Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
All-Purpose OWF Discussions => Plumbing => Topic started by: ryan4030 on November 04, 2010, 08:06:05 PM
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I have a CB 4030 with a Taco 007 pump with insulated pex lines feeding a side arm HX on a 40 gal. water heater and then the baseboard heat of my 800 sq. ft. house. The side arm is too slow and we run out of hot water a lot and I want to go to a flatplate for on demand water. What is the best way to plumb this? Should I feed the water heater from the flat plate ,or put it on the outlet side of the heater, or eliminate the heater completely. I burn the stove all year and have no electricity to the HWH now, so eliminating it is a possibility if the plate exchanger will provide on demand with no problems. What size of flat plate will be good for any of these situations? I plan on plumbing in some tees and shut offs so I can flush out the exchanger when necessary. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated Thanks
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I would put it o the fill side of the HWH and leave the side arm in place. That should give you the most consistent water temperature.
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Feed the HWH from the plate I think is the best way.. my 2 cents :thumbup:
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I have my plate HX on the "out" line of my HWH. This gives me on demand hot water.....all day. I have a 10 plate and have had no problem at all with running out of water. Kids love the long hot showers. I turn my HWH off and it becomes a "cold" storage tank. Why would you want to heat the water going INTO the water heater.....to just sit there and get......cold? Then when you use it, you are not heating it? It makes no sense to me. I know you have a side arm....but you already know it can't keep up. If you are going to take the time to put in the HX I would put it "after" the water tank.....
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Thanks for all the input. I think the easiest thing for me to do would be to feed the HWH with the flat plate and leave the side arm there. This way I wouldn't have to plumb in a new tempering valve or relocate the one I have. Does anyone have any thoughts on having a flat plate and side arm, is it over kill or will it use more heating energy from the boiler water than what it will be worth? Thank You for your ideas
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I have yet to figure out how you guys are running out of hot water with the sidearm. I turned my lp off to a 40gal I just installed to replace a faulty 50 gal. on oct.23rd. My son takes 15min shower right after my wife takes her 15 min shower, and then I take mine. My OWB temp is 180. Thinkin..........
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im gonna agree with yonder on this one...you allready have the sidearm in place, leave it there and put your plate exchanger before your HWH this way you will be filling your tank with hot water and the side arm is really dong nothing but keeping teh tank hot when not in use, i really don't see anything wrong with that.
if you however had no side arm or took it off then i would say after the tank but before your anti scald valve
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Thank you guys very much. I think I will go with my idea of the flat plate before the heater. I need to make a list of the fittings and supplies I will need and get it together. I will let you know how it works. This is a great site and forum for us OWB people. :thumbup:
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Does anyone have any thoughts on having a flat plate and side arm, is it over kill or will it use more heating energy from the boiler water than what it will be worth?
To answer your question, yes it is overkill IMO.
Since the plate exchanger is capable of providing you on-demand hot water, why would you waste energy to keep the water in your HWH hot when you will never need it? So, I would say yes, you will be using more energy than it is worth. Especially since you run your boiler all-year. That will add up to allot of wood. Just my .02.
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The reason to place the heat exchanger feeding HWH is because it will give you a more consistent hot water temperature. The temperature of the domestic hot water will change depending on the amount of water flow through the plate heater. In other words if you are taking a shower and someone starts the dishwasher and then starts the washer the water temperature would go noticeable down. By having 40 gal. of preheated water in the HWH the inflowing temperatures can go down a little without having a noticeable effect on the outgoing temperatures. I have found this to be very noticeable in older homes with poorly planned plumbing systems.
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Well put yoder. I guess you could even take it one step further and put a theromstat an a circ pump on the water tank to keep the water nice and toasty :)
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A sidearm will heat the water in the WH without running a circulator...If you use a plate ex before the tank without moving water, you're tank can get cold, then you'll have to run the tank out to get HW...This is only if the tank sits without hot water being used...
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maybe the taco 07 cant deliver teh needed GPM due to head pressure?
