Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

General => The Wall Of Shame => Topic started by: jreimer on January 15, 2018, 11:49:01 AM

Title: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: jreimer on January 15, 2018, 11:49:01 AM
Happened last week.  I had pneumonia so I was sick as a dog and the temps were -35C overnight.  Went to fill the boiler for night.  Turned it off, filled the firebox full, closed the door and went back inside to bed. 

Woke up in the morning with a cool house and the water temp was down to 82F.  What the?  Get dressed and go out to the boiler shed.  Checked the switch and it was turned off.  Son of a #$%^&.  Aaarrgghhh.  I was so mad at myself.  Spent the next 1.5 hours nursing it back up past 120F so it would stop condensing in the tubes.  Went inside back to bed.

I seem to do this once a year and never when it's remotely convenient.  TURN IT BACK ON WHEN YOU'RE DONE LOADING IT YOU DUMMY!
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: wreckit87 on January 15, 2018, 12:22:11 PM
I bet I did this 20 times last winter. First year on the new boiler, my old one had the draft in the door so I never shut it off. This one has the updraft and the switch is on the blind side up against my wall so I had a tendency to forget. I was working 10-12 hour days, 100 miles from home, so I had to sit and wonder all day every day whether or not I remembered to turn it back on. Think I only forgot once this year but last year was bad
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: mlappin on January 15, 2018, 12:34:47 PM
I’m going to throw together a switch box with a button and a delay on timer. I’m going to use it on the aquariums, normally when I feed I turn the filter and air off so the food doesn’t sink as fast from the surface agitation. Every once in awhile might notice an hour later forgot to turn the filter and aeration back on. Set the box up, push the bottom and it would automatically kill the juice to the filters and air pump for 10 or 15 minutes.

Can’t see why it couldn’t be incorporated into a wood stove.
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: smithbr on January 15, 2018, 01:06:54 PM
First year?  guilty as charged, your honour!
After we got  the wifi monitoring, not gonna happen.  The wife checks the furnace performance about every 30 minutes.  Not sure why, but, happy wife, happy life!
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: wreckit87 on January 15, 2018, 02:35:42 PM
First year?  guilty as charged, your honour!
After we got  the wifi monitoring, not gonna happen.  The wife checks the furnace performance about every 30 minutes.  Not sure why, but, happy wife, happy life!

Haha, yep! I still don't have any wireless monitoring- actually just found out it existed a few weeks ago. I'm in that part of the country where flat screen TVs are still new lol. One of these days I'm a gonna get me some of that monitoring business to keep an eye on it while away
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: smithbr on January 15, 2018, 03:14:43 PM
Yeah, but, driving into the city for a day got interesting.  We can see the performance charts on our phones.  She was at the wheel.  "hows the furnace doing?"  answer.  Ten minutes later, "hows the furnace doing?".  about a 1 degree drop.  Ten minutes later... "hows..."  SHEESH!  TMI, any one?

Still, it sure is good to be able to check on it from 200 miles away, and actually see "look, the basement floor loop kicked in, furnace ran twice in an hour!  (It really, really, really sucks down the furnace; 40 tons of cement...).  But all is well!"  We're at the point now, where we could actually envisage taking a 30 hour trip to the city, as long as we had just cleaned the furnace and we're good with the wood supply dryness and volume.
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: hoardac on January 16, 2018, 04:06:09 PM
I just use one of those 250000 btu propane torches in 2 to 3 minutes at most it is all good to go, they are about 40 to 60 bucks but well worth it when you make the occasional whoops.
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: wreckit87 on January 16, 2018, 05:43:37 PM
I just use one of those 250000 btu propane torches in 2 to 3 minutes at most it is all good to go, they are about 40 to 60 bucks but well worth it when you make the occasional whoops.

You need a weedburner to light a G200?? If mine goes out I can light a beer case with a Bic and throw it in, cover it with wood, and walk away. The old Coze was a little different story, usually a handheld Mapp torch and a little stack of split up 2x4 covered in oil. That was usually a 2-3 minute process twice a day lol
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: hoardac on January 16, 2018, 06:09:38 PM
If my fire is out like jreimers was then yes need a weed burner. If I have kindling and stuff then no. But who doesn't like a giant ass flame thrower to light the stove. >:D
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: wreckit87 on January 16, 2018, 06:40:59 PM
If my fire is out like jreimers was then yes need a weed burner. If I have kindling and stuff then no. But who doesn't like a giant ass flame thrower to light the stove. >:D

Hahaha true story! I lit a new Classic last week with the Bertha too. Lit it the normal way and walked away for 10 minutes, came back and the homeowner's brother had thrown about half a truckload of snowy wood on top. Definitely wasn't going to light lol
Title: Re: Remember to turn it back on!
Post by: mlappin on January 16, 2018, 07:45:47 PM
Haven’t needed a weed burner yet to relight my G200, however some oily rags that are just getting to raggedy to be worth washing again helps a sh*t ton.