EZ Boilers Plumbing Installation
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Pipe fittings necessary for installation are available at most local hardware stores and home improvement centers. We can also recommend SupplyHouse, an online vendor that offers good prices on plumbing parts. SupplyHouse
It is very important when you first fire your stove to allow the water to come up to operating temperature (160° to 180°) before you actually start heating your home or other structure. If you start drawing heat out of the water too soon, the stove will not be able to catch up, and creosote will probably clog your chimney. Keep the water pump(s) operating, but don’t turn the indoor thermostat for the outdoor stove up until that operating temperature is reached.
Stove Outdoor Plumbing
Completed Assembly
The picture above also shows an electric anode rod installed
The insulated PEX line has two water tubes, a red one that takes heated water from the stove into your house, and a blue one that returns cooled water from the house to the stove. Here is a picture of the back of the stove without the outer housing attached, showing the ports for the plumbing connections.
The fittings on the back of the stove are 1” threaded female. Here is a diagram of the basic fittings needed to attach the PEX lines to the stove, taken from our Owner’s Manual.
Here is a photo of the fittings needed for a double pump installation with two return lines teed together. We recommend that you use a Y fitting instead of the tee fitting shown here. The Y fitting will allow the two streams of water in the return lines to merge more smoothly into one stream. The tee shown here should have been installed so that one of the longer straight ends carries return water directly up to the stove’s water tank. It still works, but results in unnecessary water turbulence which may slow the flow.
The grounding rod is driven into the ground next to the stove, and connected to the stove with heavy gauge wire.
Here is the completed installation. The pumps and valves should also be covered with insulating batting to minimize heat loss. Keep that insulation attached simply enough to allow quick access to the pumps when necessary.
If you have 2 return lines for your system, add a y-fitting to connect the 2 return lines to the return port. This will provide a smoother water flow than would a tee fitting.
If you have difficulty locating a y-fitting, a common tee-fitting will work fine, either brass or PEX depending on what kind of pipes you are working with. Just be sure to orient the fitting in a way to get the smoothest water flow. An illustration above from a customer’s double return line installation will work, but below is the preferred orientation of the fitting.
Here is a picture of the water line connections to a heat exchanger in a furnace plenum in an attic installation. By installing the bypass line between the supply and return lines, you can shut off the flow of heated water to the furnace during warm periods in Spring and Fall. The home can overheat on a warm day, even without the blower running. Then at night or on a colder day, it is a simple matter to open the valves again. Just be sure to keep the water flowing through EITHER the furnace coil OR the bypass valve so that the pump can circulate water through freely.
The “Pump Plumbing” diagram shows that 2 pump flanges are needed to attach the water pump. Pay close attention to the direction of water flow here. There is an arrow on the side of the water pump. It MUST be pointing DOWN, away from the stove and towards the red PEX line into the ground. We recommend that you remove your pumps for a thorough cleaning of the impellers when you drain the stove in the Spring. Excess mineral deposits on the pump impellers will reduce efficiency, and eventually cause the pump to overheat and fail.
The water pump has a plastic check valve that is not needed for this application. Simply remove and discard it before installation.
There is an adjustment to the “Boiler Drain” connection if you add an anode rod there. We do STRONGLY recommend that you install a magnesium anode rod to help protect the water jacket from corrosion. Magnesium rods work well together with our nitrite water treatment. It is the same simple technology used to protect hot water heaters from premature failure. Add a tee fitting to the drain port, then attach the drain faucet below the tee, and you can insert a 42” sacrificial anode rod straight through the tee fitting and into the stove’s water jacket. You will need to use a reducing fitting to accommodate the smaller anode rod threads. When the rod erodes, the material will fall to the bottom of the tank as sludge, so take care to flush it out thoroughly in the Spring when you drain the water tank. Lifting the front of the stove slightly with a jack will help everything drain out thoroughly.
