i just added a heat exchanger for my hot water i have a cetral boiler outdoor stove i run the water temp at 185 my plumber ran the water from the drain on the bottom of the tank to the heat exchanger and the hot water return to the hot side on the tank i have real hot water just thought the water should be piped into the cold side back into the tank not right into the hot water line there is a shut of valve that is closed that is stoping water from the tank from going into the hot line just the water going through the exchanger is going to the hot line is this ok
I had to think about it for a minute, but yeah, that should be fine. The way he has it piped, you can still run the original water heater if you want, but, with the valve at the top of the tank shut, then your hot water will come from the drain tap at the bottom of the tank, go through the exchanger in the boiler and out to the hot water supply piping. This way you're relying on the hot water being held in your boiler as your reserve, with it's heat being exchanged to the potable water through the exchanger. As I think about it, there's really no reason why you couldn't open the hot water valve and run the boiler and the water heater at the same time if you wanted to,...although I can't think of any reason to do so...unless you had a really extraordinarily heavy demand for hot water. Keep in mind that if he had piped it into the hot water tank instead of directly into the hot water supply pipe, ...then you'd have to maintain that water temp in the tank, even when no hot water is being used. As I said...the way it's piped...the boiler itself is what gives you that reserve of heat to be applied to your potable water. Should be fine.
Ask the plumber what he was thinking when he plumbed it that way? You're paying for it anyway.
