of the time?  I would highly recommend burrying the pipe if you can do it.  You could rent a trencher for probably $150 for a day and have the trench dug in a hour or two. 

Last year was my first year with my OWB.  I ran my poorly insulated lines above ground due to the fact that I installed the unit in February and it was warm enough that the snow was melting on it as soon as it hit.  This year I insulated my pex with that foam insulation that has a slit in it that can slide right over the pipe, it's probably 1/2"  thick all around and I did both pipes and then put it in a lenght of 6" corragated pipe.  I hope to have a lot less temp drop this year.  I hope you like not paying the propane guy as much as I do! 

[Allboutboost]

I did stuff all of that into a 4 in corrigated sorry thought that was a givin but yea its above ground i will take a pic of what i did and why later today thanks for the reply.

[benj1975]

Me and a few other guys around where I live have made our own just like you did and it has worked great. But we did bury ours.   

[AirForcePOL]

yeah the corrigated is typical, but I have seen people use PVC which could get pretty expensive but probaly a better setup. 

[patton acres]

I  tried saving $s when I bought mine and found stuff at an empyer dealer for $6.xx a ft vs. the $12. central wanted. He said they had great luck with it and had lots of it in stock.
It looks like what you have.It was wrapped several times with foam/foil and then put in drain pipe. I bought 130' which was close to $1000. with tax.  vs $1600.

 I rented a trencher for minimal yard damage vs. my bobcat excavator.put it down 2, and it was great for the first two years. I have the burner half way to my shop and then about 64' run to each building. on the 3rd year (last year) I couldn`t keep wood in it. tried a door gasket ans suspected ground water but wasn`t sure. one night my kids saw water coming in the basement.we had a real wet year last winter and I ended up digging the pipe up at the house and un hooking the house for the rest of the winter.
    I just put in new thermo pex this week and should be all hooked up today and ready to re-fill. I will just say it was a lesson learned and the central boiler dealer got to say a well earned "I told ya so"

[Allboutboost]

Thanks for the reply's its good to here that someone else has done it this way with no issues. The reason why i am not going underground is part of the drain field is there and i dont want to mess with it and that was the best spot to put the stove damn those insurance people lol.

[tanner]

I also made my own I took the bubble wrap and warped it a couple times then put it in six inch and sprayed the rest of it with spray foam

[bajonesy77]

Made my own also, working great so far.1 degree difference from stove to house 75 ft underground.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[ijon]

You better do a very good job at sealing the pex or it will leak. Inspect your tile real good for holes. Plus I think tile breaks down with heat. Tried homemade twice, both failed over time. Got smart and bought the expensive kind. Very happy with it.

[willieG]

Made my own also, working great so far.1 degree difference from stove to house 75 ft underground.

depending on the GPM you are sending through your lines will determine what that one degree really means. i think if you are movning 5 gpm and losing 1 degree that would put you close to the foam filled stuff i think. (i think the foam filled stuff loses about 1/2 to 1 degree in 100 feet of pipe at 5GPM)
 
losing 1 degree puts you in the area of about 3000 btu per hour (enough to heat about 10 square feet of your home)

[phonetech430]

You can never have to much R value. I bit the bullet & put n the the thermo pex it's high but I haven't seen anything any better. I figured as high as everything else is no need to skimp on the underground pex.

[jfsanterre]

Did it my self also. I  raped 1 1/2 turn of the Thermos foil stuff around the first pipe then around 4 to 5 time around both pipe, taped the hole ting together, add my electric wire then insert it into a non perforated 6" tile drain pipe. Dug the trench 4' deep, sand around the pipe, 2" thick foam then soil. The foam was reused from a demolish house, so my only cost was the "pipe". I shop around for thermopex or other "superior insulated pipe and the price were all between 17$ to24$  a foot!   I made 98' of pipe for about 5.85$ per foot. The nice thing about it is i can slide in and out the inner (pipes and insulation) out of the 6"pipe even after been buried. took me around 3-4 hours to made the "pipe".

[willieG]

i bought my thermoex 1 inch for 12 bucks a foot..you should start looking around again, you might do better

[jfsanterre]

Were are you in Ontario? I'm near Hawkesbury in eastern Ontario few miles from Quebec border.I did shop around for a wile before making my own. 12$ a foot its a good price.