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[Bud Man]

Finishing up my install of the BL 2840. I wasn't planning on adding any glycol to the water but the guy helping me says I need it. Do I?

[Big Wood]

Bud Man all you need is your water treatment that came with your boiler but first fill it with water and run for a week and check for leaks if all is good add half the bottle and run for a week send in your water sample to P&M that is your warranty they will get back to you with the results if you need more add the rest of the bottle  enjoy heating with wood now about adding glycol its costly but good insurance if you don't have back up power i would spend my money on back up power

[Bud Man]

Thanks BigWood. I have back-up power so I should be OK.

[LittleJohn]

You could run glycol, in your OWB, but to get any kind of protection you would have to run it at about 30% glycol to water -> potentially as high as %50 glycol.  That being said if you use the proper glycol for radiant application (propylene glycol - does not degrade PEX), not just RV anti-freeze , it typically runs in the $5/gallon range.  So for easy math lets say your OWB and system are 200 gallons total, that mean you need at least 60 gallons of glycol (60gallons x $5/gallon = $300); plus the fact that glycol is hard to pump and does not have the BTU capacity of water, it kind of becomes a lose/lose.

Find a neighbor to throw wood in when you are gone, preferrably one who does not drink (buying beer in payment for them to fire the stove can get expensive, if you have neighbor like mine  )

[userdk]

No Glycol.
Theoretically it becomes corrosive after corrosive after about 5 years and needs to be replaced. Just keep your pump going and run water treatment and you should be fine.