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indirect water heater

mburg
mburg Member Posts: 48
in THE MAIN WALL
any suggestions on a indirect water heater that has an electric coil so we don't have to fire wood boiler during summer. I want to be able to have electric take over dhw whenever wood boiler isn't fired.

Comments

  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,312
    I would call that a standard electric "hot" water heater, no??
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,491
    Vaughn has and/or will make what you need.
    http://www.vaughncorp.com/
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,983
    pretty much all of the solar tanks have a backup element near the top of the tank to provide some DHW.
    Some installers connect them to a timer to only bring on before the homeowner arrives home from work to assure DHW.
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    Solid_Fuel_Man
  • Solid_Fuel_Man
    Solid_Fuel_Man Member Posts: 2,644
    edited September 2016
    I have had excellent experience with Heat-Flo Inc. They have a vast selection of stainless I directs with electric backup. As hother rod said look for a solar tank.

    And no I do not work for or have any affiliation with them!

    Taylor
    Serving Northern Maine HVAC & Controls. I burn wood, it smells good!
    njtommyZman
  • mburg
    mburg Member Posts: 48
    i noticed most solar tanks would only have a single 4500 watt element I'm afraid this wont provide the recovery a homeowner would expect.
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,983
    On a 30A 240V circuit you can run a 5500W element, those are readily available. That equates to 18,700 BTU/hr.
    6KW elements are also available, depending on you actual voltage that is cutting it close on a 30A circuit.

    That backup elements generally heat the top 1/2 or top 1/3 of the tank, so you only look at 20- 30 gallons being recovered by that element.

    A typical off the shelf 20 gallon electric heater may have a 2000W - 3500W element, as an example.
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • kcopp
    kcopp Member Posts: 4,491
    edited September 2016
    Wouldn't it just be easier to have 2 tanks? I do this w/ my seasonal solar set up. I have a 50 gal solar set up as a preheat to my 60 gallon indirect WH off my boiler.
    In your case use the wood boiler HW set up as the preheat and have an Electric that you feed w/ the wood boiler. Put a mixing valve off the electric for protection if the wood set up gets too hot.
    You may find that the cost of two tanks is the same as a specialized coil tank w/ an electric element.
  • JUGHNE
    JUGHNE Member Posts: 11,312
    We have a 119.9 gallon tank, it is a 1994 Rheem "Air Head" solar tank. It has the 4500 element in the upper opening. The lower port has the pump attached to it.
    The first two years we had electric water heating only. The single element kept up with a family of 4, (2 teenage boys).
    I don't recall any shortage of hot water as I am sure I would have heard about it.
    We now have home made tube in shell exchanger with ModCon and use this tank for storage only.

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