Sidearm photos
Well here is a picture of my sidearm.....an unusual installation by most standards but it works great. I did this unusual approach based on three things that I thought was important. 1) My water heater is not very tall and I did not want to shorten the length of the sidearm and I wanted to use the entire length of pipe that came with the kit. 2) Even though the manufacturer says it is OK to have some rise above the water heater I did not want to do that as I believe it will have some affect on the efficiency. 3) I wanted the fill point for my boiler to be the lowest point in the system so that air will be purged during the boiler fill process. The black insulation keeps too much heat from escaping and prior to it being insulated it would make my house too warm on some days - there is a lot of heat that comes off the sidearm if it is not insulated. The insulation is the kind that is split and has the adhesive on the cut portions - the 1" size works great on the PEX tubing and I belive I use a 1" and 3/4" size stuck together to cover the 2" pipe on the sidearm.
This is the water heater and sidearm. The water heater is mounted up on a platform that allows the cold water to drop out of the bottom of the tank and into the sidearm. I cut the 1" interior pipe and 2" outer copper pipes and purchased 90 fittings and made a 90 degree angle in my sidearm. The hot water from the OWB flows in the pex tubing that enter the top right side of the sidearm in this picture and it flow back to the furnace after leaving the sidearm at the bottom.
This is the T&P valve on my water heater. I removed the valve and bought a short brass nipple and a brass tee to move the T&P valve out. The hot water from the sidearm enters the bottom of the nipple and flows into the water heater. Since this is the hottest water in the system and it is passing right through the T&P valve I believe the system is operating as it should.
This picture shows the pipe from the bottom of the water heater on the top left that goes from the water heater drain hole down to the sidearm and the valve with the silver knob that is installed to drain the water heater. The valve with the green handle makes it possible to shut the flow in the sidearm off - which I do when I go away and don't want heat from the OWB heating water. The 1" copper pipe then flows sideways and enters the 2" pipe and goes for about a foot and makes a 90 vertical turn inside the 2" pipe. The 1" pipe for the OWB drops out the bottom and goes to the heat exchanger in the furnace. The 1/2 inch pipe with the yellow handled valve is my filling and drain point for my OWB - it has a hose connection and I take off the cap and connect a garden hose to my utility sink in my basement when it is time to fill the OWB.
This last picture is the Compunurse temperature monitor that I have installed in my basement. This is made for monitoring computer hard drive temperatures and reads in celsius. It has a tiny temperature sender about 1/8 inch square. I just put the sender in between my PEX tubing and the insulation. For my system it reads 60 degrees when the OWB shuts the blower off at the high temperature, it reads 50 degrees when the blower turns back on, and it reads 40 when the OWB thinks the fire is out and shuts the blower off. When it is between 50-60 I know the fire is good and I don't have to go outside. When it drops below 50 I know it is time to tend the fire. They cost about $ 24 and you can find them online at computer stores by searching compunurse.