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[hondaracer2oo4]

Yeah, that's the easiest way to do it. No need to be nervous. Just light the fire, go out every hour or so to check the water temp to make sure the aquastat turns the damper soleniod off when it reaches the temp that the aquastat is set to. Once it is up to temp and the soleniod has closed down open your valves and plug in the pump.

[E Yoder]

Honda is right, don't be jumpy. A CB Classic is about as simple of a furnace as it gets. Not extremely efficient or cutting edge but it runs and makes good heat.
 Solenoid opens and closes to control draft (water temp), pump circulates to buildings, you load wood daily and shovel out ash every once in a while. Keep your water treated and watch for moisture buildup at the ash line in the firebox. You don't want condensation to set anywhere on a mild steel unit (stir ashes). Loading only what you'll burn in the next 12-18 hours will really help on moisture.
Keep it dry and you'll purr along and love your unbeatable comfort in the house.

Welcome to the forum!

[Marleywood]

Thanks folks, you've made me feel better about this.  I know it's silly to sweat this stuff, and I'm sure it is pretty simple, but I'm a n00b @ this and it's a little daunting.  I'm sure I'll laugh about this later!

I should also point out that this furnace is in it's own little wood shed next to my garage.  I'll post pictures when I can.  This is a great forum, thanks to everyone who has contributed!

Marleywood

[hondaracer2oo4]

Don't be scared, fire it up.

[duramax]

My 2 cents is to plug in the pump when you light it. I do the so I don't forget it. There are videos of lighting  a CB furnace but yo don't need it. News paper in corners and the center, cover with good small kindling and light it with a propane torch. 

[Marleywood]

OK, going for it.  How long should I expect it to take for it to get up to temperature to make the switch?  The fire box is warm from the water circulating the system to keep the boiler from freezing.  Just looking for a rough estimate as to when to go back and check on it's progress....

Thanks.

[Walleye]

My 6048 takes over 3 hours to go from 60 to 180 degrees. I don't put a lot of wood in it at a time when I first start up. I will have to add wood a couple times before its up to temperature.

[Pointblank]

My previous stove was a 5648.  Its a big stove, nearly 400 gallons iirc. Not sure how warm your back up heat is keeping your water, but when I'd start mine up cold late in the fall it took a good 3 hours. Sometimes longer. Its a natural draft stove so its going to take some time and some tending too to get the fire lit and get a big enough coal bed built to get a good hot burn going.

[Marleywood]

My back up heat had the water @ 130, so it didn't take all that long.  Burned through the night nicely and is doing well.

More dumb questions though......I really don't have the greatest understanding of how this system works....HVAC is not my area of expertise....

So, the wood furnace is burning nicely, up to temperature and "on line", meaning the pump is running and I threw the valves on the oil heating system into the position indicated for using the wood furnace.

My understanding was that in this configuration, the oil should only kick in if the water temperature in the system dropped below what the wood furnace was set to keep it at.  (such as if the fire burned out)

That being said, I've occasionally noticed my oil furnace running, although it seems to happen much less frequently than if the wood furnace was not on.  Is this normal?   

[hockeyguy]

Welcome to the forum Marleywood. I live in Holderness and would be happy to swing by and go through your system with you. I'm in the Newfound area frequently.
Good luck!

[hondaracer2oo4]

 No, thats normal for your oil furnace to kick on. So there is a couple possibilities here. Either the previous owner just shut off the breaker or emergency switch for the oil furnace when the outdoor boiler was running(this requires manual operation on your part if the owb goes out to put the oil back online) or he has an aquastat on the incoming owb line which breaks the connection to the oil furnace power when the owb water is above a certain temp, if the owb temp drops below this set temp then the oil furnace kicks on, that would be an automatic way of controlling it which would require you to do nothing at all if the owb went low on wood. If you have only a manual way of operating the oil as a back up I would suggest you look into getting a strap on aquastat or similar switching device and set it up so that you don't have to do anything manually.

I would guess that either your system is set up so that you manually have to kill your oil furnace when your owb is running or the aquastat is turned way up. Take a look at your oil boiler wiring and see if any wires go to a box attached to the incoming owb lines.

[Marleywood]

@ Honda, I was certainly given the impression that I do not turn any (oil) furnace switches off in the transition process, nor would I need to if I were to be away any the fire burned down....The oil system is supposed to kick in...I'm fairly clear about that...

[hondaracer2oo4]

Well if the system is supposed to be automated so that if the owb temp drops below a certain level then the oil will kick on it is not working. If your owb was running and up to temp then your oil should not be kicking on and you said it has been. So you need to figure out then what is controlling the oil boiler to run or not run when the owb is in use. Like I said this is usually accomplished with an aqua stat connected to the incoming owb line.

[boilerman]

Marleywood, what temp is your indoor boiler set at? If at 140 degrees or so, it should not be firing if you have your Classic set at a 185 or 190 set point with the typical default 10 degree differential. The Classic should easily maintain your indoor boiler water temp well above that 140 degree back up temp on the indoor boiler and it should not fire as long as you keep wood burning in the outdoor Classic.

[Roger2561]

Quick question - What's heating your domestic hot water (DHW)?  If you have on-demand from the oil burner, then it will fire occasionally to keep the water hot enough for bathing, washing, etc...  Roger