Outdoor wood boiler question.

[bird21]

John this is Jon a friend of Chucks we rode together a couple years back. I am building a shop that is 3400 square feet and I will be utilizing in floor heat, I am in need of some info. re: a wood burning boiler. What brand is the route to go?? Did you have any issues with your system. In Illinois there are not to many people familiar with this system so I look to the North for some insight. Any pointers you have for me..

Thanks

 

[jd]

I don't have any direct experience with other manufacturers, but mine is from Central Boiler and I love it. It is more expensive than others, but I think it ends up saving you money (and work) in the long run.

The main thing that seems to separate it from others that friends of mine have is that when it is not calling for heat, the wood just barely smolders. This causes you to go through less wood than other units, which saves you money and the time involved with getting the wood. I have had friends with other units come over and look at it and they say it is much better designed than theirs and they thought it captured more heat in the firebox than theirs.

It also comes with a 25 year warranty and I have yet to have a single problem with mine.

My unit also came with a propane backup, which is nice in the event we go out of town, we do not have to find someone to load it for us, but still have heat.

I am sure there are other makes out there that are good, but I can say without a doubt, you will be pleased with any unit from Central Boiler. And I'm not a paid spokesman!

-John

 

[G]

I too have a Central Boiler system. I will second everything John says. I am located in extreme NW MN where the wind never stops blowing and we get -40 ambient on the coldest days of winter. It just sits out there and cooks. I have a big enough one 'stove' that I can fill it about once every two days. If there would be a single 'tip' i could give anyone it would be to burn decent wood. I burn tamarac. Crappy wood burns faster, gives less heat and makes more ash. The Central Boilers are more expensive than most other brands but this is one of those deals where you get what you pay for.

 

[jd]

Good tip Grub. I agree to burn good wood. Hardwoods only if you can. Yellow Birch is OK too.

I also find that the larger diameter pieces last longer than the smaller ones. What I mean is that one 16" diameter log that is 18" long will burn much longer than two 8" diameter logs that are 18" long. So if you have a choice, pick the larger diameter logs. Basically I like to use as big a log as I can comfortably put into the boiler.

I also find that green (freshly cut) wood works better than the dry. The dry just seems to burn up quickly, while the green smolders much better. The green makes just as much heat when needed as the dry.

Lastly, I only put in enough wood to get me to my next fill. I like to fill once every 24 hours, so I only put in enough wood to make sure I can get through the next 24 hours. That way I do not have wood in the firebox that does not need to burn. I guess it's 6:1, half dozen to another, some folks might not like to load that often, so will load it full and then not have to load it for more than 24 hours. In the dead of winter, if I load it completely full, I will get 4-5 days of heat and hot water, depending on how cold it is.

-John

 

[bird21]

Great advice. I am searching them now and putting the tubes in and pouring the floor Wednesday. I have taken down quite a few large Oaks that were in the shop footprint so wood is plenty.

I am having some of the logs milled onsite to be used as flooring for the loft area. I have taken pictures of the whole project and I will post up a sequence when I can stop and sit for a bit.

As far as fuel I operate a landscape company and generate quite a bit of logs through the season. I thought why not utilize all this free fuel for something, so hence the wood boiler.



Thanks!!!

 

[jd]

Looking forward to the pics.

Pretty cool you will have a source for wood. I think you will find once you get to using the boiler, you will feel like you never have enough wood. It's like money in the bank.

One last thing. I did not use the higher end tubing to run between the boiler and the structures. Mine is just some jumbo pipe insulation to create the insulation and then a plastic sleeve to keep things dry. I do have quite a bit of snow melt where the tubing runs underground and I have heard the higher end tubing that has the tubing, insulation and water proofing outer layer all part of one system is better.

-John

 

[LoveMyDobe]

Womens opinion

We installed this 4yrs ago in 07 when we put our "double wide" trailer home and upgrated everything. In 4yrs we have used half our propane tank. Yes, we have to cut wood( on our land or wherever), Keeps us young in our retirement days!

 

[G]

Looking forward to the pics.

Pretty cool you will have a source for wood. I think you will find once you get to using the boiler, you will feel like you never have enough wood. It's like money in the bank.

One last thing. I did not use the higher end tubing to run between the boiler and the structures. Mine is just some jumbo pipe insulation to create the insulation and then a plastic sleeve to keep things dry. I do have quite a bit of snow melt where the tubing runs underground and I have heard the higher end tubing that has the tubing, insulation and water proofing outer layer all part of one system is better.

-John

John is right on about wood supply. It seems a person can never have enough. I have enough for about three winters but I still am on the lookout for more. As far as insulation for your feed lines the sky is the limit on what you can spend. Central Boiler has a really good system but it is expensive. Up here where I live the ground is gumbo and is a real bear to excavate. There is no such thing as hand digging a three foot trench for any distance. I paid a guy to come in with a small track-hoe to dig about 130 feet of trench for me. I used a product called Insulpipe to enclose my Kytech pipes. All this is is sewer pipe with about 3 inches of foam insulation around it. It sleeves together in 10 foot sections. You put your feed lines inside it. Try to stay away from underground seams in your feed lines. I have thermometers on the feed and return lines on my stove. When the stove is running at its prescribed temp ( 175 - 185 F ) the return line comes back 15 degrees less than the feed line. This is with a 20 gallon per minute feed pump. I am heating my house and garage to 73 degrees ( 30 by 90 total ) plus 2 water heaters. Central Boiler has a chart that tells how efficient your system is as far as heat drop or loss. I have no meltage over my underground lines. Central Boiler is happy with my heat loss ratio. John and you are both quite a bit south from me. If I were you I would probably not spend the ultimate on underground lines. You can probably get by with less. Still - DO NOT have underground seams. Murphy will come and bite you sooner or later.