# Water Lines From Stove to House



## John R (Dec 12, 2010)

How deep do you bury the lines from the outdoor wood stove to the house?
I read somewhere that they can be too deep.


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## scag52 (Dec 12, 2010)

I went 36" , below frost line


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## boyland (Dec 12, 2010)

normally frost however some places have very high water tables. I prefer my pipes do not sit in water all the time.


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## beerman6 (Dec 12, 2010)

I went 4' and cheap... I'm paying for it now.

I'm melting snow where the pipes are.

On the plus side I just went out to check the OWB and the door was almost frozen shut,so I know thats insulated well


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## hardy steve (Dec 12, 2010)

Even though I went 32-36 deep .I did'nt insulate the main 4" pipe ,but i insulate the 4 pex lines inside with black armour flex pipe ins.I do see snow melt on surface.I'm still only losing about 6degs coming in from owb to exchanger.


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## nparch726 (Dec 12, 2010)

do you know what type or brand of underground pipe you'll be using?


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## Iska3 (Dec 12, 2010)

My house has a 135 ft run 18 to 24 inches underground and on top of the ground for 12ft in the crawl space to the house. The garage has a 35 ft run 18 inches to the garage and then on top of the ground at the garage. No heat loss on either line. I used ThermoFlex Paid like $8.00 per ft and free shipping. Best thing I ever did.


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## iCreek (Dec 12, 2010)

Depends on your frost line. If I recall we went about 32" maybe 36" and I think our frost line is 18" - 20" in our county. Not sure you can go to deep?


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## nparch726 (Dec 12, 2010)

whatever you do, don't use the cheap pipe! there are just a ton of horror stories about going cheap on pipe, then having to dig it back up and do it right. spend the money and do it right the first time!!


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## BPS. LLC (Dec 12, 2010)

How do you find out how deep the frost line is for your region? I don't see how you could go too deep though.


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## iCreek (Dec 12, 2010)

BPS said:


> How do you find out how deep the frost line is for your region? I don't see how you could go too deep though.




Google is your friend, looks to be 36" - 54" depending on your region in Pennsylvania.
http://www.engr.psu.edu/phrc/pubs\TB0101.pdf

Michigan (OP) looks to be 42"


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## blackdogon57 (Dec 12, 2010)

Thermopex pipes don't need to be below the frost line. The CB guys around here bury 24".


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## 1harlowr (Dec 13, 2010)

Mine goes up hill from the house 110' to the OWB. Shallowest is where it comes out of the house, 36" deep. Gets deeper towards the stove, 54" deep. My BIL dug it for free so I reasoned the deeper the better.

Used black foam insulation in a water proof pipe. No snow melting that deep


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## timg (Dec 14, 2010)

I live in North Carolina and mine is down around 16-24 in. I got my local insulation service to come and spray mine with closed cell foam and put all of this in a layer of 6 mil black plastic. We had a 6" snow last year and no snow melt.
timg


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## gwiley (Dec 15, 2010)

I tried for 18" - went a little shallow in a few spots. I see a little surface snow melt at times which tells me that my insulation on the pipes is not doing its job.

The key points in choosing a depth are:

1. Keep the pipes out of the ground water, water is GREAT at conducting away heat.

2. Keep the pipes low enough to avoid damage from surface events

3. Keep the pipes below the frost line to reduce the cooling effect.

As others have said - don't pinch pennies on insulation - good pipe will pay for itself in one season over crappy pipe.


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## Skiboat Dave (Dec 15, 2010)

I live in New England and put mine down two feet. I went way overboard with my install. I used the thermo pex line at $13 a foot. The stove is 100 feet from the house so the pipe cost me $1,300.00 and then used 2" insulation around the entire pipe!!! :jawdrop: I used about 14 sheets of insulation at $40.00 a sheet!! $560.00 Plus a load of sand.


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## 1harlowr (Dec 15, 2010)

Skiboat Dave said:


> I live in New England and put mine down two feet. I went way overboard with my install. I used the thermo pex line at $13 a foot. The stove is 100 feet from the house so the pipe cost me $1,300.00 and then used 2" insulation around the entire pipe!!! :jawdrop: I used about 14 sheets of insulation at $40.00 a sheet!! $560.00 Plus a load of sand.



Sheet insulation will insulate until it gets wet. It's not designed for underground insulation. Hate to say it, but in my opinion the $560 was wasted. Most inportant thing about the underground piping is to keep the ground water away from the water lines.


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## Skiboat Dave (Dec 15, 2010)

Blue sheet insulation is installed on the exterior of foundations in NE all the time. It main use is underground. I am not sure what you mean?


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## 1harlowr (Dec 15, 2010)

Skiboat Dave said:


> Blue sheet insulation is installed on the exterior of foundations in NE all the time. It main use is underground. I am not sure what you mean?



Laying in a trench it won't keep ground water away from the pipes. Insulation will loose most of it's benefits if water can get through it. jmo


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## WiscoNeil (Dec 15, 2010)

boyland said:


> normally frost however some places have very high water tables. I prefer my pipes do not sit in water all the time.



I didn't consider the water table, I should have though. We have very high water; it caused some trouble when we put in the new septic this past summer; stupid mound systems. The water gets higher the farther UP the slope of the yard. Figure that out! No, really, please tell me how that works. 

If the water is at 36"-48" here in Plymouth WI, what would be needed to prevent that from interfering with a 50-100' run of insulated pex?


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## pwl (Dec 15, 2010)

My Thermopex is 8 to 10" down. Just deep enough so I don't bother it when I drive over it with my truck and trailer. Zero snow melt. It's been in almost 6 years.


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## Scootermsp (Dec 15, 2010)

*ThermoPex*

My CB ThermoPex is buried about 24" and wrapped in utility sand. 70' run to house. No temp difference from OWB to house yet the ground around the pipe does not really freeze.


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## wooddog 066 (Dec 16, 2010)

I recommend maxx-r insulation and bury it 26 -30" deep and no snow melt HERE PAY ONCE AND BE DONE!!!!


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## hardy steve (Dec 16, 2010)

I seen utility sand.Is sand better than dirt?Or is it used to pull water away from pipe?Thanks


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## Paul61 (Dec 17, 2010)

Thermopex, no more than 24" deep.
My runs are : 250' to house, 125' to shop, with little or zero heat loss, & no melting snow on top. The last 6 feet to the house is above ground & under the decking.
Do it right & spend the $$ on good pipe, forget about insulating yourself.

I love NOT giving 5 grand++ a year to the oil company!

Cheers & good luck with your install.

Paul


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