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I don't know much about how head pressure and other factors affect flow but that is what the CB dealer installed . The circulator is mounted out on the boiler and it is about 25 feet from my house.My baseboard heat works great and the house warms up within a short time of the thermostat calling for heat so I don't think I have a water flow problem.I am thinking that a flatplate feeding the HWH with the side arm still in place will be the best setup to go with. The flatplate should feed the HWH hot water ready to be used and if I decide to sleep in and my fire goes out there should be 40 gal. of hot water to use until the boiler temp is back up for the flatplate to work. This is why I don't want to go with just the flatplate for on demand water.I think this will be nice too if I ever have to shut down the boiler.Before I moved into my house I left my fire go out and I had hot water in my HWH for a few days before it got cold again. Thank you guys for all your input .I am just about ready to start spending money on the flatplate and fittings.
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your pump should be fine with your stove that close to the house
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I install a 20 plate exchanger with 1" ports. Never heard of anyone say the water wasn't hot enough or that they ran out of hot water either. It's very consistant and it makes for a easier install with no mixing valve and the other garb. My OWB is currently set on 158 degrees and my DHW is HOTT . You have to turn the cold over half way to take a shower.
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I install a 20 plate exchanger with 1" ports. Never heard of anyone say the water wasn't hot enough or that they ran out of hot water either. It's very consistant and it makes for a easier install with no mixing valve and the other garb. My OWB is currently set on 158 degrees and my DHW is HOTT . You have to turn the cold over half way to take a shower.
I run mine through a home made exchanger and like Scott i have no mixing valve. That can be dangerous if you have young, kids as water above 160 can scald young skin in a second, 130 takes about 30 seconds, so you can see a young child may not be able to move their hand out of the way in 1 second, but in 30 seconds they have time to react
Some newer taps have built in tempering valves. Like I said, I too run my domestic water without a tempering valve but i put this warning up to caution anyone going to do this to think seriously about it before acting
happy heating
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I put a tempering valve in but haven't used it. I personally love the control at the faucet over how hot my shower is. Not to mention, the dishes are a heck of a lot cleaner now.
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I don't know what a flat-plate cost but why couldn't you move your side arm to the HWH input and turn on the juice (electricity) . My boiler has DHW coil and can heat a lot of water but we leave the electric on to smooth out the cold spots or for emergencies. The hot water heater kicked out once and we noticed a reduction in DHW probably due to being 75' from boiler.
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I install a 20 plate exchanger with 1" ports. Never heard of anyone say the water wasn't hot enough or that they ran out of hot water either. It's very consistant and it makes for a easier install with no mixing valve and the other garb. My OWB is currently set on 158 degrees and my DHW is HOTT . You have to turn the cold over half way to take a shower.
I sure hope you don't install them like that for other people. If you do you are crazy. You could get sued real good when someone's kid get's scalded. All it would take would be to leave a faucet trickling overnight and the water would come out of the faucet at the boiler's temp.
Now if it is your own and you know what to expect, that is fine. I have the same setup on mine but with a 10 plate and it works real well.
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Back to the original posting, is the sidearm one that just has a single 3/4" pipe through a larger pipe? If so you probably just get plenty of hot water by just putting a decent sidearm on. If that doesn't do it adding a recirc pump will.
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I know this post is over two months old, but as proof I have been reading about this DHW thing I would like to continue from here:
1. I really can't install a Plate type HX due to well water. (It would scale up).
2. A sidearm sounds good but I'm having a hard time seeing how cold water entering through the bottom, gets hot and returns to the tank by gravity.
http://www.centralboiler.com/Tech/C100.pdf (http://www.centralboiler.com/Tech/C100.pdf)
I know there's an option to add a circ pump, but to me that defeats the purpose of reducing my electrical dependance. OK I know it's minor, but geez it's also an added maintenance component.
First, let me say this is for winter time use only. I don't plan on operating my OWB year round.
So bare with me a minute. (Maybe I'm overthinking this). A sidearm is mounted vertical with OWB suppling heated water from bottom to top.
Why can't the Domestic cold water be routed directly into the sidearm at the top and then return to the bottom of the HWH? Isn't this how cold water in normally entered into a HWH, through a long tube to the bottom of the tank inside the HWH?
Is it too much of a load on our OWB's? (I doubt it, but thought I would add this to let you know I was thinking)
Is it because the HWH (in this case 50 gallons) would get cold before use? What if I left the electric on year round. Wouldn't it provide me a faster recovery mounted this way? (when the OWB was running?).
