Gary Hoffman
New Member
I have to replace the heating oil tank in my house and have purchased a Roth tank - the type with the plastic inner tank with steel outer containment and top oil outlet. My old oil tank had a bottom outlet to the filter and the Roth tank will have the top outlet with a dip tube inside the tank. I installed the same Roth tank in my workshop 2 years ago. At that time some people have told me I needed to install a tiger loop in the oil supply line at the furnace oil pump because of the top outlet but it has been running fine without it - the bottom of the tank is a few inches higher than the oil pump and once the line is primed it works fine - the oil will actually slowly siphon out of the tank if the line is connected at the furnace oil pump. This is a single 1/2 copper line setup with no return from the pump to the tank. I used 1/2 line because it is a fairly long run (approx 30 ft) and the tank is in an unheated area of the shop so the oil is cold in the winter.
My question is for the new installation I will be doing in the house. The current setup is bottom discharge from the tank to the oil filter and a single 3/8 copper line about 10 ft to the furnace oil pump. There is a 3/8 tee in the line halfway between the filter and the furnace and a 3/8 line feeding a Toyotomi OM-180 water heater. I plan to install the Roth tank about 12 inches off the basement floor so the bottom of the tank will be higher than the furnace and water heater inlets. The Toyotomi installation manual suggests the tank should be higher than the burner oil pump so there is gravity flow for priming the pump. I am wondering if I am going to have problems with the Toyotomi water heater with the top discharge tank or whether the siphon effect once the line is primed will be sufficient. I can prime the line to the furnace with its oil pump and after that should be able to prime the Toyotomi with the siphon effect out of the tank. I could install a tiger loop at the furnace oil pump which will help to prime the line and remove air but in the summer the furnace will not be running at all. The Toyotomi water heater pump does not have an outlet for a return line like the oil furnace pumps so cant run a return line to the tank from the Toyotomi or install a tiger loop at the water heater.
I will greatly appreciate any feedback on problems I might have with this installation or suggestions on how to avoid them.
My question is for the new installation I will be doing in the house. The current setup is bottom discharge from the tank to the oil filter and a single 3/8 copper line about 10 ft to the furnace oil pump. There is a 3/8 tee in the line halfway between the filter and the furnace and a 3/8 line feeding a Toyotomi OM-180 water heater. I plan to install the Roth tank about 12 inches off the basement floor so the bottom of the tank will be higher than the furnace and water heater inlets. The Toyotomi installation manual suggests the tank should be higher than the burner oil pump so there is gravity flow for priming the pump. I am wondering if I am going to have problems with the Toyotomi water heater with the top discharge tank or whether the siphon effect once the line is primed will be sufficient. I can prime the line to the furnace with its oil pump and after that should be able to prime the Toyotomi with the siphon effect out of the tank. I could install a tiger loop at the furnace oil pump which will help to prime the line and remove air but in the summer the furnace will not be running at all. The Toyotomi water heater pump does not have an outlet for a return line like the oil furnace pumps so cant run a return line to the tank from the Toyotomi or install a tiger loop at the water heater.
I will greatly appreciate any feedback on problems I might have with this installation or suggestions on how to avoid them.
