Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
Outdoor Furnaces - Manufacturers WITH EPA-Certified Models => Heatmor => Topic started by: diesel-dodge on December 03, 2013, 07:38:36 PM
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Hi guys I have been wondering if there is a way to get better effiency out of the heatmore model 200. Is there any to add a catalytic combuster to the 8 inch hole going up to the exchanger or a rectangle one at the beginning of it. I have previously had a central boiler that seemed to burn longer. though the heatmore firebox seems to be a little samller.
thanks jason
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Greetings Jason, In the short time I've been a Heatmor owner I can really tell the difference in the wood being burned. Longer burn times and less creosote with seasoned wood. Two other things that come to mind are the buried lines from the boiler and building insulation. Adding a catalytic converter sounds like a good idea but whether its possible or not is way beyond my knowledge.
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Hi guys I have been wondering if there is a way to get better effiency out of the heatmore model 200. Is there any to add a catalytic combuster to the 8 inch hole going up to the exchanger or a rectangle one at the beginning of it. I have previously had a central boiler that seemed to burn longer. though the heatmore firebox seems to be a little samller.
thanks jason
There could be acouple things going on . First i do believe Heatmor has less water in it compared to centeral boiler . That would make it seem shorter burns . Also a thing that could be is wood moisture . I bought a moisture meter to test my wood and it tells the whole story . 25 % or less heatmor is a mega heater . more moisture them 25% your looking at a whole aray of issues . shorter burns . Not heating up as fast . water bubbling out of wood as it burns . myself I'm always running behind in my wood cutting and end up burning green . Theres a trick that works with my heatmor. the wetter the wood split it smaller . and when you stack it in there use the idea to not stack it tight . once you get this fire keep adding fire wood with the loose stack in mind . with mine this how you get hottest and longest burns with wet wood . oo and keep ash pit clean . :thumbup:
far has adding anything I was thinking a draft inducer with variable speed for warmer weather and make fire burn hotter. My heatmor don't like 25f and warmer . Its sitting in the middle of a woods so not much for wind . :o
heat550
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I burn mostly ash. Its seasoned a year. I should get a moiusture meter that is a great idea. Im wondering if something is wrong with the bladder. I can fill till water flows out the top and the metal piece with the rope still sags down. The wood I burn seems to be dry to me but I should check it . I was thinking of trying to put in a baffle in the heat exchanger area. not sure though.
jason
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Hi Jason
I've had my 200 for about 5 years now and have tried several things. First I tried a variable speed controller for the fan but it didn't seem to make much difference. I've also put some angle iron in the heat exchanger trying to create some turbulence. Again I didn't notice any gain and made cleaning a pain. right now I have some porcelain tiles in there and was thinking about introducing some air by drilling a hole through the clean out plate but haven't had the time.
One thing that I really like was removing the restrictor behind the fan. this lets more air in through the grates and I found I would get a much more complete burn.
Let us know if you come up with anything.
Mark
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My heatmor 200cs. Runs better with age! I'm into my 7th season. I think this is more due to experience. I recently met with a heatmor dealer at a farm show in Syracuse. He gave me some great tips and corrected a lot Of the errors I was making. In short , I was packing too much wood into the unit. Now I burn less, sooo much less wood. It is important to clean out with auger once a week. It's really no big deal, just do it an dump the ash around trees or in your garden. This year I completely turned off my oil fired furnace too, essentially in spite of reducing the temperature start degrees on the oil furnace , it still fired when there was a call to replenish hot water. I'm not wasting oil, or paying for oil I really don't need. And the heatmor replenishes the hot water tank just fine. I expect to heat my home and hot water on 6 cords of wood. Six kids and a 3500sf home. Not bad. If it gets real cold I will tick up the aqua stat to 190 until the colder weather subsides. In short, this is a great and simple unit.
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Diesel-dodge, as far as adding a device there is one company that makes this:
http://bestsolarboilers.com/aquastack/ (http://bestsolarboilers.com/aquastack/)
I have only read one post by a person that has one but they did not really address how well it works, I have tried to see if anyone else has experience with it but there is apparently not many people that use it.
