Emergency cooling coil in the EKO - anyone use it?

[stee6043]

Has anyone considered using the "emergency boiler cooling system" on their EKO's for something useful? First off - I don't have a clue as to how it's piped inside the boiler. Is it simply another water jacket?

If it is just another water jacket I'd love to use it to pre-heat my DHW. I'm sure there will be loads of good reasons not to do this (such as cooling the boiler too much during operation) but I thought I'd throw it out there and see what the fine people here think...

 

[Eric Johnson]

I think it's a coil or other piping arrangement within the water jacket. But it's mild steel, not copper or ss, so you might have a corrosion problem, over time, if you tried to run oxygenated water through it. As I understand it, it's designed only for occasional use in relative emergencies. I think it's a Euro code thing, which is why nobody recommends using it on this side of the Atlantic. I suppose you could get around the corrosion potential problem by getting fancy and turning it into a closed loop with a heat exchanger, but that's a lot more work than just modifying an existing zone.

Anyway, it's a moot point with me. I had to cut mine off to get it to fit in my boiler room.

 

[webbie]

It's a good fail-safe system for those who have city water pressure - these coils usually take cold city water in, cool the boiler, and then dump the water down a drain.

But if you have a well, they aren't going to work.......

 

[stee6043]

Very interesting. I don't plan on touching mine but I thought it would be interesting to consider. Eventually I'll pre-heat my DHW but not this year.

Thanks for the replies, as usual....

 

[WoodNotOil]

I find that interesting. Tarms have the option of putting in a DHW coil and mine has one. Perhaps an alternate power out overheat option is to put an automag or like valve that opens when the power goes out on the DHW coil emptying down a drain. Would that cool the boiler enough in an overheat power out situation? It sounds less expensive than a separate overheat loop.

 

[leaddog]

I've been using mine for warm water for my donkeys in the winter. I'ts close to my barn and they like the warm water better than cold. I'ts surprizing how often you want some hot water when you are outside. It even worked good with mt pressure washer a couple of times.
leaddog