homemade pex run

[beagledog]

Here's my question. I want to wrap my 2 pieces of 1 inch pex in r30 fiberglass insulation and then feed them inside a 60ft run of 4 inch schedule 40, glued at the seems and everything. How could this not work well? My dealer sells 6 inch corrugated with some foil wrapped around the pex. He want 384$ for 60 feet. The thermopex price I got was 777.00$. I can do the above for less than 200 dollars. I'm laid off so I have more time than money and I really can't see how this would not be better than the corrugated stuff the dealer has. The thermopex is just too far out of the budget. Any suggestions or horror stories welcome. Thanks

 

[Thechap]

Make sure you bury the lines deep enough and use plenty of sand below and on top of the lines as insulation. This is how I did mine last fall and it has worked fine. No thaw of the snow on top of the lines. Mine is buried four feet deep. I bought the six inch black plastic 100 foot rolls of pipe at Lowe's for something like 60 dollars each in which we placed the lines which were rapped in insulation. By the way, I installed a Crown Stove and there are no complaints.

 

[ericjeeper]

Here we go again

I would isolate each run of pex with the poly foam type tubing. Then wrap them with foil bubblewrap. But make sure no ground water can ever get into the field tile.

 

[Guarddog1]

I actually know 3 people that did this same thing they said it worked great they put it in 4 in curageted pipe. it seem less the one guy slit a toilet bowl float put it on the end of the lines and he said that made it slide right in. Good luck

 

[Sawmill]

Make sure you bury the lines deep enough and use plenty of sand below and on top of the lines as insulation. This is how I did mine last fall and it has worked fine. No thaw of the snow on top of the lines. Mine is buried four feet deep. I bought the six inch black plastic 100 foot rolls of pipe at Lowe's for something like 60 dollars each in which we placed the lines which were rapped in insulation. By the way, I installed a Crown Stove and there are no complaints.

If you have heat loss from your line it won't make any difference how deep you bury it. The heat loss is just heating the ground around the line. If you used the black plastic pipe it will only last 3 or 4 years becouse it is not rated for the hot water you are running thru it. The greenhouses I use to do business with used the black pipe under the plants and the lines only lasted a couple of years before it fell apart. I hope in your case I am wrong

 

[LadyToysDream]

HI,

We only have a 26 ft run from the OWB into our house. We used the thermo pex at $ 12.50 a ft. This is one area of putting in the OWB that you want to do right the first time. Ours goes under our driveway. No heat loss on the run.
My hubby's Dad is heating 2 buildings with his OWB. Both runs are just over 100' each. His also is the pricey pex. He's very happy with how his is set up. Beats buying 6 tanks of fuel oil each winter.

My youngest son put in a different brand of a OWB than we did. Did the pex the cheapest way possible. Have to remember next time I talk to him, how he likes his set up.

Try to pinch pennies somewhere else.

 

[Scootermsp]

Go with Thermopex

:agree2::agree2::agree2:

Save money somewhere else...this is no place for trial and error. If water gets in (it always seems to) it will need to get dug up. Do it right--do it once! I lose 0 degrees on a 65' run with CB Thermopex ($13/ft)

 

[ericjeeper]

He is referring to

If you have heat loss from your line it won't make any difference how deep you bury it. The heat loss is just heating the ground around the line. If you used the black plastic pipe it will only last 3 or 4 years becouse it is not rated for the hot water you are running thru it. The greenhouses I use to do business with used the black pipe under the plants and the lines only lasted a couple of years before it fell apart. I hope in your case I am wrong

Corrugated tile..Field tile only non perforated

 

[Sawmill]

I went back and reread I thought he was running the hot water thru 1 inch black plastic pipe, my mistake.

 

[beagledog]

I don't know where the confusion started, but I'm not talking about running anything through that corrugated stuff. I'm aware corrugated is meant for drainage and any other use is at your own risk. That is why I'm talking 4 inch pvc glued at the seams with 2 pieces of 1 inch pex inside wrapped in fiberglass. Water isn't going to get in...that's a matter of fact. I have glued pvc all over inside the house and I don't notice any water getting out and that's under pressure! How is schedule 40 going to let water in and spring leaks left and right. The only trouble I can see is the ditch has to be arrow straight but that's about it. With all this straightened out, does anyone still see a problem with the fiberglass versus the foil wrap stuff? thanks

 

[Sawmill]

The only problem that I could see is you may have to pack the insulation tight thus losing some of the insulating value. Other than that I think it would work ok. When I run the line to my pole barn I did use the hard plastic line and I went to a place that make foam board and they made me some round foam cyl with 2 inch holes in the center that would slip inside the plastic pipe so I had the make it for 5 inch pipe and it worked real good, but I was glad it was warm when I put it in the pipe and the pex is not stuff to try and lay straight. I was suprized at the cost of the foam as it cost me 2.00 for a 10 foot piece but I had to by 10 pcs to get this rate.

