Can domestic coil be installed and not used right away?

I have a stainless steel domestic hot water coil made by Hilkoil to install. But it is going to take some work to get it installed due to the fact that the water tank is over 10 feet away. There are a few ways to install this coil one being with a circulator the other with a tempering tank. I am planning on going with tempering tank so coil does not require any power to operate coil.
What is every ones advice for best method to install tempering tank or circ. pump?
I am planning on putting in a tempering tank but hate to buy a tank if I can find and old water tank that no longer works and use it to temper water.
If I install domestic hot water coil and do not put water to it right away will the coil stand up to the heat with out any water in it?
thanks Jim

When ever I get to setting ours up I'm going to go with a circulating pump and a storage tank to preheat the water before going into the oil fired water heater. We have three stainless steel pumps (3 speed) on our radiant system and they ran a lot last year and really didn't affect our electric bill at all. I might go with some type of setup like this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... :IT&ih=002 of course making our own, depending on how hot the sides get or maybe even putting something like that on top to the steal the heat before it blows into the heating tube to heat another section of the house.

As far as running the stove with the DHW coil open with no water in it would depend on the manufacture if it could handle the heat or not? But more then likely the metal is going to be too soft to have it in there without something to cool it off.

Hi jimbo, call Hilkoil and ask them about leaving the coil installed dry. I think several members have stoves with unused coils or that were unused for awhile..I think john.... wood'ncoal used his alaska without the coil hooked up for several months before plumbing it in.

As for the circulator or no circulator, remember, gravity flow is slow.. so your recovery time will be slow.. the small ciruculators use the electricity of a 100W bulb or less.. not much electricity at all. And if you plumb a bypass around the pump you can try both, and switch to gravity flow during a power outage. I'm assuming you have city water, otherwise, no electricity, no well pump either.

Greg L
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The answer is if the coil is stainless steel type 304 which most coils from hilkoil are then you shouln't install it until you intend to use it. The heat wiil cause the stainless to discolor which adversely affects its resistance to corrosion exponentially by changing its chemistry and allowing the nitric and sulphuric acids of the coal burning and the fly ash to corrode the coil and vastly weaken its burst strenght. This comes from many years of working for a stainless steel manufacturer.

If the coil is immersed in boiler water, such as with efm's boiler design, there is no need to have it piped or or even used at all.

This is a boiler or a hot air furnace? If it's a boiler no problem, but if it's hot air that means the coil is more or less right in the flame. I would not run it dry.
As long as the tempering tank is at the same level as the stove, gravity should work fine. If the stove is up stairs & the tank own stairs, go with the pump.