Underground insulated pex piping

Winter is over now installing Keystoker K-6 is underway. Boiler is being installed in detached workshop and will be pipe into mclain oil boiler that's locate in the house. I'm looking at 2 options to run piping, 1 is 60ft underground with 12 ft inside of building. Second is 30 ft underground and 36 ft inside building. Friend mention to go with first op because second op will be to much heat loss with open pipe in shop. What size dia for insulated pex pipe and is the 5 wrap the best?

I guess if it were me I'd go for the least underground I could. Pipe size depends on BTU demand. I'd memory serves me, 1" Pex will handle about 75,000 BTU's. Do a bit of home work....or someone will come along with better numbers. I think 1" Pex is a different size than 1" Pex-al-Pex.

Too much heat in the open shop with the run in the outbuilding, can't you utilize that heat to temper that work space? Even if it warms the space 10 or 20 degrees, it will only benefit you, with stored materials, and additional comfortable work space. Just a thought. I just wish I thought about the future more with my setup, there is nothing like warm areas to work on things.

Freddy, the pex I'm looking is carried by Central Boiler (outdoor wood boilers) link http://www.mainlinehs.com/Site/CentralB ... ation.html. After calculation it will take 89,100 btu's for house and shop.

2001Sierra wrote:Too much heat in the open shop with the run in the outbuilding, can't you utilize that heat to temper that work space? Even if it warms the space 10 or 20 degrees, it will only benefit you, with stored materials, and additional comfoatable work space. Just a thought. I just wish I thought about the future more with my setup, there is nothing like warm areas to work on things.

Sierra, I was looking on making the shortest distance to shop underground, to cut cost on insulated piping. In doing this it would create a larger pipe run inside of shop. Not thinking it would be a heat lost,since shop would benefit. Also will be installing possible modine heater in shop. That was the layout until friend said it would be better to keep most of the pipe underground.

If you intend to heat the shop, by all means run as much pipe as you can before you go underground.

You can always insulate the pipe in the shop later...
It will always be dry...

CapeCoaler wrote:You can always insulate the pipe in the shop later...
It will always be dry...

AMEN

Rob R. wrote:If you intend to heat the shop, by all means run as much pipe as you can before you go underground.

What he said!

Thermopex is quite expensive.....but worth it in the long run. If you can afford it, do it. I didn't go that route....this is what I did:

Insulating My Pipes

I put a modine heater in my garage also and have no problem heating my house and garage with 1" pex al pex.

Thanks everyone for the replies, I ask questions so it's done right the first time.

I have about 100 feet of 1 1/4 inch thermopex and maybe another 45 feet of copper inside of my shop. The pipes do help to take the chill off the shop, but I did start to insulate before I shut the system down for the summer. With 1/2 inch of fiberglass pipe insulation I could still feel a bit of warmth, but not much. I"ll miss the heat in the shop until I put a zone there. I looked at a lot of different options for the underground pipe--foam in ditch, wrapped pex inside of pvc, wrapped pex inside tile drain. After pricing things out locally. the costs for all options that seemed likely to perform well clustered pretty close to the cost of the thermopex before factoring in labor. Surprised me, and made the decision to go with the thermopex right for me. It is a good product.

I'd keep as much out of the ground as well. Started with PAP, hand wrapped and installed in tile. Ripped it out the following summer after watching thawed ground in February. Too deep and into the groundwater that time.

The next run was Uponor (spelling may be incorrect). Guess what? I put this 18-24" down, way out of the groundwater. Still have heat escaping although not nearly as much but it's the first place to have green grass.

I have about 50' of exposed BI pipe in my garage. Only a couple times this past winter did I start a coal stove to warm it. The residual heat from the AA and the pipes maintain about 40°F all winter.

Just my $.02 of course.