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32
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wind
« on: March 08, 2017, 09:48:22 PM »
Crazy winds. Gusts over 65 mph here in West Michigan for at least 5 hours straight. Power outages everywhere, even worse on the east side of the state. Not even possible to keep the boiler running in any manner. Throw wood in ashes in a few hours. Close to a record on wind here..absouletly wild.. trying to run a outdoor boiler in these conditions is obsurd. With the cold front moving in and homes projected to receiver power as late as Monday my heart goes out.
33
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Protocol when come home after a long day water 98 degrees?
« on: January 10, 2017, 09:47:24 PM »
Hi,
Thanks for all the input. Like I said I have a drafty farm house, hard to keep warm. It has been windy this year, sucks the heat right out of the house. My boiler is a natural draft. What do I need to install when the water reaches a certain temp to close the natural draft to conserve the heat. I have a Ridgewood running a Love Controller. Good advise on turning the heat down, I have a parrot so I need to make sure the house is plenty warm, Maybe I just need a heating bulb over the cage, house temp set a moderate 68. I'm burning mixed hardwood so I'm told, many of the pieces are pretty small 18 month aged. I fill the boiler up pretty good, I'm trying to conserve some wood I'm already 7 full cord burned for the season, Its just mind blowing how much wood I have burned. I'm pretty sure water must be in the lines, I'm going to have to temp the water entering the heat ex changer to see the drop. Torch, and leaf blower are a great idea to get the fire restarted and going fast. Looks like I will have to invest in these options. Lastly, the Coal option, since I have no shaker grates will this work? Will I cause any damage to the boiler.. What outcome can I really expect. I'm loading up on cardboard from work from now on.. So I have plenty. I always load in the morning before work. I swear if I loaded the fire box completely full I would be 9 cords in already, too many small pieces. Normal season for me is around 15 full cord, First year with seasoned wood, not all that impressed...Green wood buys me longer burn periods, but more of a headache trying to restart a fire from small coals. Then again the green wood were huge chunks. If coal will do the trick I'll buy 50 bags of coal and mix it in.
Thanks for all the help
Thanks for all the input. Like I said I have a drafty farm house, hard to keep warm. It has been windy this year, sucks the heat right out of the house. My boiler is a natural draft. What do I need to install when the water reaches a certain temp to close the natural draft to conserve the heat. I have a Ridgewood running a Love Controller. Good advise on turning the heat down, I have a parrot so I need to make sure the house is plenty warm, Maybe I just need a heating bulb over the cage, house temp set a moderate 68. I'm burning mixed hardwood so I'm told, many of the pieces are pretty small 18 month aged. I fill the boiler up pretty good, I'm trying to conserve some wood I'm already 7 full cord burned for the season, Its just mind blowing how much wood I have burned. I'm pretty sure water must be in the lines, I'm going to have to temp the water entering the heat ex changer to see the drop. Torch, and leaf blower are a great idea to get the fire restarted and going fast. Looks like I will have to invest in these options. Lastly, the Coal option, since I have no shaker grates will this work? Will I cause any damage to the boiler.. What outcome can I really expect. I'm loading up on cardboard from work from now on.. So I have plenty. I always load in the morning before work. I swear if I loaded the fire box completely full I would be 9 cords in already, too many small pieces. Normal season for me is around 15 full cord, First year with seasoned wood, not all that impressed...Green wood buys me longer burn periods, but more of a headache trying to restart a fire from small coals. Then again the green wood were huge chunks. If coal will do the trick I'll buy 50 bags of coal and mix it in.
Thanks for all the help
34
Fire Wood / Re: First of the year
« on: January 10, 2017, 09:11:08 PM »
About 7 full cords.. not happy
35
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Protocol when come home after a long day water 98 degrees?
« on: January 09, 2017, 10:10:30 PM »
I work long days owning a business. If the weather is windy or very cold it's quite common to come home to the boiler at 100 degrees or below. Very frustrating. First thing I do is open the boiler door, rake the coals or what's left to the front and throw a few small pieces on the coals. I then go inside and turn the blower off and kick on a space heater or two to keep the house temp up a bit. I then watch from my bedroom window for the smoke to stop, at this point I know the few pieces I put in are on fire. From here it's a matter of a hour or two slowly adding wood. 14 hour days are killing me plus boiler attention. Can't afford propane to heat this old drafty house. Is there a better way to get the fire started more quickly
Thanks
Thanks
36
RidgeWood Stoves, defunct, support only / Re: Called Ridgewood.......First impressions
« on: December 21, 2016, 08:51:33 PM »
Good news indeed.. sounds like they are at least attempting help old customers. If this happens kudos to ridgewood
37
RidgeWood Stoves, defunct, support only / Re: Ridgewood replacement??