What I was thinking: (NOTE: I have 20" of copper pipe from the house shutoff valves to the top of the HWH.
http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=35 (http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=35)
I would still install a thermostatic valve. I have CPVC pipe through out the house. Not sure how much heat they can take. That and the fact I would not want to scald anyone.
I would add three shutoff valves to the cold water side. One to the sidearm, one to the tank and the one going to thermostatic valve. This way I could control which way the water was going in winter and summer.
I would add three T's. One supply to the sidearm and one supplying the thermostatic valve for the cold domestic water and one for the side arm at the bottom of the tank.
OK-What am I missing?
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Ridgekid, I have a sidearm at the water heater(as a lot of users on here do too) and let me assure you, it does work. I ran my supply from OWB to top of sidearm first, though. I had to replace my leaking water heater anyway so I went from a 50 gal. to a 40 gal with reservations. Worries were unwarranted. I have yet to run out of hot water from this set-up.
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Ridgekid,
I have a 10 plate HX AND well water. Only for winter use....but.... still burning now .....I have used it for 2 full seasons and have had no problems with it. I also heard the scaling stories but so far so good. I also heard a little vinegar and water flush will clean it out very easily, so I plumbed it with this in mind. Don't worry about the CPVC pipe handling the hot water because you MUST install a mixing (tempering) valve if going this route as not to hurt anyone. I bet that you would have to worry more about your fixtures (faucets) with straight boiler water temp than the CPVC. I ran mine without the tempering valve for about a week..........with no little children and knew it was only a matter of time for someone to get burnt. The only thing I can say is......with a sidearm, you have "X" number of gallons of hot water in your tank and if you deplete that you go cold (just like normal) BUT, with a plate HX, I have on demand hot water all day long :thumbup:
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My other fears are breaking connections loose on a 18 year old water heater. When I start a project like this I have to keep in the back of my mind "What are you going to break" and "How much will cost tof fix it if it does break".
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My other fears are breaking connections loose on a 18 year old water heater. When I start a project like this I have to keep in the back of my mind "What are you going to break" and "How much will cost tof fix it if it does break".
When you install the plate "downstream" of your hot water out (where it needs to be) you do not have to touch the connections at the water heater.
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I was talking to an HVAC contractor and he told me he tries to avoid mixing valves whenever possible because they always start to leak and stick after 4 or 5 years.
His suggestion was to have a thermostat controlled zone valve control the temperature of the water in the tank. I don't think that would work very well because the way side arms work the water is usually cold at the bottom and way hotter at the top. The hotter water allows for more capacity because it is adding cold and not taking as much out of the tank.
My idea is to put the side arm between the cold and hot pipes to the tank and pump the water. This should heat the tank to the set temperature and give a lot faster recovery time. A shell in tube type heat side arm would be needed (or a plate would work) because a regular straight through would not have enough heat capacity to keep up. The pump would only run when the water needed heating. Only a few cents of electricity per day.
Another way to do it would be to put the side arm in series with the cold water inlet and pump water from the hot line to before the side arm. This would make the pump not need to run much and give faster recovery but there is a slight chance of scalding if a faucet is left trickling. (if no mixing valve is used)
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I agree on the mixing valves..too temperamental. I went with a thirty plate mounted in my crawl after my tank. Not quite ready to fire it up for the first time just yet - I'll keep you posted on how I make out. Running out of how water - two teenage girls and two Jacuzzi tubs :bash: - was the reason I went with a big plate after the tank - fire in the boiler there will be hot water - and all the plumbing is down below I don't have a ton of room in my new my water heater...
Jamie
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You have a 30 plate after the tank and no mixing valve? I hope you have some thick skin. lol
You will have water coming out your faucet pretty much the same temperature at the boiler water. If you put it before the tank then it will be a lot safer as the tank will buffer the temperature. I have a 10 plate before and the water coming out the faucet gets up to 140 at times.
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I just bought a used 6048 that came with a sidearm. It was hooked up to an existing boiler and also came with a 50 plate hx as well. Not sure witch one will be better. Local dealer said he prefers sidearm due to water quality in the area. Is a 50 plate too much for dhw?
