Nature's Comfort SM-H60 User manual

SM-H60 Solar Water Heater
Installation Manual
Congratulations on the purchase of your new
SM-H60 solar water heater from Nature’s Comfort LLC!
You must rea this entire instruction manual before beginning installation to
completely un erstan system requirements.
Aquastats, heat exchangers, mixing valves, pex pipe, pumps, valves an 1” brass pex fittings are all
available from your Nature’s Comfort Dealer or you may or er irectly by calling 877-251-7740 ext 304.

If you shoul ever have a problem or question refer to this manual or call your ealer. If your ealer oes not have the information
you nee , request they contact Nature’s Comfort an we will further e ucate them to provi e the best possible customer service. If
you are unable to get service from or reach your ealer you may contact Nature’s Comfort via email:
[e-mail]. If you o not have email you may call 877-251-7740. Please keep in min that Nature’s Comfort
has no control over the installation, weather con itions, the efficiency of a buil ing’s insulation or what is burne in a boiler.
How It Works
• The SM-H60 is a solar water heater that uses the sun’s ra iant energy to heat water through the use of 60 ouble
wall vacuum insulate glass tubes. Each tri-element glass tube has a coating on the outsi e of the inner layer of glass
ma e up of nitrogen aluminum to absorb heat on top of a copper coating to transfer an hol in the heat. As water
is heate through the glass it rises an flows into the boiler it is connecte to, rawing in cooler water from the
bottom of the boiler to circulate by thermo-siphoning. The ouble wall vacuum insulate glass tubes provi e the
best insulation an won’t freeze the water insi e uring winter nights. Heat pro uction can reach up to 72,000 btu’s
per ay.
Safety Notes
• Always wear gloves an safety glasses whenever installing or working on or aroun the system.
• Tubes without water in them can reach over 400 egrees insi e. DO NOT LOOK INTO OR PL CE YOUR FINGERS IN
TUBE OR M NIFOLD.
• C UTION! Water temperatures can exceed 200F! See additional notes on page 4
Placement of the Solar Heater
• Ensure frame is place level in all irections. The top of the solar manifol must be within 2-4 feet of the si e of
boiler an must be lower than where it enters the water jacket on the solar return port so the heate water can rise.
Use a 1” pex line from the top of the manifol to run on a straight upwar angle to the solar return port on the
boiler so the heate water will rise (thermo-siphoning) an so air cannot get trappe . It is esigne to work most
efficiently at that istance an is not guarantee to work in any other way.
• The silicon ring gaskets for sealing the tubes to the manifol are not esigne for pressures greater than 14 psi.
Placing the bottom of the solar heater lower than 32 feet below the top of the boiler water jacket will damage the
system.
• The SM-H60 is esigne solely for installation an operation on the groun in conjunction with an out oor boiler or
insulate storage tank. Installing per this manual requires no pumps or controllers to work all on its own which
provi es many benefits.
ssembly - Wear gloves an safety glasses!
• Assemble the frame an mount the manifol . See rawings on pages 6, 7 & 8.
• ONLY INST LL THE GL SS TUBES ND FILL WITH W TER BEFORE OR FTER D YLIGHT. Doing so at any other time
will cause the glass tubes to shatter due the extreme temperature difference of the glass tubes reaching over 400
degrees being hit with unheated water. Heat is still produced on cloudy days! The other option is to have water
continually running in from the bottom of the manifol an install the tubes from the bottom up so they will fill with
water imme iately upon insertion into the manifol . Keep the glass tubes insi e the shipping boxes completely
covere from aylight until rea y to imme iately install.
• Before inserting a glass tube into the manifol , coat the en with soapy water before an after putting the black
rubber trim ring on an also coat the manifol gasket for ease of installation. Carefully install each tube into the

