Outdoor Wood Furnace Info

All-Purpose OWF Discussions => General Outdoor Furnace Discussion => Topic started by: silver star on January 21, 2016, 05:10:50 PM

Title: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: silver star on January 21, 2016, 05:10:50 PM
My furnace water is lwer than recommended ans I notice the temp is getting up to 200 at times.

I need to add some water, just wondering if I should when there is such a disparity in temparature.
Any thoughts? Of course Incan always let the box burn down and add later, I know
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: RSI on January 21, 2016, 05:15:30 PM
Should be fine to fill when hot. Do you fill into the pipe in the house? if so, just run it in slow enough so the return water isn't cold.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: silver star on January 21, 2016, 06:41:09 PM
The fill is from the top, but it did occur to me while thinking about it, that i should, or could do a slow fill to not create any problem. Didnt think about the temp getting so low it affected the heating performance.

Told the wife that i would need to turn the furnaces up to 75 to cool off the water. We could have worse troubles, than a hot house with relatively free heat.

Second year for it. Probably save a thousand bucks so far this season.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: mlappin on January 21, 2016, 09:44:47 PM
When I get my fill line in the basement hard plumbed in I’m gonna pull off the domestic hot water circuit to top the boiler off.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: RSI on January 21, 2016, 10:36:03 PM
When I get my fill line in the basement hard plumbed in I’m gonna pull off the domestic hot water circuit to top the boiler off.

What if you need to drain the boiler? After refilling it you won't have any hot water for quite a while.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: mlappin on January 21, 2016, 10:46:25 PM
When I get my fill line in the basement hard plumbed in I’m gonna pull off the domestic hot water circuit to top the boiler off.

What if you need to drain the boiler? After refilling it you won't have any hot water for quite a while.


Flip zee switch on water heater and turn the gas back on.

Not a big deal, went  a weekend or two before with no hot water and didn’t have the OWB yet. Have a thermostat go bad on a corn dryer and it could drain both 1000 gallon tanks of LP in no time. Don’t miss those days, much cheaper to dry corn with Nat gas, even though that big meter thats fed by a 2” line sure can spin mighty fast at times.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: Bud Man on January 25, 2016, 08:58:14 PM
Noticed I was a little low the other day. I am plumbed in to cold water in the basement. Just turned it on for about a minute (6-10 gallons) and never noticed a difference in heating or stove performance. Unless you need to add a lot of water, I wouldn't worry about the temp of the water you are adding.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: silver star on January 29, 2016, 06:26:12 PM
It went well, temperature dropped some but it was back up in no time. Still seems to run hotter tan it used to even with a full tank. I turned he max temperature down to 183 for damper to shut off.
Title: Re: Water temp an issue when topping off level from tap?
Post by: yotehunter66 on January 31, 2016, 10:44:12 AM
Mines plumbed-in in the basement but I never use it though. I just top it off with a five gallon pail so I can watch the level and not over shoot.