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Oversizing the plate doesn't hurt anything. A 10 plate will more than keep up. The only reason to go bigger is lower the restriction on the boiler line. A 10 plate will slow the water flow down quite a bit. I have a manifold setup on mine so it is in parallel with the other heat exchangers so the 10 plate restriction doesn't matter.
If the sidearm is the type with just a 3/4" pipe through the center I wouldn't bother using it. The shell in tube type are much better. (they run seven 3/8" copper pipes through the center instead of one 3/4" pipe)
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First - Thanks to all that replied.
Lets assume I could use a Plate HX for DHW. To be be honest, I have not seen scale coming out of my HWH drain for years. I have only lost one heating element in 18 years. I do have iron in my water but it's so minute a house filter removes 99% of it. I change the house filter once a month.
I agree with RSI. If I hook up a plate HX, it needs to be before the HWH. Otherwise, why have a HWH? If I preheat the water GOING to the HWH my electric use in winter time will be very little. If after the HWH I still have to heat the water in the tank unless I leave the breaker off. I need to price and size a Plate HX.
Might be able to skip the Thermostatic valve if I install it as described above. No way I would go through 50 gallons of HW at 140F before the 160F water kicked in.
CB recommends drawing heat to the HWH first, then the furnace HX. WHY? My return water temp is 160F at worst. (I know... I've only operated it 5 days, but that much I know) That should be more than efficent to heat water.
Yeah I'm leaning towards a plate HX now. Sure would be alot easier to hook up than a sidearm. I was at Home Depot today and they carry Pex fittings. Not sure about the piping. It doesn't look like it's for OWB use. They definetely did not carry 1" central pex (Green pipe). I might have to peal back the last 15' of Thermopex I had left and dig out the pipe out of the neoprene.
Comments?
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They recommend the water heater first because side arms work better with hotter water.
Using a plate exchanger as a pre-heater doesn't really have any temperature control. It works out fairly well for some people though. The more water you use the hotter it will get coming out of the faucet. If you go a long time between using it then it will cool down and the water heater will kick in if you leave it turned on. It seems to help a lot to turn the water heater way down if you leave it on because the water isn't quite as hot at the bottom so it keeps kicking on. The temperature varies quite a bit but since the whole tank is that temperature it will stay the same and you don't keep having to adjust the faucets. Sudden changes are bad which makes putting it after the tank much worse. (no buffer effect)
All pex is rated at the same temp and pressure so it should work. It probably doesn't have oxygen barrier but you have an open system so it doesn't really do you any good anyway.
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As a dealer I can tell you that on 90% of homes flat plates work much better then side arms. The only time I would ever recommend using a side arm is if you plan on going several days between using hot water. Almost everyone uses a little hot water every day. The problem most people have is with running out of hot water, a common problem with side arms unless you put an additional pump on them. Put a 1inch 20 plate on the fill side of your hwh and it will work great. I've done hundreds of them and have never had a customer use so little hot water that is caused a problem.
The reason you want to go to the hwh first is because you want a steady temperature there. It doesn't matter if the heat from your duct system varies a little so hit it second. Also, make sure the water from the outdoor furnace is on the "downstream" side of your heat exchangers for both hot water and heat. It will work more efficiently that way. Good luck!
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Do you put a mixing valve on them?
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First - Thanks to all that replied.
I agree with RSI. If I hook up a plate HX, it needs to be before the HWH. Otherwise, why have a HWH? If I preheat the water GOING to the HWH my electric use in winter time will be very little. If after the HWH I still have to heat the water in the tank unless I leave the breaker off. I need to price and size a Plate HX.
Comments?
Yes, I have a comment.
When you have a fire in the OWB, you turn OFF the HWH. That is the whole idea. People want to heat water, let it sit in a tank to "cool" then heat water to mix into 30, 40, or 50 gals of "cooled" water. Why folks do this is beyond me. You "loose" heat from the water coming out of the HX to the tank water. Leaving the HWH ON and "pre-heating" the water going in with a HX is missing the whole point also. If you put in a HX before the tank AND a side arm to keep it hot is just a waste of money.
