Print

[VTsmoke]

I am looking to upgrade to a new outdoor wood boiler.  I looking at the Aqua-Therm.  I like the closed system and eco-one design.  I am concerned, however, about the small volume of water in the water jacket.  many other boiler companies put 300gal. plus in their larger boilers, Aqua puts only 76.  I am concerned about overheating.  Are people putting in auxillary tanks.  I know many gasification units, like Tarm, almost require an external water tank to be efficient. 

Any input from users would be great.

[juddspaintballs]

If you want that furnace, I'd guess you probably want to add storage too.  The benefit to adding storage as opposed to having it built in, is that you can get it cheaper most of the time. 

[rosewood]

 i think you will need to add storage . the more the better, don't be fooled by dealers saying no its not needed.less capacity means lots more cycling of the stove, if you buy the stove i would look in to adding 500- 1000 gals of storage .if you add up the costs of tanks ,extra pumps ,insulation ,storage building,etc  your not to far from a garn.

[yoderheating]

I was talking to a dealer the other day, he said that he runs a secondary pumping system to keep the furnace temps from falling to much. He said if you pump water direct from the boiler the return water is too cold causing the boiler temps to drop to fast and cause problems with condensation.

[eco-one]

I have never yet seen an aqua-therm over heat only way its going to is if you load the whole stove up with wood and it gets to 50 above during the day !!! you have to regulate the wood you put in !!!all stoves will over heat if you fill them up when day time temps get to 40 or higher during the day. you need to regulate what wood is being put in

[willieG]

I have never yet seen an aqua-therm over heat only way its going to is if you load the whole stove up with wood and it gets to 50 above during the day !!! you have to regulate the wood you put in !!!all stoves will over heat if you fill them up when day time temps get to 40 or higher during the day. you need to regulate what wood is being put in

not all stoves overheat if it gets to 50 in the daytime. All stoves that leak air into the stove may

many folks turn down the thermostat for the summer to say 140 or 150, this allows the air feed (blower) to shut down at this temp and gives the stove a much higher "shut down of the fire" range. Lets say your stove shuts down at 140 but we all know the fire still rages for a few minutes as the air in teh stove is used up, this early shutdowm temp allows for the stove temmp to rise as the air is used  up but the air should be used up before boil over temps are reached

if your stove can not accomplish this...you have a bad air leaking stove

Lets not forget, many folks run their stove year round!

[eco-one]

yes i do believe that i totally forgot about turning your aquastat down . if your system is air tight set at 140 for dhw and not loading  it to the max i believe no stove should over heat ( my bad)

[yoderheating]

 I agree with WillieG, a properly built and maintained furnace shouldn't over heat even in the summer. Normally the HeatMaster furnaces I sell do very well until the outside temps hit around 100 in the summer.  Only then do my customers have to load the stove a little at a time.