I ended up getting the 2 Grundfos 15-58's, and a 500' coil of 1/2" pex-al-pex from pexuniverse.com and am excited to see how they end up performing.
As far as the timber tank debate goes, I think the elimination of thermal bridging compensates for the higher price with increased performance.
I've also been thinking recently about low cost tank options that are a lot faster to put together. Sure the framed tank is cheap but it's very labor intensive and time consuming. I'm interested in using large plastic water tanks as a more durable and ready to go option. It could rest on a foamboard base, a simple exterior enclosure (foamboard? maybe a woven plastic bag or cheap framing and drywall?) and fill the walls with blow-in insulation (fiberglass probably if moisture could be an issue). The result could be a tank with little warping, a cheap thermal barrier with no thermal bridging, potentially longer lifespan (?), and faster construction time.
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