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46
Shaver Furnace / 2nd cold snap
« on: January 24, 2009, 01:38:32 PM »
Well this second round of exteme cold I did't fare as well. We had 4 days strait it never got above zero with -25 at night and wind chill of -40. At night I couldn't get my water temp over 130, my fan for my forced air propane furnace ran steady and the house would slowly lose temp. In the mornings I would turn on my propane to raise the house up to set temp 70 (would be aprox 65 when I got up) once the propane furnace brought it up to 70 I would shut it off, then I would be ok untill the next morning. The propane would run aprox. 1 hour a day, not terrible but I'm a little bummed. I dont know what was different than our last cold snap except my shop prabably cooled down to the point it was calling for more heat than before ( I keep my 42*36 shop at 45 degrees)
I even tried getting up at 4 am one night to add wood, still 130 the next morning untill I turned on the propane, wich seemed to let it "catch up" My wood is probably pretty wet, it was green in sept. when I got it and cut and split it Sooo I'm hoping it will produce more heat when, Lord willing I get ahead for next year and have dryer wood. Also I can't wait for spring I'm planning on removing my stove siding and insulating it better, not sure how yet but I'm pretty sure I lose alot of heat at the stove itself, especially when it's windy out.
Also anybody else with a shaver notice the fire does't seem to burn as well when it's really windy? Maybe it's just me but it seems like sometimes the wind is trying to push the smoke back down the chimney and fighting the draft fan
I even tried getting up at 4 am one night to add wood, still 130 the next morning untill I turned on the propane, wich seemed to let it "catch up" My wood is probably pretty wet, it was green in sept. when I got it and cut and split it Sooo I'm hoping it will produce more heat when, Lord willing I get ahead for next year and have dryer wood. Also I can't wait for spring I'm planning on removing my stove siding and insulating it better, not sure how yet but I'm pretty sure I lose alot of heat at the stove itself, especially when it's windy out.
Also anybody else with a shaver notice the fire does't seem to burn as well when it's really windy? Maybe it's just me but it seems like sometimes the wind is trying to push the smoke back down the chimney and fighting the draft fan
47
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Antifreeze?
« on: January 01, 2009, 11:44:58 AM »
I tell her I'm not antisocial, I just don't like people. 
Have a good New Year. 
Have a good New Year.
48
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Antifreeze?
« on: December 30, 2008, 07:50:17 PM »
I'm not to woried about the furnace freezing, but I also heat my shop and only keep it around 40 in there most of the time, I don't think it would take long for my heat exchanger and my pex lines to freeze in there.
49
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Antifreeze?
« on: December 30, 2008, 05:32:24 PM »
I'm kinda on the fence right now, a generator or antifreeze? The thing I like about the antifreeze is if your away from home a few days. Then again that would give me an reason not to go anywhere in the winter, the older I get the more of a home body I'm becoming. My wife says I'm antisocial 
50
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Antifreeze?
« on: December 30, 2008, 03:06:14 PM »
Was wondering how many people run antifreeze in their system. Has anyone run a year without antifreeze, then a year with? I've read it doesn't transfer heat as well as water. Has anyone had any practical experience? my gut tells me you wouldn't notice a difference in performance.
This is my first year and I'm running plain water, a couple a weeks ago it was -25 and the power was flickering at my house. I never lost power but it got me a worrying. I think I may add antifreeze next year for peace of mind.
This is my first year and I'm running plain water, a couple a weeks ago it was -25 and the power was flickering at my house. I never lost power but it got me a worrying. I think I may add antifreeze next year for peace of mind.
51
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: THINKING OF A WAY TO HOOK UP MY GENERATOR
« on: December 21, 2008, 02:38:22 PM »
Was thinking about the same thing last week, our power flickered on and off a half dozen time. It got down to -25 that night I was worrying about it half the night. How about instead of wiring the owb direct to your fuse panel, wire a dedicated 110 outlet and plug your line going to the boiler into that outlet. Then if you ever lose power, unplug the owb, plug it into an extension cord and run it to your generator.
52
Shaver Furnace / Re: Shaver OWB's
« on: December 18, 2008, 07:32:59 AM »
If I remember correctly, if you remove your cover for your pottale hot water coil on the stove you should be able to see most of the outside (water side) of the firebox. just a thought.
53
Shaver Furnace / Re: Shaver OWB's
« on: December 17, 2008, 06:50:55 PM »
woodburn, are you using good seasoned hardwood? One thing I've noticed is if I don't stuff the stove full of wood and carefully position the wood so more air can get at more of the wood from the forced draft blower , the water temp will rise much faster than if I fill the stove full, also I position the wood as far forward and over the grate as possible. Once I get it up to temp I use my poker to reposition the wood and then fill it full of wood (right before bed) Only down side is I have to put wood in a min of 3-4 times a day. Before I bought a new heat exchanger I would concentrate on getting your boiler water temp up to at least 155. I've noticed there is a big difference between 125 and 155. If my water temp drops below aprox. 125 my forced air fan will run and run and run struggling to even maintain house temp. Once my water temp gets over 155 the fan cycles about how it would with the propane furnace. Hope you get it figured out and I hope this helps. Also have you checked and made sure your forced draft blower isn't turnig off to soon? or is it runnig continually and your water temp still only gets to 125?Sorry if this sounds like a dumb question but I did't want to assume anything.
