Gooserider
Mod Emeritus
Pretty good answer IMHO - I agreed w/ most of it...mtnmizer said:
Partly agreed, I would want to elevate it more, so that the inlet on the tank was higher than the boiler at a minimum. I do agree with the vertical part of it.
Definitely a good idea on not using PEX, copper would be OK though. There is also a possibility that it might be necessary to put a low resistance flow check valve on the return line in order to prevent "ghost flow" up that line from the boiler return side - might be something you'd need to experiment with to see if it's necessary, and I wouldn't put one in if it wasn't.
Tanks in the attic aren't all that bad of an idea, as long as they are adequately protected from freezing, and there is proper support - keep in mind that a 40 gallon tank is probably about 400 lbs...
ABSOLUTELY.... Far as I'm concerned part of the test checkout routine on a system should be to get a really good fire going, and then pull the plug on ALL boiler related equipment, and watch the temps and pressures, while being ready to plug things back in if it looks like the "failsafes are failing" - until you can verify by actual test that the power failure system works, I would not want to fully trust the system.
Gooserider
and thank you all for all of the help. I decided to go with a old hot water heater tank and strip it down to the bare tank. and rased it off the ground. I have attached the Pics. Tried it last nite. Got a good size fire going and got it up to 180 deg and cut the power to the system. It climed up to about 195 and then started dropping. After letting it sit for about 5 minutes the temp was down to 150 and only about the top 12" of the watter heater tank was hot. One of the ideas we came up with while doing it was the heat trap on the cold return which I think made a huge differece. It does not allow the heat to flow to the bottom of the tank. All in all I think the valve was $165 and about 50 bucks in copper. I got the water heater for free. Can sleep a little easier now!
