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1
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Question
« on: February 22, 2013, 09:17:36 PM »Are of using the wood boiler to heat the exsisting boiler?
Seperating pumps on the same loops doesn't work near as well as running them in series.
I only have the wood/coal boiler. I don't have another boiler.
2
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Question
« on: February 22, 2013, 09:16:08 PM »Hello Everyone,
Last year we built a new home. The contractor suggested an outdoor boiler, Burn-Rite (originally Mahoning) and I love it but I am using, what I feel is a huge amount of wood and coal. I burned wood last year as we moved in at the start of December but this year I tried using coal. Took a little while to get use to how to keep the coal from going out but from October to to January of this year I went through 5 tons of coal. I switched back to wood in January but I am on my 2nd truck load of logs.
When I was hooking the boiler up the contract (who has the same unit) said I needed to keep the pumps running at all times. I created a simple loop for the water so when the zone valves are not open it simply circulates between the house and the boiler. The Pex lines are 3/4" , 4ft below ground and it is about 110' from stove to house. Currently I only have foam pipe insulation covering them.
My questions are:
1) Should the pumps be running all the time? On normal inside boilers they only kick on when there is a call for heat.
2) How much wood or coal is used normally? ( I live in upstate NY)
3) My unit has a blower with an adjustable flap to min or max airflow. Right now I have this 3/4 of the way open. Should this be open full, half way or barely open?
I am planning on building a section off my wood shed and enclose the boiler this summer. This will keep it out of the elements during the year, plus keep me dry while loading it during rain/snow lol.
I am glad I found this site. There are not many people who has these units in my area. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I love the unit but the high costs of using it is taking it's toll on my wallet. :-)
mike,
what are you calling upstate ny? If you live close i could stop by someday and take a look i live in waddington,ny on the stlawerance river about 45min from alexbay....there could be many problems.....is the house to big for boiler and it can not keep up to sq footage of house...2nd is the boiler way to big for house.....3rd pipeing major heat loss...if you are running infloor heat did the builder put enough insulation under the floor and around your foundation? there for over working your boiler....pex tubing to small...not enough flow to house..what kind of wood you burning? and is it dry or wet...
thanks kelly
I am about 4hrs south of you. (Elmira area) Years ago when I traveled for work, I drove through your town often as I was headed to Massena.
I believe the boiler is the proper size for the house. Before I purchased it the guy had a chart which selected the right boiler based on Sq footage of the house. But I haven't received proper info until now so perhaps I'm wrong on that too lol.
I used 3/4" Pex and the length of the run between boiler and house is about 110'. Going by some of the replies, I need larger lines and better insulation. I only wrapped the lines with foam and put them in the trench.
The wood I have been getting is mainly hardwood but it's not seasoned well. My supplier is selling the loads as fast as he can cut them down. Busy season for him this year. lol
3
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Question
« on: February 22, 2013, 09:03:15 PM »
Wow.. Thank you all for the great replies. I'll go into my situation with a little more detail, but I too believe that the lines I'm using are the main problem.
My house is 1,980 square feet. Currently I am only heating the main level, but in time will be finishing the basement so that will be double. My boiler has a pump on the supply side and also another pump that circulates water from bottom to top inside the boiler. I added one more pump inside the house on the return side to help give it a boost due to the long distance.
I did not add a gas boiler inside the house. The outdoor is the only heating source I have. I use two zones, one for the front section of the house and the other for the back section. (ranch style house) I added a pressure valve on the manifold. If neither zones are calling for heat then the water has enough pressure to open this valve which then just runs through the manifold and then back out to the boiler for my loop. If a zone opens then there is not enough pressure to open the valve so the water runs through the open zone heating the house. This works really well.
I was concerned that the water running through my loop when neither zone was open, was wasting energy. I figured seeing that I had a pump on the boiler that circulated the water inside the boiler that I didn't need the loop to be constantly running at all time, only when a zone opened. But if it common practice to leave all the pumps running all the time then I am fine with that.