Make sure that the threads on all of the fittings are clean, and always use plumbing thread sealant to ensure a leak-free installation. At the end of the heating season after you drain your stove, pull the anode rod out and examine it. Replace it when it it is worn out. We can’t provide a timetable for when it will need replacing, because everyone’s water quality is different. The corrosion you see on the anode rod would have occurred on the water jacket if the anode rod hadn’t been there to sacrifice itself.
When you have tested everything to make sure that there are no leaks and water is circulating properly, be sure to wrap everything in insulation. Removing the black steel panels from the back of the stove makes it easier to use a pipe wrench for the connections. It also eases the installation of pipe wrap around the return line that runs up to the top of the stove. Any exposed water lines or pipes reduces the stove’s efficiency, and increases the chance that water could freeze if your fire dies unexpectedly.
Indoor Plumbing
Throughout each step, keep in mind that what you are doing amounts to a simple, single loop, from the outdoor boiler to the indoor furnace, then to the indoor hot water heater, and then back to the outdoor boiler.
The necessary fittings will vary depending on your existing plumbing. You should also install shutoff valves at each connection to make future maintenance easier. If you have old plumbing that has been cobbled together over the years, this may be a good time to straighten it out. PEX lines make it easy.
Hot water heater
If you plan to also heat your domestic hot water supply with the outdoor boiler, you need to run the hot water from the outdoor stove to the forced air furnace in your house before running it to the indoor hot water heater. Here is a fine video showing a properly installed plate heat exchanger. The video does say to run the heated water from the outdoor stove to the hot water heater first. However, we believe that this results in domestic hot water that is much hotter than needed, which increases the risk of being scalded.
Remember, the plate heat exchanger connects to the water tank’s COLD water supply line. The Heated water from the outdoor stove gets connected to the indoor furnace first, then goes from there to the hot water heater, and finally returns to the outdoor stove. In situations where there is not enough room over the water heater tank to install the exchanger as shown above, the exchanger can be positioned differently. However, for maximum efficiency, it is best to install it as close to the water heater as possible. We can give you specific advice for your unique situation.
Forced Air Furnace
The way that your Ezboilers outdoor boiler heats your home is via a water-to-air heat exchanger installed in the plenum of the home’s furnace. The only special consideration is for situations where there is a central air system already installed in conjunction with the furnace. The new hot water exchanger cannot be installed too close to the air conditioning exchanger, because it could actually cause the water to freeze when the air conditioner is operating. If the heat exchanger must be installed very close to the air conditioning coil, you would need to drain the heat exchanger before using the air conditioning. We want to avoid that option. The best practice is to install the heat exchanger as close to the furnace as possible, but at least 4″ above the furnace, between the furnace and the air conditioner coil. Here are a couple of videos showing how to install the exchanger.
You can certainly install the heat exchanger by cutting into just one side of the plenum and attaching angle brackets to the interior sides of the plenum for the exchanger to rest on. The key to it working well is making sure to seal everything with metal tape so the maximum amount of air flows through the heat exchanger, not around it.
There are situations, especially in older houses, where there just seems to be too little room to work on the plenum. We are always available to help you figure it out. We don’t just drop off your new stove and leave when we deliver it. We walk you through the entire installation process, including inspecting your existing heating system, to make sure that you understand how to do it right.
Indoor Boiler System
If you heat your home with an indoor boiler system rather than a forced air system, you use a water-to-water plate exchanger to bring heat from the Ezboiler’s stove to the indoor boiler system. It is the same procedure as is used to connect to your hot water heater. Again, you only cut into the “cold” return lines from the indoor boiler. Here are a couple of nice videos describing the simple procedure.
EZ Boilers stoves work with radiant floor heating installations as well. Here is a picture of an example manifold for distribution of heated water to the different heating zones.
For help with installing radiant heating, we recommend our friends at Radiantec. They offer FREE design assistance, instruction manuals, and brochures, even if you do it yourself. They will help you do the job right.
The heat exchanger for your furnace can be installed even in situations where the furnace is located in an attic space.