manifol by twisting an pushing in to the manifol as straight as possible. Use controlle , firm pressure. The tubes
will su enly sli e easily once fully pushe though the manifol gasket. Use extreme caution not to insert too far so
as to bump into the opposite si e of the manifol or a glass tube on the other si e causing glass to shatter. Put a
small piece of pex or other soft material from above or below another hole through the manifol as you install to
keep the tubes from hitting each other is a goo i ea.
• Slip the plastic en protector over the bottom of the tube an while twisting, pull to seat in place on the metal si e
frame tube hol er.
• NOTE! When installing fittings on the manifol you must hol on to the manifol ports with a wrench or the wel s
will break.
• All water lines for the solar system are require to be a minimum 1” for proper flow an the best thermo-siphoning
performance an must be super insulate . Heat tape will be necessary to install BEFORE you super insulate. Use a
heat tape that has a thermostat so it will only turn on if it gets col to save energy. This is required to protect your
system! If a line freezes, thermo-siphoning cannot take place an boiling can occur, possibly pushing out an
breaking a glass tube or a line can break, raining the system which can also result in amage to your SM-H60 or
your boiler.
• Install a 1” water fee line from the bottom of the water jacket rain outlet at a ownwar angle from the boiler to
the bottom of the solar manifol so the cooler water can fall. Use a T so you can still rain the water jacket if
nee e . Install a 1” line from the top of the manifol on a straight upwar angle to an extra port on the boiler so the
heate water will rise (thermo-siphoning) an so air cannot get trappe .
Installing on boilers with no upper solar return port
**You may only o this if the boiler return line from the house is higher than the top of the solar manifol otherwise
a solar return port must be installe by cutting an wel ing one in to the water jacket.**
• Put a 1” T coming off the return port with the boiler return line lan e on the ‘T’ pointing own. Install a 1” line
from the solar heater into the en of the tee with the following setup: For the solar line in the en of the T use a 1”
male threa to 1” pex fitting. Sol er into the insi e of the male threa a copper ¾” x ½” coupling an then sol er in
that a ½” copper pipe that will exten to a ½” short of coming out of the nipple that is wel e to the boiler. With
this system the water flowing past the ½” copper tube from the boiler return line will move the water in the solar
system by siphon. This setup will not affect summer use when not firing your boiler an the boiler circulation pump
only runs intermittently.
For attaching to boilers where the boiler return port is 1-1/4”, use a 1-1/4” T with bushings to re uce to 1”. Sol er
into the 1” pex a apter a ¾” copper coupling with a ¾” copper pipe that will exten to exactly ½” short of coming
out of the nipple that is wel e to the boiler.

dditional Safety Notes, Installing Multiple Systems, Circulation pumps
• The boiler water jacket level must always have water above the solar return port for thermo-siphoning to work
properly.
• Never close valves to the solar heater! If left close , overheating an amage can occur uring aylight hours. At
night the water will eventually cool an contract, eveloping such a vacuum that it will pull the tubes inwar . If they
on’t rop off the en support an break then the manifol ’s inner metal shell will implo e an be estroye . The
SM-H60 is a non-pressurized system only and must always be vented and kept full of water that can circulate
freely or be completely empty.
• Keep snow cleane off the glass tubes using only a soft bristle brush. Never use hard tools or scrapers!
• For those who have larger boiler systems that want to use multiple SM-H60 systems, this may only be one by
putting the solar heaters in parallel. Putting in series can cause overheating, boiling and possibly push a glass tube
out or burst a pex line that could drain the system. Joining the lines together of parallel systems may only be done
at the boiler or storage tank using a fitting assembly. Never run more than 1 system through a 1” PEX loop.
• If a circulation pump is necessary ue to a longer istance from the boiler, the pump must pro uce less than 14psi
(32’ of hea ) or the glass tubes may be force out from the manifol because of too much pressure. The Broe er
BN29-7 available only from Nature’s Comfort is esigne for this. An aquastat must also be installe at the top of the
manifol to turn the pump on at 130F an off at 125F. This setup is not recommend as pump or electrical failure
can lead to overheating and possibly push a glass tube out or burst a pex line that could drain the system. It is
always best to have the solar heater within 2 - 4 feet of the boiler.
Heat Exchangers
• Install a water to water heat exchanger (available from Nature’s Comfort) on the omestic water heater using a
si earm type installation (tube & shell). A pre-heater type installation using a plate heat exchanger may also be
utilize but oes not work as well uring summer use when not firing your boiler because the temperatures of up to
170F pro uce from the SM-H60 o not get store in the DHW tank like when using a si earm type install. See
rawings later in this manual for how to install.
• Plate heat exchangers installe with the “on- eman ” type setup (bypassing the omestic water heater) may not be
use for summer use because eman can overcome the solar supply. If you alrea y have this type you must re-
plumb your installation for one of the rawings below or a an a itional heat exchanger an plumb bypass
systems in to switch between the two for when firing your boiler or not.
• You must install a water tempering (mixing) valve on the omestic si e to prevent scal ing water (available from
Nature’s Comfort).
• Note for boiler lines: Always use sweeping ben s in the boiler lines as 90 egree fittings a 1’ of hea pressure an
will re uce circulation in heat exchangers an the boiler water jacket effecting efficiency. Use ¾” rubber heater hose
for tight ra iuses (available from Nature’s Comfort).

Summer Use
• For operation when not firing your out oor boiler, a si earm HX must be use an utility energy must be turne on
for the omestic hot water (DHW) in case of too much eman or not enough sunlight. You must also a a cor
en to the aquastat for the boiler pump that must be set to run when the boiler water jacket is 10 egrees or more
above the DHW set point an shuts off when it falls to 5 egrees above the DHW set point so utility energy is not
use to reverse-heat the boiler. See iagram later in this manual. Lower the set point of your DHW to utilize your
solar water heater as much as possible. Make sure to bypass all other heat exchangers in the boiler line so all energy
is use only for heating DHW.
All rawings an pictures are copyrighte material an are the property of Nature’s Comfort. No unauthorize use is permitte without written permission
from Nature’s Comfort LLC, 3790 N SR 5, Shipshewana, IN 46565