I have a propane HWH that is turned OFF during my burning season. If for some reason my OWB stops producing hot water, I just light my HWH. Yes, it may take 15 mins to heat the tank but I have never in my life needed hot water faster than that. TRUST me, in the summer when OWB is off and circulater pump is off, my HWH water going through my HX is NOT affected by it.
One last question, if you put 175 degree water from your HX "into" your tank..........you are using "lots" of hot water.....so all the water is replaced with nice fresh HOT water........what is your tank safety valve temp setting? I'll bet it's not more than 175
In any case, enjoy your OWB........
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RSI, I never have used a mixing valve. Most people want the extra hot water and if they don't I explain to them they can control it by lowering the outdoor furnace temperature. I set the furnace rather low and if they want to adjust it they can.
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I know it isn't real likely to happen but what if they have leave a faucet running and forget to latch the boiler door? They could have 200 degree water coming out faucet / shower. You have a kid step into a shower and get cooked and who do you think they will come after?
I know I sure wouldn't want to be liable for doing anything that could do that.
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Keep the great info coming!!!
CB offers a 5 x 12-30, 1" ports. I assume this is a 30 plate? OR one with mounting studs 5 x 12 - 10 1" ports. If you Heating dealers have something better to offer please PM me. (It would be shipped to 15748)
My relief valve on the HWH is set at 150# at 210F.
To Yoder: Are you suggesting that my supply from from OWB should be connected to the top of my HX? (I have an upflow furnace). In other words, cold air moves up, hot water moves down? It's actually the way it's hooked up and I thought it was wrong because I thought air would get trapped in the HX.
Comment about a plate exchanger install: Heating my house is more important than heating water. Even if it's just to assit my HWH I would prefer to go the the furnace HX first, then the HWH. If the furnace is not operating I would be sending to the HWH anyway. This would also keep the water temp down in the HWH. (I don't need 185F water*). Based on this, would you still recommend going to the the plate HX first?
*= I know it won't get that hot, but I don't know what the transfer or temp rise is.
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It looks like the first one is probably a 30 plate and the second is a 10 plate.
The plates are in parallel so the more you have the less restriction you have.
Are you having a problem with the heat output from your water to air heat exchanger in the furnace? If not, I would put the plate first unless it will be harder to install that way.
What kind of prices are those plate heat exchangers from CB?
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I have a CB5036 to heat 2700 sq ft. Thats all I have hooked up to it, so no problems. I get 125F air when the furnace is on.
Adding the DHW kit is only 15' downstream of the furnace.
No clue what prices CB offers. I would have to call the dealer. The 30 plate is P/n 5734 the 10 plate is P/N 5738.
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I would check with the dealer to see what they get. There is no reason to go bigger than a 20 plate. The 10 plate would work but probably restrict the flow a little (depends on pump, piping, etc)
You should be looking at somewhere around $150 for a 10 plate and $50 for each step up in size (10, 20, 30, plate etc.)
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In General: The OWB is 100' away from the furnace. (85' of it is underground piping). The HWH would be an additional 15'. The Furnace HX is approximately 2' lower than the boiler bottom in elevation. I have a Taco 009 F5 pump.
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Yes, on a updraft furnace you would want the hottest water coming in the top of the heat exchanger. It may sound strange but this will make the air warmer then running it the other way. If you are getting 120+ heat out of your vents I doubt you have any air in the system, and once you purge the system of air you generally don't have a problem with it.
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Yoder-Based on your info I moved the temp probe (Redichek) to the inlet side of the HX.
The weatherman said cold again tonight with highs in the 50's next two days so I started the unit back up. I was really surpised the water temp was still 138F after 48 hours off.
When the dealer installed my piping some of the fittings were "Crimped" style. Although we agreed none would be used. One of them are leaking this morning. I hope when the unit gets hot the expansion will stop the leak. (only dripping). I put a 5 gallon bucket underneath to watch.
Need to call the dealer........
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Before calling the dealer I looked closer at where the leak was, it was actually a SS clamp that needed a little tightening. So all is well.
I did call the dealer. He ordered me a 20 plate and will sell me some fittings and Central pex pipe to install. He's recommending a bypass line and shut off valves to be installed on it also. I'll drive up Friday to pick it all up.