As for the blower flapper, mine came with a turnbuckle so I am able to adjust the flapper to allow more or less air. When the aquastat calls for heat the blower kicks on and the fire rages pretty well. Some have said open the flap as far as possible so the fire gets going faster and other have said no keep it minimal so the fire slowly burns during the heating process. Right now my blower kicks on about every 10 mins or so. I suspect this is due to the poor line insulation. Each time it snows, the snow quickly melts where the lines are ran and its very soggy in that area as well.
I order truckloads of of logs. I have found logs last a little longer than split wood. I started out last year getting split wood and was going through a cord of wood every 2 weeks. If I was to spit the load of logs I would have about 7 cords of wood per load. Last year I burned 20 cords of wood, but the first 4 were spit. The majority of wood is ash and other hard wood, but it isn't fully seasoned.
The coal I was using was Anthracite. It took me a few weeks to figure out how to keep it lit during the day, but once I did I really like using it. Was pretty nice just going out and adding a few shovel loads and not having to cut and stack wood. But the local supplier went out of business and it was easier to just have more wood delivered. I plan on looking for a new supplier this summer and trying it again. I found that after I load it with coal, simply adding 1 piece of wood on top kept it from going out.
There have been a few nights when it's been 0-5 deg outside and I can't get the house to heat more than 66 deg. I did a heat loss before I installed the system so I know I have the right amount of baseboard in the house. Where I live we use a -5 deg base when we do our calculations. When I know it's going to be a cold evening I turn the water temp up to around 190 (normally keep it at 180) and that seems to help some but again I suspect I'm losing a lot of heat in the buried lines.
My plan this summer is to enclose the boiler and change the lines to a larger, more insulated set.
Any suggestions on a good set of lines I should be looking for? I have found where some have aluminum wrap (5 wrap) and some have the foam wrapped around them with 4" pipe protecting them. Now that I am getting good advice, I don't mind spending the money on the things I need to do.
Thank you all again for the feedback. And let me know if there is any other information you need. Like I said, I love this boiler and looking very forward to getting it working properly.
My house is 1,980 square feet. Currently I am only heating the main level, but in time will be finishing the basement so that will be double. My boiler has a pump on the supply side and also another pump that circulates water from bottom to top inside the boiler. I added one more pump inside the house on the return side to help give it a boost due to the long distance.
I did not add a gas boiler inside the house. The outdoor is the only heating source I have. I use two zones, one for the front section of the house and the other for the back section. (ranch style house) I added a pressure valve on the manifold. If neither zones are calling for heat then the water has enough pressure to open this valve which then just runs through the manifold and then back out to the boiler for my loop. If a zone opens then there is not enough pressure to open the valve so the water runs through the open zone heating the house. This works really well.
I was concerned that the water running through my loop when neither zone was open, was wasting energy. I figured seeing that I had a pump on the boiler that circulated the water inside the boiler that I didn't need the loop to be constantly running at all time, only when a zone opened. But if it common practice to leave all the pumps running all the time then I am fine with that.
As for the blower flapper, mine came with a turnbuckle so I am able to adjust the flapper to allow more or less air. When the aquastat calls for heat the blower kicks on and the fire rages pretty well. Some have said open the flap as far as possible so the fire gets going faster and other have said no keep it minimal so the fire slowly burns during the heating process. Right now my blower kicks on about every 10 mins or so. I suspect this is due to the poor line insulation. Each time it snows, the snow quickly melts where the lines are ran and its very soggy in that area as well.
I order truckloads of of logs. I have found logs last a little longer than split wood. I started out last year getting split wood and was going through a cord of wood every 2 weeks. If I was to spit the load of logs I would have about 7 cords of wood per load. Last year I burned 20 cords of wood, but the first 4 were spit. The majority of wood is ash and other hard wood, but it isn't fully seasoned.
