Hooking up the Hot Water Heater
With an electric hot water heater, we recommend that you unscrew the pop-up
valve and replace it with a ‘T’ fitting (using Teflon or plumbers tape). Screw the
pop-up valve back on one side of the T and mount the circulating pump on the
other side of the T. Attach the Pex pipe to the pump (outgoing cool water).
Remove the drain and do the same, putting in a T with the drain screwing back in
on one side and the Pex Pipe connector (incoming heated water) on the other.
Remove the lower access plate on the hot water heater. Mount a hot water heater
thermostat on the tank with silicone around the outside edge - above, below or
beside the existing thermostat, at the bottom element. It’s about $8 at your local
hardware store. Smear the bottom of the thermostat with dielectric grease
(available at auto parts stores) before installing it. This facilitates better heat
transfer to the thermostat. Wire it so that 110V is on one terminal and the pump on
the other, just like a light switch. Common and ground wires go to the pump.
You just saved $200 for a side-arm heat exchanger! You can still use the heater as
normal in the summer and as a backup. Just turn your Hot Water heater circuit
breaker off during the winter
or
turn the thermostat down lower, than the one you
just installed. Turn the breaker back on in the summer and turn up thermostat.
NOTE:
The Hot Water coils are submerged in water, in the tank of the outdoor furnace.
35