Moving the temp probe is working well now. With in 1 Degree of boiler temp now.
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RSI, I never have used a mixing valve. Most people want the extra hot water and if they don't I explain to them they can control it by lowering the outdoor furnace temperature. I set the furnace rather low and if they want to adjust it they can.
Yoder,
Don't you worry about young children being scalded if you install w/o mixing valve? I did not put one in right away and when I checked my hot water with my brides digital turkey thermometer the temp was 131*. That is plenty hot enough to scald. My wife made me install one a.s.a.p.(we have a 9 year old who was only 4 when first boiler and side arm were installed)
P.S. Expensive digital turkey thermometers can not withstand being dropped into scalding hot water! Only the probe is meant for that kind of environment. $28 for new one.
Marty
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On Friday (April 22nd) I picked up the parts to install a 20 plate HX. The HX is being dropped shipped.
HX, Fittings and 36 feet of 1" Central Pex was $365 from the dealer.
CPVC parts to add bypass lines and additional accessories (Pipe dope, insulation, valves, adapters, elbows, T's, mounting brackets, ect) was $90 from local Hardware store.
Labor is free.
Total investment to add DHWX $455. Since the OWB is only going to operate in the winter, it will be next spring before I see any return on this investment.
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Marty,
Almost all of my customers are looking for 130 degree water that never runs out. In fact I have had complaints before that the water was only 130, some want 150. I always explain in detail how the system works and that increasing the temps on the furnace will result in hotter DHW. If a customer has small children and is concerned about the hot water they run the furnace at a lower temp then normal and it works well. I can't tell you how many times I go out to install a furnace and the customer tells me the thing that his buddy bought one from me and brags on the hot water. Most people are amazed at the idea of having continuous FREE hot water. I installed a hot water spigot outside my home and use it in the winter for washing furnaces before I deliver them. I've had that water running for hours before without running out. When we do shows we burn a demo unit and display both heat and hot water, always helps sales when they can't hold their hand under the water.
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Looks like I paid off my investment early. Just got a check in the mail from Amerigas. We had a 100 gallon tank used for the pool heater. Since we don't have the pool any more I told them to come get the tank. They topped it off in Decemeber.
Refund (After restocking charge and taxes) $504.68 So I came out on the plus side for this project. 8)
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Marty,
Almost all of my customers are looking for 130 degree water that never runs out. In fact I have had complaints before that the water was only 130, some want 150. I always explain in detail how the system works and that increasing the temps on the furnace will result in hotter DHW. If a customer has small children and is concerned about the hot water they run the furnace at a lower temp then normal and it works well. I can't tell you how many times I go out to install a furnace and the customer tells me the thing that his buddy bought one from me and brags on the hot water. Most people are amazed at the idea of having continuous FREE hot water. I installed a hot water spigot outside my home and use it in the winter for washing furnaces before I deliver them. I've had that water running for hours before without running out. When we do shows we burn a demo unit and display both heat and hot water, always helps sales when they can't hold their hand under the water.
Where are you located?(What state)
Marty
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Here's the install of the DHWX. I'm currently heating water just to test it.
http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=38 (http://outdoorwoodfurnaceinfo.com/forum/index.php?action=media;sa=media;in=38)
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Virginia
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Ridgekid,
Is your HWH off? If not, why bother with the expense of a HX. BTW, if you don't use any hot water in lets say 12 to 14 hours (presuming HWH is off), do you get any hot water after it mixes with a tank of cold? Should have just plumbed the HX "inline" in your hot water line out of your tank. Then you would have an on demand hot water system.
unless I am misreading your pic :-\
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dirtryder-
To prevent scalding and the additonal hardware to install a DHWX, I am only pre-heating the water before the HWH and thats only when the OWB is on.
The DHWX is downstream of the Furnace HX. Heating the house is more important than the HW. I am not running the OWB year round.
I consider the DHWX as a bonus. Anything it can provide would be beneficial.
Saying that, yes I will be leaving the Electric on to the HWH. If I am preheating the water, the electric will not operate as long or often. Be advised my HWH has been on a programable timer since day one. It only operates 10 hours a day.
