ok, let me try to explain this without overwhelming you.
everything these guys said above, is spot on, Thermopex, iso valves, boiler drains, all a must. very nice if a pump goes down mid season to turn the 2 iso flanges, unbolt 4 bolts, remove pump and bolt in a new one. dont even have to let the boiler cool. also, download the HEATMOR manual, and read the procedure for filling/purging the system, that alone will give u a good idea of what they expect you to be able to do just to fill the system.
also, from what i hear, depth isnt that important, 2ft down is ok, whats more important is that you dont try to lay the pipe at 4ft, down in the water table. water will suck the heat like you cant believe.
i do dirt, so of course mine is 3ft down, with a 1ft sand bed all around it. but i am high and dry from groundwater.
Heatmor DOESNT need a thermostat wire to call for heat, it maintains 165-180 on its own. BUT. a DUMP wire is recomended. the second aquastat has a red wire so when it does a emergency shutdown, it can ACTIVATE a zone in the building to dump the boilers heat avoiding a boilover.
i wire the OWB circulator pump to a cord plug, so i can unplug in the summer, and also remove pump for service/exchange.(there is a outlet right there in the back of the heatmor for this)
also not needed, but i wish i ran a water line out to the boiler for filling and fire control purposes, and whatever else around the boiler. would be handy, trench was there, so stupid not to lay extra pipe.
to keep the current furnace operational and also to simplify your life, your going to want another clamp on pipe aquastat.
so my house is all wired through a taco 5 station zone controler. all wired to the oil furnace for operation. so my emergency switch must be on for zone pumps to work. so to keep this, but also keep my oil as a backup, i have a clamp on aquastat mounted to the HE loop.(ill cover this loop BS later) so the aquastat has a range parameter, so basicaly if the pipe is 120 or hotter, the switch is OPEN, breaking the power feed from the zone control to the furnace EYE. if the aquastat detects the water temp is below 120, it closes the circuit, powering the photocell, and the Oil burner completes the call for heat by firing.
otherwise, the zones are tricked into operating as they should, thinking the oil has lit, when actually the OWB is providing its heat.
so now the stupid HEAT EXCHANGER LOOP. this is stupid, and while it makes servicing EASIER, it makes your efficiency go backwards. during heating season, i have to run 2 taco circulators 24/7,one is OWB-HE,other is HE to Oil furnace.
heatmor says it doesnt have to be like this. the HE can be plumbed in series with the zone-oil furnace loops, so the heat exchanger sits there HOT, and when a zone calls for heat, its pump provides the circulation.
im running a extra taco 0011 24hrs a day for no good reason.
