Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => Plumbing => Topic started by: JT on January 07, 2012, 07:12:48 PM
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Im new to site, and wanted to know if anyone has ever made their own insulated underground pex and how it worked. I made 100 ft(2 one inch lines in 6 inch corrigated pipe with insulation) at a price of about 5 dollars a foot. Im waiting on boiler(coming in next week) with all other work complete. Thanks for any info
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Hey JT
I'm kind of new to this myself, but I think you will get most comments that it is just as cheap and performs much better if you buy the insulated pex already made up. Good insulated pex installed correctly is definately a priority with a OWF.
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JT do believe some have done it and have had success. but if you use any insulation besides closed foam there is a chance your outside pipe will crack or a stone wear through it if this happens and your insulation gets wet you will lose a lot of heat. my lines from my boiler to the house are 250 feet and when my insulation failed it cost me 1/3 of a winters wood each year. if you do it yourself for 5 bucks a foot and maybe have to do it again in 5 or six years..will you do it the next time yourself again for annother 5 bucks a foot or buy the best on the market for say 12 bucks a foot. Make yoru decision wisely, the underground pipe of your system is just as important (if not more so) than the brand of OWB you choose (YES IT IS THAT IMPORTANT)
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its been discussed many times over,seems if high water table is a issue then the store bought may be a better choice.although my self and many others have had very good results with homemade pex.
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I did mine myself and so far have had good results. Enclosed in 6'' sch 40 pvc. If i had it to do all over i would probably buy the best i could buy pre-insulated pex and install. Underground piping very important.
Hopefully mine will last a long time. But if it fails i will buy the pre insulated.
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I used the pre-made wrapped insulation that cost about 5 dollars a foot. So far it's been fine. It is 4 feet down and about 250 feet long. Also, in my humble opinion, I believe proper backfilling of the trench is very important. I used a rake to carefully fill the first foot or so with a sandy soil and made sure no larger stones or rocks were allowed to be on or near the O pipe. After that the trench was filled with a mini excavator's blade.
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If you used decent materials and get it put together and sealed at the seems it is probably fine.
If you just bought the drain tile at a building center or somewhere that sells standard tile you need to be extra careful because it is a lot thinner than what is used by companies that make the insulated pipe.
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Welcome to the site JT, I made mine and this is my second year with no issues.
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Thanks for all who replied. I just had a friend come over who has put several in several OWB and he told me my pipe was better that the one he bought, hope he wasnt trying to be nice :P. Thanks again for a great site.
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I used the pre-made wrapped insulation that cost about 5 dollars a foot. So far it's been fine. It is 4 feet down and about 250 feet long. Also, in my humble opinion, I believe proper backfilling of the trench is very important. I used a rake to carefully fill the first foot or so with a sandy soil and made sure no larger stones or rocks were allowed to be on or near the O pipe. After that the trench was filled with a mini excavator's blade.
(I believe proper backfilling of the trench is very important. I used a rake to carefully fill the first foot or so with a sandy soil and made sure no larger stones or rocks were allowed to be on or near the O pipe). Good advise Bull. :thumbup: I have buried a lot of under ground over the years some pre insulated others insulated on sight. Job sight specs. call for sand below and sand above probably 90% of the time for protection of piping.
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That's how I backfilled mine and I have the good stuff. Didn't want to take any chances.
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JT, I made my own pipe for my owb. 4 3/4in pex lines inside with split foam pipe insulation on 3 of the pex lines, then wraped over all that, and put it all in a 4in sch40 pvc pipe. I buried it 3.5 to 4ft deep. Stove is right about 115ft away from where the pipe goes in the basement. This is my first season with the owb, so I really dont know how well it is going to hold up. But so far the coldest temp ive had here is 16f and I lost about 4.5 degress from owb to heat exchanger. I was happy with that. But still waiting on a good snow for a true test.