54
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 17, 2008, 06:28:45 PM »
Interesting I think I may try that as well, as I noticed my door gets pretty hot also. I did insulate the rear door and the 2 sides in the rear access area I also put some insulation between the top of the rear door and the hot water coil access plate to try and keep some more heat in. I wish Grandgracing had taken some pics with the siding off and the original insulation still on to get an idea of how good of a job they did with the fiberglass insulation.In my opinion it would make a big difference depending on how meticulous you are in fitting the insulation, gaps etc. And being you can't see in there it wouldn't surprise me if they did a sloppy job. After all how cold does it get in Arkansas
55
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 17, 2008, 01:46:53 PM »
Let us know if you figure out a way to insulate the door better, your idea with the vent tube modificatin worked great by the way, thanks. I haven't added any water in over 3 weeks. I've been looking at Grandgracings pics of insulation with interest. I'm thinking next summer I may do something similar. I am fairly satisfied with the stove overall but probably would be as happy or happier with the woodmaster wich is sold right accross the street from where I work. One of the things that sold me on the shaver was the thickness of the firebox, untill I was filling it with water and realized only the round tube is 3/8" thick. The end plates that are welded to the tube are only 1/4". I e-mailed Shaver and told them I thought their web site was missleading in this regard. He E-mailed me back and said the round tube is what takes all the heat and abuse. 
Seems to me its only as good as the thinest part 
Seems to me its only as good as the thinest part
56
Shaver Furnace / Re: first cold snap
« on: December 17, 2008, 08:59:46 AM »
I've got the 165. I have an older house aprox. 1400 sqaure feet not including the basement, also keep my 36*42 shop heated to around 40 degrees. The house is not very well insulated and drafty, the shop is a morton building and very well insulated.(sometimes I consider just living in there ) After I bought my shaver I looked at a woodmaster, the firebox in the woodmaster is much much larger, sooo maybe 3 times a day isn't so bad, It would be awsome to be able to try a stove for 1 year, then try another brand to compare wood consumption, burn times etc. Everyones situation is a little different and so many variables it's kind of hard to compare(apples to oranges) How big is your house? Also the stove sits aprox 150' from the house and 80' from the shop. I ran my pex inside 4" pvc with the pex wrapped inside of that foil faced bubble wrap insulation, I'm on kind of a side hill so I T'd off of the 4" pvc at it's lowest point and ran a drain down the hill with a cap on the end, just incase I got some water inside the pvc I could drain it out. I'm very glad I did as even though I glued all my joints I do get some water in the pipe after a heavy rain. In my brain if there is any water next to your pex it's going to suck all the heat out. In hind sight I wish I had just sprung for the expensive $12 a foot pex.
) After I bought my shaver I looked at a woodmaster, the firebox in the woodmaster is much much larger, sooo maybe 3 times a day isn't so bad, It would be awsome to be able to try a stove for 1 year, then try another brand to compare wood consumption, burn times etc. Everyones situation is a little different and so many variables it's kind of hard to compare(apples to oranges) How big is your house? Also the stove sits aprox 150' from the house and 80' from the shop. I ran my pex inside 4" pvc with the pex wrapped inside of that foil faced bubble wrap insulation, I'm on kind of a side hill so I T'd off of the 4" pvc at it's lowest point and ran a drain down the hill with a cap on the end, just incase I got some water inside the pvc I could drain it out. I'm very glad I did as even though I glued all my joints I do get some water in the pipe after a heavy rain. In my brain if there is any water next to your pex it's going to suck all the heat out. In hind sight I wish I had just sprung for the expensive $12 a foot pex.
57
Shaver Furnace / first cold snap
« on: December 16, 2008, 01:00:17 PM »
Well I can finally stop wondering If my stove will keep up when it gets really cold.-25f last night with wind chill of -40. Filled stove at 10pm before bed, got up at 6:30. house nice and toasty, water temp at 145. Stove was pretty much out of wood with nice bed of coals. Looks like I will have to fill stove at least 3 tmes a day when it's this cold, but I'm OK with that. I'm kind of wishing I had gotten the next size bigger stove, so it would fit more wood on fill up. But then maybe I will use slightly less wood this way? Sure is nice not using any propane though.
58
Shaver Furnace / Re: My Shaver experience and modifications I've made
« on: December 03, 2008, 07:50:37 PM »
Fletcher, I went ahead and added the clear tube and 90 degree plastic elbow like you suggested, been almost 2 weeks and I haven't had to add any water, works great, thanks. I did notice one morning however, (it was about 5 degrees out and very windy) some ice on the inside of the 90 degree elbow, on the inside of the elbow above the water line. It was no where near frozen shut but makes me wonder if it could at -30. Do you think its possibe the plastic elbow could insulate that well,and the small amount of steam that comes out now would allow it to freeze? I wonder if a copper elbow would be better(transfer more heat)? Then again I would think if it did manage to freeze the silicone around the pottable hot water coil cover would leak before the boiler could actually get any amount of pressure build up. 
59
Shaver Furnace / Re: My Shaver experience and modifications I've made
« on: November 19, 2008, 02:48:44 PM »
My shaver also steams alot from the vent pipe and evaporates alot of water, it's funny I was thinking of doing almost the same thing, but was hesitant and was going to think about it a few days. The other thing I like about your idea is being able to see the water level, otherwise if you open the fill valve,add water when the thermostat is at the lower part of the heat cycle, the thermostat then kicks on the blower, water temp rises, then spills water out as the water expands. Thanks for the post. Let us know if you get a response from shaver. 
60
Shaver Furnace / Re: Insulation
« on: November 15, 2008, 04:30:11 PM »
Thanks for the input, I quess I'll wait and see what it does when it gets really cold, doesn't do any good to worry about it at this point. And I figure even if I have to supplement with propane on extreme days it wouldn't be the end of the world, I'm still saving a butt load of propane. Grandgracing, do you think I will get more heat out of my shaver in extreme cold if I open the flapper on the forced draft blower more? or would I just use more wood?It's open about 1/3 now.