Shaver Improvement Forum

[fletcher0780]

I haven't hooked mine up yet, but I'd like to tie it into the electric water heater that services my garage and the apartment above.

 

[John D]

Not me,I too would like too,but im concerned about the 50 ft of 5/8", plus 220 ft of 3/4" pex causing a restriction,and poor hot water pressure in the house,esp with 2 family residence and my 12GPM well.My hot water has been a problem since I went with the OWB,boiler temps arent as high as they used to be,im running out of DHW when we never did with the oil burner firing.So I'd like to address this over the summer.

 

[Windwalker7]

I use mine.

Although, it takes it a little while to recover after one or two baths in a row.

I think part of the problem is my OWB seems to have trouble keeping the temps up. I know what I need to do but that's another story.

Anyway, I have a 133ft fo 3/4 pex to run to the furnace. I use a Bronze Taco 007 to circulate the water. (266 ft round trip and another 50ft of coil)

I think a bigger pump would have a quicker recovery too. I really don't quite get all that stuff about head or how to determine proper pump size.

With the DHW hooked up, I see a big difference in my electric bill.


My electric supplier estimates my electric use every other month and actually checks the meter every other month it doesn't estimate.




My December estimate was $135.

My January actual reading was $45.

February's estimate was $126


I'm a little anxious to see March's especially since I switiched every light bulb in the house to those energy saver types.

 

[fletcher0780]

The hot water in my house is handle as a zone off my heating system, it's the electric water heater in my garage that serves the apartment that I'd like to augment. There is only one tenant so I don't need a lot of hot water. The boiler is about 50ft from the garage and I have 1/2" pex running to the domestic water coil and back. I still need a pump and to tie everything in, but I'm looking forward to cutting down on my $300/month electric bill.

 

[Ash wacker]

I have mine hooked up and how I did it,I cut my cold supply to the hot water heater and ran that out to the furnace and returned back in the cold side with hot water. I adjusted my pressure switch on the well pump and it works great. Plenty of hot water.

 

[fify59thatsit]

dhw

Does anybody have a pump on their water heater set to run on demand to circ water through the copper coil. John

 

[fletcher0780]

I have mine hooked up and how I did it,I cut my cold supply to the hot water heater and ran that out to the furnace and returned back in the cold side with hot water. I adjusted my pressure switch on the well pump and it works great. Plenty of hot water.

Is your water heater still plugged in? Is it even electric? I considered doing the same thing, and preheating the water before it entered the tank, then just use the electric water heater to keep it hot. No extra pump saves money, I would just need a mixing valve coming out of the heater in case the water entering the heater is too hot.

 

[berry5]

my 165 is heating my water all year works great. i hooked it up like the manual says i am runing mine thru 200 foot of pex. water heater has been off for a year now. i have a good pic if i can figure out how to add a pic

 

[fify59thatsit]

dhw

I have a lp water heater. would like to get away from gas man.
I have the pre 48 page owners manual [mine was 3 pages typing paper folded over] besides I would prefer to get info from this forum anyway. Would like to see pic's berry 5
John

 

[berry5]

how do you up load the pics it says the file is to big can you pm the pics thanks mike

 

[berry5]

i have better pics i will try and post

 

[John D]

Why are some of you using a pump to bring water to the coil? I thought you just cut into the cold water supply to the existing hot water heater,and cut the return into the cold water inlet at the hot water heater.By using the existing water pressure,no additional pumps would be needed.In effect feeding your existing one with hot water.

 

[Ash wacker]

Why are some of you using a pump to bring water to the coil? I thought you just cut into the cold water supply to the existing hot water heater,and cut the return into the cold water inlet at the hot water heater.By using the existing water pressure,no additional pumps would be needed.In effect feeding your existing one with hot water.

That is exactly how I did mine. I have a propane water heater and if it sits idle for a long time the heater will come on but most of the time the thing doesn't run and my owb keeps up with our demand.

 

[fletcher0780]

i have better pics i will try and post

Is that a bronze pump.

