# Can I bury a wire with my underground pex?



## Grovenburg (Sep 25, 2012)

Hello,

I'm buryring my undergound flex/pex this weekend.  My storage and boiler is in an out building and I need to know when my storage goes under 140F.  I'm assuming a aquastat on the storage and bury a wire with the pex for my pump circut in the basement?  What kind of wire should I get to bury?

THanks.


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## mr.fixit (Sep 25, 2012)

Get a roll or 2 of black plastic irrigation pipe and bury it along with the pex.At least 1".
Then down the road its easy to pull control wire,t-stat sensor wire or what ever comes up.(something aways does)
I even pulled an air line from one building to another.
The tubing comes in 300ft. rolls.Hardest thing about it is unrolling it.
I used cat 5 cable for controls.


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## rkusek (Sep 25, 2012)

The black irrigation pipe is a good idea.  I buried 2 direct bury Cat 5 cables but didn't realize at the time they shouldn't be used for 24VAC signal wire.  HVAC t-stat wire is probably a better option although I should be able to use the Cat 5 at a lower voltage.  I would also put one Cat 5 in just in case you ever want internet out there.  Panasonic makes some ~$80 web cams that could be a really cheap monitoring when you are away.  I really wish I would have put a second direct bury power wire like 12-3UF or 10-3UF in the trench with the service wires.  I balked because of the extra cost for 350' more of wire at the time but it was really foolish.  Since the power company here doesn't allow a disconnect at the meter, this would have allowed to have a generator running and feed both buildings without a bunch of extension cords.  I would have also have liked to had my circs in the home and the ones in th shed run off of just 1 UPS/battery backup system.


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## BoilerMan (Sep 25, 2012)

You can bury type UF (the grey stuff) cable directly in the ground, I'd do that along with the black polyethelene pipe.  Now you have the whole pipe for whatever other wire you want to run.  Use the UF cable to supply the boiler shed, ie. lights, boiler control, and power the pump(s) located out there.  Then you can pull control wire, and other 120V stuff through the black pipe.  Although, I must mention it is not code to pull power 120-240V wire with low voltage wire in the same conduit, that being said black polyethelene pipe is not legal for electrical conduit.......  I still use it though as it's leak proof since it has no joints like PVC conduit does. 

TS


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## mr.fixit (Sep 25, 2012)

I have the pump in the same building as the boiler,so only low voltage wiring between the buildings.
I used a Ranco temp controller with the temp probe fastened to the storage tank to shut the power off to the pump when the storage temp drops to far.


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## Frozen Canuck (Sep 25, 2012)

Might I suggest you put a few pipe runs in the trench. Cost of an empty unused pipe = very little. Cost of needing another run & not being able to do it without digging $$$$. Use each side of the trench, one side for 120/240 volt, other side for low voltage control wiring etc, boiler piping in the center. Plenty of threads in here about I wish I had..... almost none about how nice it is to be able to do this later without digging.


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## goosegunner (Sep 25, 2012)

In my trench I went 6' deep and placed a water line and the Logstor. Back filled to 3' and added a 2" conduit for power line. Also 2 additional 1-1/2" conduits for future use.

gg


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## BoilerMan (Sep 25, 2012)

You can bury them all together if you want to also.

TS


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## schlot (Sep 25, 2012)

If you are going to use a conduit, just individual THNN wires instead of the UF wire. Easier to pull through the conduit.


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## Grovenburg (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks for all the good info.  I think if I put all that stuff in the trench there would no room for the dirt!  I have some decisions to make.  Thanks again Boiler Room.


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## BoilerMan (Sep 26, 2012)

schlot said:


> If you are going to use a conduit, just individual THNN wires instead of the UF wire. Easier to pull through the conduit.


 
THHN wire, the most common designation for wire insulation rated 90C


TS


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## Bob Rohr (Sep 26, 2012)

Taylor Sutherland said:


> THHN wire, the most common designation for wire insulation rated 90C
> 
> 
> TS





Grovenburg said:


> Thanks for all the good info. I think if I put all that stuff in the trench there would no room for the dirt! I have some decisions to make. Thanks again Boiler Room.


 

A couple runs of grey electrical PVC is what I would add to the trench, maybe a poly or pex line for water.  For the line voltage I'd suggest electrical condiut, the grey PVC.  That way if someone digs into it in the future they can identify what is inside.

Digging, or cutting  into white PVC or pex and finding someone installed line voltage wiring in it, is not a fun experience.

hr


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