Domestic Hot Water Temp???

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pearlset79

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 19, 2008
40
Plattsburgh, NY
hi all, looking toward the spring/summer and it appears i will have more than enough pellets. if i am just using the PB for hot water, what is a good temp or range?? i now have the min at 155 and max at 180, but this is for when i need to heat my home. thanks for any help....
 
Not sure what your set up is but my boiler is down to about 165 for the summer. There is a side arm exchanger on my water heater and a tempering valve that controls the temperature of the water that is being used to about 120 so I never have scalding. The valve is adjustable so I can go higher or lower if I choose. I bought it at M**ards. I find I don't have to run a fire 24/7. Just a few hours in the early evening to heat the tank and I'm good until the next evening.
 
Don't have a boiler but my electric water heater is set to cruise at 120. The preferred minimum temp for the dishwasher. And good showers.
 
I think you would want your boiler temp set at aleast 140* to keep down any condensation.
leaddog
 
i do believe that it needs to be over 140 for the condensation issue....i remember reading that somewhere. i understand what people are saying about the water temp, but i am interested at what the min and max settings on my boiler should be when i only am using it for DHW in the late spring and summer. just trying to conserve as many pellets as i can. people talk about only needing 1/4-1/2 bag/day in the summer for hot water and that would be amazing!!! lol......
 
one additional thing....i am asking about the temp on the PB. the temp on my indirect hot water tank is set to about 130 degrees....again thanks for anyone's suggestions as to what worked for them!!!
 
DHW water tanks should be 140 to meet the codes. This is primarily to kill legionella bacteria, the source of legionaires disease. You will of course be stratified lower, and should be tempered down to 110-115 for the actual hw flowing.

Your boiler temps will have to be higher to get near this temp quickly. But I don't think we'll be able to advise you on what's the most cost effective temp/burn rate. Burning a hot fire occasionally is likely to be the cheapest.
 
Ahemmmm.. What code states the DHW vessel should be above code set temp of 120???

Lets not get confused with "suggestions" to keep the tank above code and use a Proportional Thermostatic mix/diverting valve to provide safe temp DHW at the tap!
 
Pearlset-

Some confusion here but I think the answer you are looking for is you can't really turn down your boiler temp (not much anyway). You just adjust how LONG or how frequently your boiler runs to keep your DHW hot, not what temp it runs at. Do you have any sort of control to automatically fire the system only when there is a call for heat? What type of system are you running exactly?
 
I use my LDJ year-round, for DHW only in the summer with an indirect heater. I set my boiler temps at 140--160. Usually idles higher than that anyway even with timer set as long as it can be. I burn corn right now, but the summer usage you describe is about what I see.
 
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