The coal I was using was Anthracite. It took me a few weeks to figure out how to keep it lit during the day, but once I did I really like using it. Was pretty nice just going out and adding a few shovel loads and not having to cut and stack wood. But the local supplier went out of business and it was easier to just have more wood delivered. I plan on looking for a new supplier this summer and trying it again. I found that after I load it with coal, simply adding 1 piece of wood on top kept it from going out.
There have been a few nights when it's been 0-5 deg outside and I can't get the house to heat more than 66 deg. I did a heat loss before I installed the system so I know I have the right amount of baseboard in the house. Where I live we use a -5 deg base when we do our calculations. When I know it's going to be a cold evening I turn the water temp up to around 190 (normally keep it at 180) and that seems to help some but again I suspect I'm losing a lot of heat in the buried lines.
My plan this summer is to enclose the boiler and change the lines to a larger, more insulated set.
Any suggestions on a good set of lines I should be looking for? I have found where some have aluminum wrap (5 wrap) and some have the foam wrapped around them with 4" pipe protecting them. Now that I am getting good advice, I don't mind spending the money on the things I need to do.
Thank you all again for the feedback. And let me know if there is any other information you need. Like I said, I love this boiler and looking very forward to getting it working properly.
4
General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Question
« on: February 22, 2013, 11:13:12 AM »
Hello Everyone,
Last year we built a new home. The contractor suggested an outdoor boiler, Burn-Rite (originally Mahoning) and I love it but I am using, what I feel is a huge amount of wood and coal. I burned wood last year as we moved in at the start of December but this year I tried using coal. Took a little while to get use to how to keep the coal from going out but from October to to January of this year I went through 5 tons of coal. I switched back to wood in January but I am on my 2nd truck load of logs.
When I was hooking the boiler up the contract (who has the same unit) said I needed to keep the pumps running at all times. I created a simple loop for the water so when the zone valves are not open it simply circulates between the house and the boiler. The Pex lines are 3/4" , 4ft below ground and it is about 110' from stove to house. Currently I only have foam pipe insulation covering them.
My questions are:
1) Should the pumps be running all the time? On normal inside boilers they only kick on when there is a call for heat.
2) How much wood or coal is used normally? ( I live in upstate NY)
3) My unit has a blower with an adjustable flap to min or max airflow. Right now I have this 3/4 of the way open. Should this be open full, half way or barely open?
I am planning on building a section off my wood shed and enclose the boiler this summer. This will keep it out of the elements during the year, plus keep me dry while loading it during rain/snow lol.
I am glad I found this site. There are not many people who has these units in my area. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I love the unit but the high costs of using it is taking it's toll on my wallet. :-)
Last year we built a new home. The contractor suggested an outdoor boiler, Burn-Rite (originally Mahoning) and I love it but I am using, what I feel is a huge amount of wood and coal. I burned wood last year as we moved in at the start of December but this year I tried using coal. Took a little while to get use to how to keep the coal from going out but from October to to January of this year I went through 5 tons of coal. I switched back to wood in January but I am on my 2nd truck load of logs.
When I was hooking the boiler up the contract (who has the same unit) said I needed to keep the pumps running at all times. I created a simple loop for the water so when the zone valves are not open it simply circulates between the house and the boiler. The Pex lines are 3/4" , 4ft below ground and it is about 110' from stove to house. Currently I only have foam pipe insulation covering them.
My questions are:
1) Should the pumps be running all the time? On normal inside boilers they only kick on when there is a call for heat.
2) How much wood or coal is used normally? ( I live in upstate NY)
3) My unit has a blower with an adjustable flap to min or max airflow. Right now I have this 3/4 of the way open. Should this be open full, half way or barely open?
I am planning on building a section off my wood shed and enclose the boiler this summer. This will keep it out of the elements during the year, plus keep me dry while loading it during rain/snow lol.
I am glad I found this site. There are not many people who has these units in my area. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I love the unit but the high costs of using it is taking it's toll on my wallet. :-)
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