Hot water heater install
#1
Hot water heater install
I asked my neighbor who is a boiler guy to help me with a hot water heater install. I was going to install the conventional electric hot water heater and would need to run a home run from my fusebox to my basement first. He advised me to just get a 40 gallon or 50 gallon run of the mill hot water heater to use as a holding tank. Then we would use the existing electric at the furnace to power up a taco brass impeller circulator. Therefore I would have 40 gallons of hot water at my disposal at all times. He advised me that this is smarter because seals at the furnace wouldnt dry out in the summer and more economical. Thoughts? Any potential downfalls? Sounds very logical to me.
#2
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Mountain Williams Missouri
Posts: 17,505
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Im lost. You have a boiler.Do you have a hot water coil in it now??
Was this going to be a electric hot water tank for the home and nothing to do with the boiler.What do you have for hot water now? You would need a #10 wire on a 30 amp breaker to the water heater from the main panel
Was this going to be a electric hot water tank for the home and nothing to do with the boiler.What do you have for hot water now? You would need a #10 wire on a 30 amp breaker to the water heater from the main panel
#3
Sorry. Let me clarify. My original idea was to run the traditional hot water heater that is heated by the electrical coil. What this setup involves is using the existing coil in the burner to heat water and utilize the hot water heater tank to hold the hot water. The circulator would move the hot water made by the boiler into the hot water heater that is now basically a holding tank. The circulator would be t/stat controlled I believe.
#4
That is a very good idea. I would suggest a minor modification that will help with the hot water supply. When you get the heater, pull out the dip tube on the cold water inlet. Shorten it to a length of about 24" by heating it at that point with a propane torch and twist it off. Let it cool and snip off the unused piece so you have a 24" dip tube with the end sealed. Then take a 1/4" drill bit and drill 4 holes all the way through starting at the twisted off end and spacing the holes about 1" apart. Then rotate the tube 90 degrees and drill 4 more holes. One in between each of the others. his way the water will enter the tank horizontally. Not shooting toward the bottom. Re-install the dip tube and this will be the point where hot water FROM your domestic coil enters the tank. The drain valve on the heater should be removed and that is where the cold water should enter the heater. Also a tee should be installed there and the cold water going TO the domestic coil should be pulled from. The hot water outlet on the heater is just that. Use the lower thermostat on the heater to control the pump. I have done this many times and everyone loves it.
Ken
Ken