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OK,
I see what you are doing now. I have mine in an "on demand" type set up and have never ever run out of hot water. Just didn't know if there was something I was missing about heating the water going "into" the tank. I guess it just depends on what we boiler burners want to do. ;)
BTW, my boiler water goes to my DHW hx (10 plate) first, then to a 90k btu tube and shell hx for my hot tub, then to my first water to air hx, then to a second water to air hx then returns to boiler. 2 completed heating seasons and everything is working great.
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Big system. Yet I see you have the 6048, so it can probably handle it. How was your wood usage?
I see Redi Chek makes a dual probe monitoring system. (ET-7) I'm going to get one to put on the Copper pipes going in and coming out of my HWH.
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How was your wood usage?
I see Redi Chek makes a dual probe monitoring system. (ET-7) I'm going to get one to put on the Copper pipes going in and coming out of my HWH.
I have only been running the 6048 since the begining of March. Prior to that I had a HE5000 Wood Doctor Gasser. It was a great unit but too small for me ( had to wait till 11pm to fill for overnight burn during winter) so that's why I went bigger. I used about 10 cord last year and this year and believe it or not, I have been putting less wood in the 6048 but I know that it was due to me "stretching" the heating capacity of the WD. Next winter will be the "real" test for the 6048. Yes, it is a large heat load........... I heat my 24 x 32 garage with it too. ;)
Here is the temp monitor I put on my lines where they enter the house.
http://www.houseneeds.com/shop/HeatingProducts/HydronicHeating/Gauges/digitaltempgaugebuypage.asp (http://www.houseneeds.com/shop/HeatingProducts/HydronicHeating/Gauges/digitaltempgaugebuypage.asp)
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That looks like a very nice unit too. I needed the remote monitoring as not to have to go to the basement everytime I want to see whats going on.
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Two full days on the OWB and DHWX. HWH is hot! I checked and had 158* coming out the faucet. (After heavy use). After sitting overnight it was 150*.
Somewhere I read how clean the dishes get in a dishwasher... they are so right! Ever do a load of dishes after a spagetti dinner and have a red tint stain the inside? After two loads with HOT water the inside looks like new again!
The wife loves baths. HOT ONES! She actually said (for the first time in 18 years) the water was TOO HOT!
The daughter said she used to put the shower handle 1/4 turn to the hot side, now she can leave it in the middle when she showers.
And of couse this only means one thing! I'm not using electric to heat the HWH, and that makes me happy!
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Just be careful. You might want to turn your boiler temperature down to 160. http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/606/main.html (http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/606/main.html)
That is interesting about the dish washer. You could put a tee in the line between the plate and the water heater tank and run that straight to the dish washer and get real hot water to it.
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I recieved my Maverick ET-7 today and installed it on the inlet/outlet side of the HWH copper pipes. Looks like when the wife takes a bath, water goes into the HWH at 172F. Thats significant since my well water is 52F. Coming out it is 162F. ( Hey honey you might want to add some cold water to your bath tonight.... lol )
In short, I'm happy with the way I installed the DHWX. It works for us!
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To RSI-
Can't turn down the boiler for two reasons:
1. Creosote buildup probable
2. Thermostat in line does not open until 160F
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Ridgekid,
Tell me a little about the ET-7, such as how long are the leads, can they be extended, do you leave the display turned on all of the time, etc.
Gary
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The ET 7 has a remote transmitter, located where the probes will be located. A reciever is set up within 100 ft.
The probe length is is over 8" with usable 6". The cable is 40".
Even though it's a cooking thermometer there are selections for beef, lamb port, ect. Thats on the top part of the screen. The middle scrreen is for the probes. It does not display both probes at the same time. If you depress the S1/S2 button it switches between the two probes. Depressing and holding the S1/S2 button for 2 seconds allows the probes to switch automatically, but only for a few minutes. No temp change for a long period of time displays --- . Once it sees a temp change it comes back on. (Kinda like a screen saver?)
The bottom part of the screen is a clock and or timer. I use mine as a clock.
http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et7.htm (http://www.maverickhousewares.com/et7.htm)
I bought ours on ebay (new) for $38. That included shipping.
EDIT: Yes I leave it on all the time. I actually have probe one set with an alarm setpoint of 190F and probe two set at 165F. (water in/out of HWH)