New Gasification Boiler with Underground Piping

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Flathill

Member
Jan 16, 2011
13
Central New Hampshire
Hi Boiler Room,
Recently I have decided to install a wood gasification boiler with warm water underground piping serving 3 buildings.
The property has ledge 2+1/2 to 4 feet down from the ground surface. This creates drainage and ground water problems.
I'm really worried that part of the undergound piping will sit in water and give up heat btu's to the ground instead of the building heat exchangers.
Can you install good underground piping and be sure that it doen't leak and it keeps its insulation value ?
This project is in the design phase. The boiler will be located in a building roughly 85 feet from the main house.
 
Welcome, and yes.
Take some time & read the sticky on UG piping at the top of the page it tells all.
A product like eco flex is good, but the sprayed in place systems seem to be the best imo
If you read on this forum and heed the advice - start with good piping, good underground piping, and dry wood, you'll have a successful install.

Best of luck, Chris
 
Know very little, but i really like the Thermopex i have. Pricey?Yes, but it seems quite rugged. I have part of it exposed in my garage. Put your hand on it and there is no heat loss at sub zero temps.
 
I went with thermopex aslo, at 12.50/ft it isn't cheap, but I don't loose any heat to the ground and it doesn't care what kind of soil it runs in, mine is about two feet down and the ground and snow don't melt over it ever.
the manufacturer claims 1 degree for every 100 feet is the heat loss to expect.
 
Read the Sticky about my underground nightmare and the solution. I estimate the total run of my system round trip about 420'.... yes 420'. 180' underground+14' from wall to HX+14' from ground to boiler then multiply that by 2. During extended periods when the in-house fan is not running I've seen a 1-1.5deg difference between water leaving the boiler room and returning. I routinely see a 2 degree difference on my AZEL boiler room sensor. I wanted to post pictures of my AZEL temps so ya'll wouldn't think I'm blowing smoke. But my underground foam block is more than most have. That is probably a big part of it. I'm not against the Thermopex type product but my pex is in a block about 12"x12" simply because of how I had to do the trench. I need to do a post to document my undergroud performance. It's amazing. If you can foam in place you will get much more foam around your pex with the result more efficiency. If the pex is all surrounded by closed cell foam you won't care about ground water.

I need to figure out how to post a pic of my boiler room AZEL reading. Last time I called on Taxi to do it for me.
 
Thanks for the information. I will read the "Underground Lines - not a place to skimp !" . The information on the Hearth Boiler Room forums should give me some great knowledge about designing and installing a boiler system.
I will review the differnent types of underground piping and the sprayed in place foam systems.
 
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