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1

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / plate heat exchanger to heat house

« on: February 11, 2014, 07:48:50 PM »

I was having a conversation with a plumber today and we got on the subject of my OWB and he was saying that If I would have brought my water lines in from the boiler through a plate exchanger and used that to heat the water that heats my house, I would have a more efficient system and use less wood.

To let all know, i currently come in from the boiler with an 1.25 insulated line into an 8 port manifold that goes out to my hot water tank, furnace exchanger and various baseboards through out the house.

Right now I don't have any issue's heating my house, just have to run the furnace fan steady when it gets to -30 degrees C, the thought of using less wood always peaks my interest.

Any thoughts.

2

Plumbing / manifold setup

« on: November 21, 2013, 07:23:09 PM »

I just recently installed 1"1/4 thermopex and a new Mr Pex manifold.  With the manifold I have 5 circuits feeding baseboard rads, heat HX in the furnace duct and the hot water tank.  My question is should I setup the manifold circuits so that all runs have the same flow rate, or should I set up the runs to all have the same return temp.

3

For Sale / Left over Thermopex for sale

« on: November 15, 2013, 04:06:55 PM »

I have 30 feet of 1 1/4" Thermopex left over from my install.  I paid $18 per foot, but would be willing to take $10 per foot for it.

4

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / what size of underground pipe to use

« on: April 10, 2013, 06:41:35 PM »

Just wondering if anyone has an opinion on the size of pipe to use from the OWB to my house.  I will be heating about 5000 square feet, plus an attached garage, and DHW.  My house is not very well insulated. I have a HeatMaster 10000e and currently have 2 supply and return lines that are 3/4" that are also not insulated very well.  I will am looking at either a single run of 1" or 1.25" insulated pipe.  I am more curious whether the 1" will be enough or should I spend the extra for the 1.25"

Thanks,
birchbark

5

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / what size of underground pipe to go with

« on: February 28, 2013, 10:07:04 PM »

I will be replacing my piping from the house to the owb this summer and I have my mind made up on using Thermopex, I am just not sure if I should go with 1" or 1.25".  I am heating right around 4800 sq feet, older home, not great insulation.  My current setup is 2 supply and 2 returns 3/4" from the boiler that are not insulated.  I can heat my house fine with it, but I have a heck of a temp drop from the boiler to the house.  I got a quote of $12 a foot for 1" and $16 a foot for 1.25", I need 100 feet, so a difference of $400, just not sure if it is required or worth it.  If I want the 1.25", the dealer I am getting it from, suggests getting it ordered as sometimes it can take a long time to come in.

6

HeatMaster / 10000e question

« on: January 22, 2013, 06:23:11 PM »

I just installed a new 10000e on thursday last week and since I've installed it, it has gone out on me a few times.  The fan is working fine and so is the solnoid.  When its gone out, there was still lots of wood in there and I am using very well seasoned dry larch.  So I am wondering if it could be getting choked out by the smoke during the idle time.  If so could it be from the length of chimney, would I need more of less.  All I put on it was a 3 foot extension piece.  Any idea's would be appreciated.

7

Electronics / lookin for a t-stat

« on: October 04, 2012, 07:08:52 PM »

Anyone know of a t-stat that can be set at say 72 to turn my furnace blower on and also be able to set it at 70 for the gas to kick in.  I know i can use 2 t-stats to do this, but I really would like to only use 1.  Right now I have a 2 stage stat that will turn the fan on at the set temp and if the inside temp doesn't get to what it is set at in a certain amount of time, the gas kicks in.  But the time frame is not programmable.  I would really like to be able to set it at 2 different temps, one for the fan and the second for the gas to kick in if the inside temp continues to fall.

8

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / heating an outdoor water trough

« on: August 28, 2012, 10:08:45 PM »

Does anyone use their owb to keep a live stock water trough from freezing, if so what kind of set up do you have.  I hate having to pay the electrical costs of running a 1500 watt heater 8 to 10 hours a day and sometimes longer during the winter months.

9

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Still looking for idea's

« on: April 10, 2012, 09:33:23 PM »

I posted awhile back about heating our horse water during the winter with my OWB, but didn't get many idea's.  My boiler is about 8 feet at most from the 150 gallon water bucket.  Up till now I have been keeping the frost off of it with a 1500 watt heater, but I know theres got to be a better (cheaper) way by using the boiler.  In the winter I will need to control the temp to keep the ice off of it, but still not warm it up so much that it will harm the horses.  I thought about installing an aquastat and solnoid to run water through a side arm, but the issue I have with that is the water line freezing between heating cycles.  I suppose that I could insulate the heck out of the line, but does anyone have other ideas?

birchbark

10

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / anyone heat their clothes dryer?

« on: February 02, 2012, 08:11:37 PM »

I have heard that there is a setup that can be used to heat your clothes dryer.  Do any of you do that now, and if so how is everything hooked up?

11

Plumbing / horse water heater

« on: January 31, 2012, 09:58:14 PM »

Anyone got an idea on a way to heat up my horse water.  Right now I have an electric heater in it and it just kills me when I see my bill, especialy since my boiler is about 6 feet away from the water trough.  I acually have the electric heater plugged into a receptacle that is installed in the back of my boiler.  I don't want the water hot, I just want to keep the ice off of it, it would need to have some kind of temp control to keep it from warming up too much.  Any suggestions?

birchbark

12

HeatMaster / G400 on order

« on: January 31, 2012, 09:47:38 PM »

Tired of welding up leaks on mine,  I was hoping to finish off this winter without having to replace it, but enough is enough.  I ordered the G400, if should be here in about 3 to 4 weeks, so I guess I will have to weld up mine at least once more, but as soon as it gets here, it's going in.  This summer I have plans of setting up my house on zone controls to have it more evenly heated, especially in the basement.   Right now I have base board rads, and an exchanger in the duct work, so I am going to add a couple more baseboards and have around 8 zones from what I have designed so far.

Can't wait,
birchbark

13

Portage & Main / parts needed

« on: January 30, 2012, 08:51:38 PM »

Can anyone provide me a detailed parts breakdown on the optimizer gasser.  I would prefer it on the 350, but I would think they are all kindy similar.
Thanks,
Steve

14

General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / opinions wanted

« on: January 21, 2012, 01:09:08 AM »

I am in the market for a new owb, I currently have a home made one that is pushing 10 years old and needs the occational leak welded up.  I have it narrowed down to either the Heat Master G400 or the Profab Empyre Pro 400.  Both are gasification units, which is required in this area (EPA phase II) both are very similar in specs, price wise again very close.  The two differences that may matter are the HM is made of stainless, the Empyre is mild steel, and the HM has 260 gallons, Empyre has 115.  Any thoughts would be great.

Thanks