My home is about 2400 sq. ft. Now that I have the wood boiler going I also am heating the basement space, which adds another 1300 sq. ft., with half of it crawlspace. I'm just getting used to the thing and playing around with fan speed and different loads. I got 12 hours out of a load last night and it was below zero here. It took me a week or so to have enough faith in it to start stocking it with the unsplit rounds that the manual says to use. I do now and next spring there will be a lot less splitting. When I was getting ready for this winter I wasn't sure what to expect so I have about have my wood split up that didn't have to be.
Scott, are you using unsplit rounds? I found it made a difference in burn times, ash buildup and wood consumption. I'd also get some chunks of hardwood in the mix if you can, especially for the overnight burns.
I've also turned the fan speed down. I'm working in my office at home now with a window looking at the boiler so I've been able to watch a lot of cycles. I had the fans cranked thinking the sooner I get into gasification mode the better. But it seems to kick in just as quick at a lower speed and I hope I'm not blowing as much heat out the stack.
I am very happy with mine. Wood usage has been high but I was just happy to be getting heat out of it and wasn't worried about it at first.
Author
Topic: 7300 First season (Read 5694 times)