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I will have to try to remove the restrictor and see if that helps. I just put some fire brick in the heat exchanger in alternating patterns to slow down the gasses it seems to have helped a little. so with burning smaller loades in the boiler you burn less wood overall. I guess I can try loading it 3 times a day. I got that much burn time out of my indoor wood stove. What is the bladder supposed to do. Is the rope that hangs down attached to the bladder? I know the boiler I full as the water has come out the top but that rope part still hangs down. Don't understand that.
jason
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The bladder is there to give the stove water a place to expand and contract. it will also help keep the stove full in case of evaportion. the rope goes around the bladder and goes up and down depending on how full the bladder is.
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I seem to get longer burns and use less wood if I only fill the firebox about halfway. I do my best to keep the wood situated directly over the grates (shaker grates on mine). I definitely get a lot less creosote this way and hardly any smoke out of the chimney. As farmer said, clean out the ashes often too. It takes a couple minutes but it makes a big difference in airflow under the wood for cleaner (more efficient) burns.
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I have read this before about only filling halfway for longer burns, not sure that works for me, what is the theory of that? Just not sure how that is more efficient?
Mine doesnt have a rope hanging off the bladder, I was wondering what the question of the rope was all about, thanks mag.
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I like to do 12 hour burns judging by they weather fore cast. That way I can spread the coals out twice a day also. Just works better for me.
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I don't think that im getting any air coming up from the grates. I can see how that would help the burn for sure. I need to figure out why no air for sure. I hope I figure It out soon. loaded half way twice a day wont make it for me in the cold. Also only the wood at the front is really burning to ash. Must be the ash grats.
jason
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Dodge, I wonder if the flapper is not opening all the way, it's attached to the fan and if it's only opening part way it will not blow all the way through the grates.
12 hour burns are my goal, I like to check on it and fits my work schedule. Smaller fills in mild weather work but not at 0F.
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Dodge, did you get a block off plate with yours? Mine came with one because I have the shaker grates for coal. The block off plate blocks the air outlet that is at the front of the firebox just above the grates so that all of the air is forced under the grates and through the wood that is burning. I'm not using mine, but that's an option to try out if only the front of your wood is burning in the fire box. Heatmor calls it an "air block off" that you can see on page 30 of this link: http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/CSS_OM_guts_071012.pdf (http://www.heatmor.com/Uploads/CSS_OM_guts_071012.pdf)
There's also a restrictor in the blower air tube that you can remove to push more air through your air box. It's meant to be removed for coal, but I've been running mine with wood with no ill results.
As for the efficiency of only burning half a fire box: a full fire box won't allow air to flow through it as well and create more heavy smoke, which is wasted fuel going up your chimney. Better air flow promotes more complete combustion which in turn means less smoke coming out of the chimney and hotter fires to raise the temperature of the water quicker for shorter burns when the blower kicks on.
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Hey Judd's, thx for the link to the manual, mine is a Heatmore knockoff yet very similar, my manual however does not go into that detail, never thought of looking that up.
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My grates were completely plugged off with ashes as I had suspected. Its a pain cleaning them out while is burning. But it has helped my effiency some and getting much better ashes now instead of larger chunks. Im really thinking of trying to fit a catalytic combuster in it when I find one to fit. I know more smoke will roll out the door but the combuster should reach a very high temp at burn and help the effiency and keep the exchanger cleaner. hopefully... Now to find one to fit.
jason
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I have been wondering has anyone tried dropping the temp to 140 to160 off for better effiency. My thought is the higher temp would have more heat loss or does the higher temp have much better burn effiency.
jason
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Jason, I have tried messing with temps and diff's for years, I am sure different heating systems produce different results, for me the lower temps are just not very powerful in cold temps, my DHW heats in a snap at 170, my radiant infloor heat has the same effect, at lower temp settings the pumps run for a long time to keep the floor zones going. There are concerns about return temps below about 150 that can cause sweating ( condensate ) at the return point inside the boiler, some folks don't buy that, I feel it's good to avoid but also my system seems to work so much more consistent at the higher temps.
