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[birchbark]

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.

[RSI]

So he pretty much said you should have the house system pressurized and only circulate the water from the OWB to a heat exchanger? Do you have an indoor boiler or is it just the OWB? If you have an indoor boiler, you probably need a heat exchanger so you can keep it pressurized or it will void the warranty.

Either way, adding a plate heat exchanger would only save wood because your baseboard heaters won't work as good and the house will be colder.

[LittleJohn]

Birch

I am not entirely sure of your application of specific set-up, but generally HX have HUGE head pressures and require large GPM.

I run Flat Plate HX, but that because I also run glycol in my closed loop system; I also am running low water temperature applications: in-slab and heat emission plate under subfloor.  MAX temps on closed loops sides never exceed 140F, generally between 100-120.