 

[Skiboat Dave]

I went overkill with my set up. Just like I do with every thing. I bought 2 1/2" Styrofoam. It is pre cut to snap with two 16" peices and (2) 8" pieces at 8 feet long.

I laid the 16" flat and then laid my pex on that. I stood up the the two 8" pieces and filled it with sand. Then I topped it with the other 16"

I have a 100 foot run of pipe. What I didn't't know at the time that the sheets of foam were $35.00 a sheet! I spent $455.00 on foam :jawdrop:

 

[ericjeeper]

Sorry Beagle dog

I got you and TheChap confused.
Fiberglass needs to be non compressed to perform.When the pex in the pipe lay on the fiberglass they will crush it down and the r value is decreased. Plus if it ever gets wet fiberglass is like a sponge.
I would prefer polyolefin or polyethylene foam wrap.

 

[beagledog]

Got it. I didn't understand the attraction toward the foil/bubble stuff. Didn't realize you kill the rating of the glass stuff by compressing it. Thanks for the advice.

 

[ericjeeper]

here you can see how I constructed mine

Not to say this is the best. But it seemed to be the best inexpensive way.
all the way to the left you can see the foil bubblewrap under the shrink wrap.

You can see that I sent some electrical out too. The small white wire is for a temp sensor that reads the storage tank temp and if it drops to much my indoor controls will close a valve and turn on a pump to my indoor fuel oil boiler.

 

[taxidermist]

As said this is the last area to go cheep on. You can read till your blue in the face about people that wish they bought the good stuff the first time!!! I wish I would have run 1 1/2 pex because I cant transfer enough BTU thru the 1" pex that I have. I have to use a big taco 013 pump when I could be using a 007 that uses less power and no cavation at the pump.



Rob

 

[John D]

As long as you use the PVC,you should be fine.If I were you,I'd use solorguard insulation on the pipes,not r 19.The solarguard is around r6 for less than an inch i think.You wont need to compress it.I'd wrap the hot pipe fully,once then wrap both together 3wraps,and go with that.You want to have a layer of solar guard between the 2 pipes,so the cold returning water doesnt pull heat out of the hot feed water .This may not seem likem uch,but it is,the more demand in theh ouse,the bigger the temp differential,and the more heat is pulled to the cold return water.You end up with the indoor boiler to cold,so it wont heat or supply hot water in a timely manner,and the OWB will be idling along since a good portion of the heat its sending out the hot line is just transfering to the cold line and coming back,never making to the indoor boiler where it is needed.I have the solarguard 3 wraps,and it drops 1 degree in 105 ft.With only 60 ft you will be fine.

 

[beagledog]

I ended up buying the black split foam 6 foot pieces of pipe insulation and I picked up the solargaurd to wrap it up with. All should squeeze into my 4 inch pvc, 60 foot run. Thanks for all the help. Oh, almost forgot. Lowes wanted 77.99 for 100 foot of 1 inch pex. Home depot wanted 44.99 for the same exact item...same brand and everything. The 4 inch pvc was 4 bucks cheaper per piece at lowes, though. Lots of running around, but for those kind of savings, I'll run. Thanks again.

 

[boyland]

Guys if you are worried about water I found the tile on my property and ran a tile under my homemade run of pex, foam wrapped and reflectix wrapped pipes inside a 6 in solid tile. The drain perf tile runs next to my pex run it keeps the water from sitting around the tile keeping it dry.

I lose about 1-2 degrees during the dead of winter from the boiler to my house 75 foot away.

Simple and much less expensive.

 

[BryanSchamber]

After researching and doing a lot of reading I went with the Logstor pipe. I have no heat loss in a 60' run to house. I buried line 3' deepand there was no snow melting this winter. Can't help but think this is one area you don't want to go cheap on. Just my 2 cents worth.