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I've always had good luck with cut in at 160 and cut out at 180. I'm really glad I got the shaker grates when I bought mine because they are very easy to keep free of ashes. I usually give them a jiggle every time I load the boiler up.
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I do wish I had the shaker grated. Im gona turn my boiler up some and see what happens. THe lower tem seems to keep the house at a more even temp instead of the house furnace constantly cycling on and off.
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What do you mean the house furnace cylcling on and off?
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Sorry the blower cycles on and off. It seems the hotter it is the more it up and down more rapidly. Does anyone have any ideas for cleaning the ashes out the whole length of the tube clean out. I don't have a ash auger. I cut a trenching shovel narrower but it doesn't work so well.
jason
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That would be hard to do without the auger, I have seen post hole diggers that look like the auger, may have to be modified but maybe Menards or Lowes near you has one that you could look at?
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maybe I will check there.
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you should be able to contact your local heatmor dealer and purchase the ash auger from them.
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Jason, I have tried messing with temps and diff's for years, I am sure different heating systems produce different results, for me the lower temps are just not very powerful in cold temps, my DHW heats in a snap at 170, my radiant infloor heat has the same effect, at lower temp settings the pumps run for a long time to keep the floor zones going. There are concerns about return temps below about 150 that can cause sweating ( condensate ) at the return point inside the boiler, some folks don't buy that, I feel it's good to avoid but also my system seems to work so much more consistent at the higher temps.
Mines set at 170 f I tried this and it works for -20f once water up to temp 150-170 f with ashes cleaned out . always keep re-stoking every 4 hours but only put enough in for 4 hours and because of it drawing so hard it gets dam hot . and only add about 4-5 pieces at a time ( 5 inch by 5 inch peice oak) It does take less wood doing it this way . long as your there put next 4-5 pieces in . I believe what its doing is keep fire at same temp all the time . only problem doing it this way is catching it between cycles to add wood . another reason i think this works is How much the cold wood cools off the fire box when you do a fill it full . Your putting a piece of wood that's at -20f you put in 15 pieces in for the first 45 mins its like thawing ice blocks . But like said earlier every system might be little different
Heat550
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Local business is out of business. I wonder If I can call the cpmpany direct
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I dug this up, once you find your local rep I would think you can buy an auger from them. Probably won't be cheap?
http://www.heatmor.com/parts_service.php#Mikes%20Heating (http://www.heatmor.com/parts_service.php#Mikes%20Heating)
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I tried the map. Its either my computer or it doesn't work. I agree the auger prob wont be cheap at all.
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The map works on my iPad, sorry, not sure on that one?
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Diesel, where are you located??
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Im up by yale Michigan. booneys lol.
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I burn mostly ash. Its seasoned a year. I should get a moiusture meter that is a great idea. Im wondering if something is wrong with the bladder. I can fill till water flows out the top and the metal piece with the rope still sags down. The wood I burn seems to be dry to me but I should check it . I was thinking of trying to put in a baffle in the heat exchanger area. not sure though.
jason
I had this problem as well, and my uncle who worked at heatmor when I bought the unit (I bought it through him at his cost :) ) put in a call to one of the bigshots at Heatmor. He says due to poor quality of the technical writers of the manual people often fill the unit too fast, not allowing the bladder to properly fill. If you fill it slowly, and let water come out the top during the time the bladder will fill properly. I literally just did this 5 minutes before reading this thread and it worked. my bladder is now full. give that a try and see if it helps.
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Thought I would post that I had built a fire brick baffle in the heat exchanger of the boiler and it has honestly seemed to help some. I layered the brick on each side to the top and then built a bridge more or less so that the smoke has to travel to the bottom of the exchanger to go out the exhaust pipe. Effectively keeping some of the heat trapped at the top of the exchanger while the stove is idle and allowing more heat transfer.
jason