• Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.

Ecoflex or Logstor?


  • Total voters
    3
  • Poll closed .

Frogburner

Member
Feb 23, 2017
10
Missouri
I plan on laying ecoflex or logstor pex flex pipe, what is the absolute best. I have to make 2 runs of 130ft from a a Woodmaster 5500. I am not going to try and make my own insulated pipe, I am going with one of these two, which should I get?
 
The ecoflex by upnor isn't extrudedpolystyrene(xps) right? I think it's just foam pipe insulation. The logstor is xps insulated. I have logstor and it was worth every penny. I did foam in trench lines 5 years ago and they lasted 4 before the ground started melting snow. I replaced with logstor and I increased the stove idle times during warm weather by a few hours. Huge difference and I will never have to replace. The only downside is special ordering the logstor fittings which are in mm from the logstor dealer for around $25 per fitting.
 
I plan on laying ecoflex or logstor pex flex pipe, what is the absolute best. I have to make 2 runs of 130ft from a a Woodmaster 5500. I am not going to try and make my own insulated pipe, I am going with one of these two, which should I get?

I don't know about the Ecoflex but the Logstor is a true 1" I.D. ,most brands like Rehau are 1" O.D. so more flow through the Logstor and better insulation.
 
I've been leaning pretty hard towards logstor so I'm pretty sure that's what I will go with. Just wanna make sure I'm getting a good product for the price.
 
Keep in mind the friction loss (pump head/pressure drop) that you will experience with each run of 130' (260' round trip) of pipe. A 260' run of pipe at 12 gpm and delta-T of 20 (120,000 btuh) will have about 33' of pump head. Then add to this the pump head within the heating system beyond the run of pipe. You will need a sizable circulator to serve this system. At 10 gpm head will be about 23', and at 14 gpm head will be about 44'.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Frogburner
Read the Sticky" underground lines not a place to skimp"
I used Rehau 1" lines and ran 2 going each way.I went with 1" because 2 runs of 1" were cheaper than 1 run of 1 1/4".
Then i had a spray foam company try to get 6" of foam around each line.
No signs of heat loss over the 120 ft run.
I probably could have used just 1 run of 1" each way,but if for some reason something happens to one of the lines then i should be able to operate on whats left.
Going on 8 yrs of use now.I was told that Rehau was one of the few company's that had fittings that were approved for underground use.I could only get 100 ft runs of pipe so i have 4 unions buried and spray foamed.
When the house isn't calling for heat,there is very little temperature difference between the hot water going to the house and the return temps.
Thomas
 
Read the Sticky" underground lines not a place to skimp"
I used Rehau 1" lines and ran 2 going each way.I went with 1" because 2 runs of 1" were cheaper than 1 run of 1 1/4".
Then i had a spray foam company try to get 6" of foam around each line.
No signs of heat loss over the 120 ft run.
I probably could have used just 1 run of 1" each way,but if for some reason something happens to one of the lines then i should be able to operate on whats left.
Going on 8 yrs of use now.I was told that Rehau was one of the few company's that had fittings that were approved for underground use.I could only get 100 ft runs of pipe so i have 4 unions buried and spray foamed.
When the house isn't calling for heat,there is very little temperature difference between the hot water going to the house and the return temps.
Thomas

That's a bit strange, generally the underground pipe comes in rolls of 360 ft.. I would never put fittings underground if at all possible.
 
That's a bit strange, generally the underground pipe comes in rolls of 360 ft.. I would never put fittings underground if at all possible.
This wasn't rolls of underground pipe.
This was rolls of Rehau Pex pipe without any insulation.