 

[fify59thatsit]

dhw

That is exactly how I did mine. I have a propane water heater and if it sits idle for a long time the heater will come on but most of the time the thing doesn't run and my owb keeps up with our demand.

How long for hot water to get to house this way? Seems like there would be a big slug of cool water in there ?
Would run the pump only to keep water at preset temp ?

 

[Ash wacker]

I have never had a problem with it. A family of five and everyone takes morning showers and we haven't had a issue with a cold water surge.

 

[fletcher0780]

Leaving the water heater connected and just feeding it with preheated water from the coil seems like the easiest way to go. Sure the water heater will still come on from time to time, but it should never need to heat the water from it's straight from the well 50* temperature, It'll just need to maintain the temp if you don't use hot water for a while. I would think you could leave it setup this way all year as well, even if your not burning wood. The sun alone will probably keep the boiler water at 80* or so, so you'd still be preheating the water a tad before it enters your water heating appliance.

 

[John D]

How long for hot water to get to house this way? Seems like there would be a big slug of cool water in there ?
Would run the pump only to keep water at preset temp ?

The slug of cold water hits the hot water maker,just like i would without the OWB,once the cold is gone,your feeding warm/hot water into the hot water maker,so its just acting as a storage tank,and bladder.If the OWB is at 170,and your water out of the OWB HW coil is even close to that 170,your inside HW maker shoudnt need to come on unless it sits idle for extended times,even then you can lower the temp on it,since recovery isnt an issue anymore,since your bringing hot water into it.
After getting my first 2 mo electric bill

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1424578&posted=1#post1424578

I am trying to run the OWB a little cheaper. If i can use the coil,in the spring/summer/fall, I can turn both circs off 24/7 to on demand only,by wiring them to the Tstat relay instead of constant power,and hook up the DHW coil,the existing water pressure will be the power source,so the only additional cost will be the blower/sol on the OWB,and the rare occasion when the circs need to come on to heat or make some water.Im thinking 95% of the DHW will be made by the coil,and the water may actually get hotter with use as recharge water may be above 140.

 

[ngzcaz]

Seems like the fellows that don't have a hot water coil ( as in an oil burner or the like ) and used the hot water coil that Shaver recommended are the ones that are having issues with the hot water. A 1/2 inch coil coil run any length of distance is going to be prone to have problems unless its super insulated. If possible could any of you simply forget about the hot water coil and run the 1 inch pex into your oil or gas furnace and let that HW coil ( if it has one ) heat your water ? I didn't use a heat exchanger as they recommended.. I foresaw problems with chemicals clogging them up and they kind of admit that may happen. My incoming water pex goes in the bottom of the oil burner and the out going pex on the top where the pop off valve is located. Everything is furnished by the oil burner and its HW coil. The waters never mix and now you have 1 inch pex supplying the HW for your baths, showers, dishwasher and of course heat.
I kept trying to find a reason not to do this and use the Heat exchanger but several trips to a half dozen people that have been doing this for several years convinced me it really could be that simple.. I didn't order the HW coil from Shaver and havent missed it yet. I understand some might not be able to do this because setups do differ but if you can, this is the most trouble free and efficient way that I've seen. BTW, the addition of three ball valves allow me to shut off the OWB and be back on oil in around 5 seconds if necessary. There is only the one pump supplied by Shaver that is needed.

:monkey:

 

[John D]

You have a coil in your boiler inside,my old house had one,I miss it. My new home has a separate zone and superstore HW maker.My hotwater is ok,but I run out faster than i used to on oil because i had to turn down the stat on the superstore to 135,when it used to be at 150.At 150,many times the incoming owb lines dont have enough heat to give off to satisfy the HW maker,so the pump continues to run and run for hours,without any gain,and the longer it runs,the harder it is for the boiler to keep up with heating demands on both units.So I'd like to use the Shaver coil,just to take the load off the superstore,and reduce the circs running so much,which helps keep temps up,also should solve me running out of hot water.