« on: December 18, 2016, 10:50:39 PM »
Ridgewood should be avoided at all cost. They setup new shop selling the same stove with minor modifications screwing over many old customers. Yes, they will fix your leaky problem for a huge fee, plus you have to haul the boiler to them. In the end the new law will put them down. For the hardship they brought on for many customers...all I have to say is goodbye karma is he'll
38
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Polar vortex
« on: December 15, 2016, 11:05:34 PM »
Unusually cold here in Michigan for December. The last few days have been 35MPH winds. Tonight, even colder but no wind. Beautiful night 4 degrees... amazing how when you have no wind doesn't even feel cold, smoke goes straight up, clear skies.. The world just feels right. If I could have it my way single digits no wind. Drafty house doesn't mind at all.
39
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Wind
« on: December 15, 2016, 03:41:54 PM »
I go through a ton of wood when its cold and windy. For the most part because of my drafty house, I don't think the furnace blower ever turned off last night and it has been the same all day. It can cause abnormal burn or bridge. Weather like this I realize the boiler is too small the draw for heat never stops.. just can't keep the water hot enough and the boiler can't catch up.
40
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: States not enforcing the federal EPA OWB rules???
« on: November 25, 2016, 08:37:23 PM »
Correct me if I'm wrong but the feds can go after any boiler maker that doesn't adhere to the new rules. The state may not choose to enforce the law, kind of like the marijuana law state by state. In the fed eyes your still operating in non compliance. Just a matter of time when they compile their list, and I'm sure they already have. They will impose huge fines on these companies and drive them out of business. One big swoop its all over. I'm not saying I agree with this, but the owners still operating under these false pretenses that everything will be ok, not going to happen, they know they are playing with fire.. Quite literally in all aspects of their business..
41
RidgeWood Stoves, defunct, support only / Re: Action against Ridgewood
« on: November 04, 2016, 09:41:41 PM »
Can't get money out of a broke dead beat
42
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Hard to believe November 1st shut down boiler for a bit
« on: November 01, 2016, 09:22:31 PM »
Located in West Michigan the fall weather has been above normal ranges. Figured I would shut the boiler down for awhile, forecast looks pretty good for the next 7 days. Crazy
43
Plumbing / Re: Off topic post with well water issue maybe someone can help
« on: October 26, 2016, 08:59:24 PM »
Guage and switch was replaced last year. Could be a leaky pipe underground I see no water pooling on the underground run. The cut in and cut out is spot on... switch kicks on at 40 psi and off at 60. I have 1 inch pvc pipe that runs to expansion tank. I cut the pvc in the middle to the tank and glued it back together. Could their be blockage, possibly .. just doesn't make any sense lowering the pressure of the tank so low to take in water. New pump is rated for 10gpm, should take at least 45 seconds or more to fill the tank not happening at lowered 30psi it takes in water for only 10 seconds. New bladder you can hear it expand. From all my readings it makes no sense. If pressure switch is bad it seems the guage would reflect the problem.
44
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / I'm using chemical treatment 101
« on: October 23, 2016, 11:02:33 PM »
I have been using the chemical treatment 101. Dumped some in during the spring. Where can I buy test strips to monitor?
45
Plumbing / Off topic post with well water issue maybe someone can help
« on: October 23, 2016, 10:18:13 PM »
Two weeks ago my well pressure would not go above 20. Well guy came out and replaced the well pump submersible. Also noticed my expansion tank water logged. Probably why the old pump failed sooner. Replaced the tank myslef but would not fill with water. I have a 40/60 switch replaced last year, and also replaced the guage. Like clock work switch will kick on at 40psi and off at 60. Expansion tank came pressurized at 38 which is correct 2 psi below cut in. Checked to verify and it was 38 psi. So playing around I released pressure from the tank and it began to take on some water. I'm now at like 30 psi and the tank fills a bit but doesn't seem heavy, it's a 30 gallon tank and I believe it holds 6 or so gallons but seems to light. I can't figure out why the water pressure seems lower than normal and why I'm needing to drop pressure in expansion tank well below cut in. Any ideas I'm lost.