John's Boiler

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Guest
Hi John. Last year about this time we went around a little about antifreeze in our outdoor boilers. If I remember correctly you do not run any antifreeze as Central Boiler does not reccomend it. (I think you have a Central Boiler.) Anyway, mine is a Central Boiler CL 6040 or something like that. After speaking at length with a Central Boiler Rep their biggest concern is that the general public will put in automotive antifreeze which is a big no-no. You have to use Boiler Antifreeze. The kind I am using is Harvey Heat 100. It is an inhibited propylene glycol fluid. It is Non-toxic and non-corroding. It costs about $11.00 per gallon. It will not limit heat transfer.
I am telling you this only because being married to your wood stove day after day every winter can get tiresome - even stressful - when you have to worry about not feeding it on time and freezing up your system. I know how much my system cost and I'm sure your's wasn't free either. I have burned wood for many years. When I put in my new system I used the antifreeze to give me the freedom of leaving for a week and not having to worry. I have neighbors and friends that would keep things going in an emergency but going riding in Mich or vacationing in the Bahamas does not really qualify as an emergency in my book.
On another note, do you have your water heater(s) hooked up to your woodstove? If you don't you should. It is a great feature. Thanks for the season forecast. I'm about half excited. Tom.
 
jd

jd

Administrator
Staff member
Hi Tom.

Thanks for the clarification on the anti-freeze. Makes perfect sense.

My boiler has a propane back-up, so I never really have to worry about it freezing up. I suppose if I did leave it unattended and the propane back-up did not work, then I would be in trouble, but I can usually load it up and it will make it through 4-5 days easy and not burn through all the wood, then it takes around 2-3 days for it to cool down to double digits after that, so it can go almost a week without concern.

I suppose anti-freeze would be a good insurance policy and perhaps I will look into adding it to my system.

I do heat our domestic hot water with the boiler, even the pool water in the summer!

-John
 
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Guest
Hi again John. 4-5 days is extraordinary burn time. What kind of wood do you use over there? Over here we try to use oak and tamarack. Also do you use a plenum mounted water to air exchanger or are you hydronic floorzones? There are so many ways to do this and obviously you have a very good system if you only have to replenish your fuel every 36 hours plus. Just trying to see if I could improve my system. I realize we are a little colder over here than you are over in Mich. Also we usually have more wind to draw heat away from even the tightest structures. Just fishing a little here if you don't mind. Tom.
 
jd

jd

Administrator
Staff member
I burn primarily hard maple, with a little bit of yellow birch that shows up in the load.

I use radiant in-floor heat and just run the boiler water through the floors.

I have th 6054, which is a pretty big unit for what we are heating, but I do plan to heat the other half of the shop and the main home (once it is built). So that is why I went with the bigger unit.

I actually toss just enough wood to get me through the next 24 hours. That way I do not have wood in the firebox that does not need to be burned. Right now I am burning 3 logs that are around 2 feet long and 8-12" in diameter every 24 hours. In the dead of winter I will have to toss 4-5 of the same size logs.

-John
 
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