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[Scott7m]

Looks good to me!!!   

[kjw58]

 You are actually just pre-heating the water with the plate exchanger before it enters the water heater.  You will have to leave the water heater element/burner on to maintain the temp. in the storage tank.

[Scott7m]

You are actually just pre-heating the water with the plate exchanger before it enters the water heater.  You will have to leave the water heater element/burner on to maintain the temp. in the storage tank.

No you will not have to leave the electric water heater on.  I have ran mine like this for 5 years, no issues, done well over 150 installs this exact way, no phone calls or complaints.

I was recently away to a funeral, from Tuesday til Thursday, stove was off, electric water hester off, came home and still had hot water, it was likely 10-15 degrees cooler than normal, but still hot enough I had to add plenty of cold to take a shower

Hot water retains far more heat than customers realize, I had a customer who lives in another state have a pump failure last week, his stove sat for 3 days with no wood in it, when he turned it back on water temp was still 144

The water entering the tank is far hotter than hot water heaters are normally ran at, so that gives plenty of room for some cooling should it occur.  The only time I'd recommend a side arm would be in perhaps a shop or cabin where hot water was rarely used but still wanted, in 99% of all home applications, it's perfect to use a 20 plate and far safer

[Drivebymashing]

Mine also preheats before it enter water heater
I have the breaker off for WH.
The longer shower you take the hotter it gets
Even when the power went off still had hot water in the tank 24 hours after power went out.Works great i have a 10 plate exchanger .

[Crow]

   Just so I understand this setup- with the plate exchanger, water is heated the one pass and is hot enough?  Does the sidearm work the same or does the dhw in the watertank cycle?  I ask because I know I have sediment in my hw tank and assume it will just plug up the sidearm.  What is the most common setup?

[Scott7m]

   Just so I understand this setup- with the plate exchanger, water is heated the one pass and is hot enough?  Does the sidearm work the same or does the dhw in the watertank cycle?  I ask because I know I have sediment in my hw tank and assume it will just plug up the sidearm.  What is the most common setup?

Plate exchangers are becoming more dominant all the time, we use 20 plates, so the water has a very large surface area from which to pull heat, it works great and is far safer than a side arm that creates a convection current and allows water temps to match the stove, then to Be safe your depending on a mixing valve, and those are known to fail....  So why risk it?  Plate exchangers produce unlimited amounts of hot water and temps higher than we can use for the most part

[Crow]

Thanks Scott, great info. WoodMoJoes diagram almost seemed too easy. I had been given a quote for OWF with sidearm and mixing valve but I think I like this setup better.

[Scott7m]

Thanks Scott, great info. WoodMoJoes diagram almost seemed too easy. I had been given a quote for OWF with sidearm and mixing valve but I think I like this setup better.

Yep it's really that easy!

[WoodMOJoe]

Thanks Scott, great info. WoodMoJoes diagram almost seemed too easy. I had been given a quote for OWF with sidearm and mixing valve but I think I like this setup better.

Yep it's really that easy!

If it wasn't that easy...I wouldn't have figured it out!   

[WoodMOJoe]

Thanks Firechaser, I will check out CB's site and see what I can find...nice idea on the switch too.   

By the way, I did look at the Central Boiler site and they did have a lot of drawings but the only water heater setups I found looked they were for sidearms. 

Couldn't find a diagram for a plate-type exchanger.  Maybe I missed it?

[Scott7m]

Thanks Firechaser, I will check out CB's site and see what I can find...nice idea on the switch too.   

By the way, I did look at the Central Boiler site and they did have a lot of drawings but the only water heater setups I found looked they were for sidearms. 

Couldn't find a diagram for a plate-type exchanger.  Maybe I missed it?

Yea they don't show any for that

[yoderheating]

There are several brands that don't push plate heaters for some reason. I sell against them and can promise unlimited hot water which they can no, I hope they never switch to plate heaters.  A 3/4 30 plate heater will produce as much or more heat than a 1inch 20 plate, we always use 3/4 30 plates and 1inch line. Many people claim it restricts water flow but we have found it doesn't have an affect.

[XJCraver]

By the way, I did look at the Central Boiler site and they did have a lot of drawings but the only water heater setups I found looked they were for sidearms. 

Couldn't find a diagram for a plate-type exchanger.  Maybe I missed it?

Did you figure it out?  If not, does this help??





That's a very crappy MSPaint-rendered picture of how mine is set up.  It works great and I have no complaints.

I can't remember exactly where I read it, but I've read that my lines are "technically" backwards.  According to what I read, looking at the plate from the front, Domestic IN should be top Left, Domestic OUT bottom left, Boiler IN bottom Right, Boiler OUT top Right.  But that could be wrong, too - like I said, I don't even remember where it was I read that.  :-)  In any case, mine's working great just as it's plumbed - more hot water than all 4 of us can use.

[Scott7m]

Yea I never pay attention to which way the water is flowing, I've had mine apart and hooked up different ways and can't tell a difference

[XJCraver]

I can't see where it would make any difference whatsoever.  I just know I read that somewhere, and it seems like it was from someone / some place that "should" know.  It's aggravating the hell out of me that I can't find it / remember where it was I read that!!!