# What is the longest run from boiler to house you have heard of?also a few pics of my homemade boiler



## woodman6666 (Apr 28, 2012)

Hello,
I am new here but not new to owb's contemplating a very long run and was wondering if anyone had any real world experience with longer runs? such as length of run? true id pipe size? pump? and how it has performed? Thanks in advance for anyone that responds.
I have attached a few pics of some of the boilers I have built. Thanks again


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## woodsmaster (Apr 28, 2012)

Neat boiler !


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## tom in maine (Apr 29, 2012)

Whoa!
That is a big'un!


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## Mushroom Man (Apr 29, 2012)

That is one huge burn chamber.

As far a length of run is concerned - I have a longish run to my barn.

The distance to the manifold in the barn is 248 feet,  so round trip is 496 feet.  I used 2 lines to the barn and 2 lines back to the primary loop. The Allied pex-AL-pex piping has a .8125" inside diameter (nominally 1" OD). This was a more complicated way to plumb than using a 1.25" or 1.5" line but I had 1600 feet of the stuff. 

The barn loop comes off the primary loop like any secondary and returns to the primary. The barn loop uses a Grunfos 15-58. 

In the barn, a closely spaced set of T's comes off the barn loop to feed a manifold. The manifold has a Grundfos 15-58 in it to feed 3-300' loops of 1/2".  Each loop from the manifold is strung along the walls in 3 rooms forming in-wall radiant emitters. They work well (heat to 20*C (70*F) when it is -20*C (-4*F) outside, in rather poorly insulated rooms. My intention was to increase insulation using straw bales but I used all the straw and had a crop failure so no straw.

There are no metal spreader plates behind the looping pex but if I needed more heat that might be a solution. That and straw bales would work great. As currently, I'm using too much wood - 9 cords for 6000 sq.ft this winter

My boiler is in the garage and the storage is in the basement.


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## huffdawg (Apr 29, 2012)

Mushroom Man said:


> That is one huge burn chamber.
> 
> As far a length of run is concerned - I have a longish run to my barn.
> 
> ...


 
MM  i'm curios what sort of temp drop would you get in your underground loop  with out any demand from your barn.

Huff


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## heaterman (Apr 29, 2012)

We have done several that are 250' + and a couple over 300'. If you have any kind of load at all you will have to use 1-1'4" or larger tubing and insulation becomes absolutely critical if you want to avoid losing half your heat during the round trip. Running those distances and doing it right can get really expensive. Think twice about other options of placement.


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## BoilerMan (Apr 29, 2012)

heaterman said:


> We have done several that are 250' + and a couple over 300'. If you have any kind of load at all you will have to use 1-1'4" or larger tubing and insulation becomes absolutely critical if you want to avoid losing half your heat during the round trip. Running those distances and doing it right can get really expensive. Think twice about other options of placement.


 
Second that


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## Mushroom Man (Apr 30, 2012)

Huffdawg
MM i'm curios what sort of temp drop would you get in your underground loop with out any demand from your barn.<<

I haven't done that reading recently but when I originally put in the barn loop, I wanted to know that. Using an  IR thermometer and with the barn loop in the garage at 75*C, I sprinted to the barn to see what I was getting at the manifold. I lost 1*C on the outbound trip. I think I'll try that again (after 3 years) as a test of how well my insulation has held-up. The sprint will be slower.


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## heaterman (May 1, 2012)

Love the home made grapple on the skidsteer by the way...........


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