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WendyH
Hope this is the right board for this question ... I'm planning a simple hot water system for an off-grid agricultural building. Nothing fancy. Straightforward vented hot water cylinder of about 90 litres' capacity. It's to supply hot water to 2 sinks and a washing machine plus underfloor heating for one room in winter only. Pipe runs will be short and straightforward. There are two heat sources. Solar and a 16-litre heat exchanger built into the flue of a wood-fired cookstove. The solar will be indirect as it makes most sense in the context. My question is, would the wood-fired heat source make more sense plumbed direct or indirect? I'm thinking direct, since there is far less chance of boiling a larger volume of water, though with the heat exchanger on the flue, rather than in direct contact with the fire, the chances of it getting excessively warm are much less. I would love to hear opinions on this ... Thanks.