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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: flushing system

« on: January 14, 2014, 08:19:10 PM »

I use a test kit from Wood Boiler Solutions LLC. Comes with good instructions and enough stuff to do about 10 tests. Very easy.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: New EPA standards

« on: January 14, 2014, 06:23:01 PM »

They can have my stick of wood when they pry it out of my cold dead hand, lol! But right now thanks to my owb it's a warm hand. Long live the owb.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: New EPA standards

« on: January 13, 2014, 09:09:49 PM »

Sounds like I need to hone my welding skills so if I ever need another stove, I'll just build my own and dare someone to tell me I can't use it to keep my family warm. I know that doesn't help you dealers out there but it's what a lot of folks with the means will do. Once again, the losers will be you small business guys out there trying to beat in an honest living with big brother kicking your tale. I'm hoping my P&M lasts forever but the welder is ready if I need it!!! Good luck to everyone.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: going the distance??

« on: December 20, 2013, 07:05:43 PM »

35' to house, thru plate exchanger then air exchanger. Then 35' more feet thru basement back outside for another 25' to my shop and then back to boiler. Going thru my basement and using same line to heat my shop saved me digging another 100' ditch plus pipe.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Research on water stoves

« on: November 14, 2013, 08:10:29 PM »

I live in the mountains of N.C and know several folks with a owb. Some have Central Boiler, others have Earth Wood, and I know a couple that have a Hicks Water Stove from Mount Airy. Everyone of them like their stove. I have a Portage and Main. Very pleased with it. If I would of had a good place to put it I would have probably bought one of the Hick's stove. Price is good and I have heard the customer service is great as well. They make several models to pick from and can custom make one as well I think. What ever you get, don't try to cut corners on the install and you can't go wrong. My stove is the best investment I've made, (other than my wife). Good luck!!

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Smoking Meat in OWB?

« on: November 10, 2013, 07:45:48 PM »

This may seam far fetched, but has anyone ever thought about or tried smoking meat with their owb? The way my heat exchanger is made on my Portage and Main would hold a good chunk of meat or some stuffed summer sausage. If I could figure a way to keep creosote off of it I would be willing to try it. Just wanted to here some of your thoughts. Seems like it should work. Deer season is open here now, plan on wacking a few and try something else besides burger.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Stove mishaps

« on: November 05, 2013, 09:37:27 PM »

This is wood burning related but not an OWB. About 15 years ago I was working out in a rural part of the county I live in and was tooling down the road headed for my next job when I noticed flames shooting probably six feet out of the chimney of an old farm house about 150 yards off the road I was on. Kicking the accelerator I sped up to the house and ran to the front door. Now, I knew the folks that lived here, an elderly couple in their mid eighties at the time, so I just ran on in yelling "your chimney's on fire, your chimney's on fire." I went to the stove and closed the damper hoping to cut the air off. Just then Mrs. Smith (name changed to protect the innocent) comes shuffling around the corner and I tell her to call the fire dept., (no cell phone back then). Mrs. Smith being hard of hearing, asks me if I'm staying for supper. I raise my voice some and repeat, this time asking where Mr. Smith is. She tells me he is in the barn, so I assume this time she also heard the part about the fire and calling help. So I take off and run for the barn. The barn is about 100 yards from the house, a good walk for Mr. Smith, an even greater run for me. Finally getting to the barn I find Mr. Smith and try to explain the situation. Now after my 100 yard dash I don't have much wind left so Mr. Smith with good hearing has a hard time understanding me. So finally with what seems like eternity I get my point across. Here is the reply I got. "Bout time, I've been shovin' cardboard in that thing all day trying to get it to burn." So I said you want me to call and tell the fire dept. not to come? and he says "Well it won't burn clean if the fire dept. puts it out will it?" So I start my mad dash back to the house to try and head off the fire dept. When I get in and go to the phone Mrs. Smith asks if there is a problem, knowing by her question that she never heard about the fire I just put the phone back down and fall into a chair at the table. Now this time when she asked if I was staying for supper, I said in a loud tone, "What are we having?"  Everything worked out, Mr. Smith gets his chimney burnt clean and I get a nice supper. I sure do miss those folks. He cut a lot of his wood his self up to the day he died. Come to find out he cleaned his chimney every year like that. I would be nervous trying that with my house chimney, but didn't seem to bother him. Sure gave me a scare.

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General Outdoor Furnace Discussion / Re: Emotion of wood burning

« on: October 27, 2013, 06:47:30 PM »

The way I see it, I get three times the heat from wood than I would from my gas. First I get hot cutting it, then I get warm stacking it, then I'm all nice and cozy watching the smoke roll from my Portage and Main!!! AWESOME.

9

Electronics / Re: Second Zone Thermostat Problems. Help

« on: September 09, 2013, 07:50:54 PM »

After some investigating I found out why the #2 zone t-stat won't turn on the fan. With this Carrier Weather Maker the second zone will not control the fan only. This problem I can fix, but I discovered another problem I didn't realize I had. With this type setup the zone dampers are normally open when no heat or cool is called for. When one zone calls for either the other zone damper will close, sending the air to the zone calling for it. There lies my problem now. Is there any way to rig these t-stats so that I can control the zone dampers and just have the furnace fan come on. I can get by this by just using one t-stat to heat the hole house but it would be nice to have each zone work independently, as the temperature swing can vary quiet a bit from downstairs to upstairs. If anyone has any suggestions they would be very appreciated. I'm going to research some more and find out which wire controls the dampers. Thanks.

10

Electronics / Second Zone Thermostat Problems. Help

« on: September 09, 2013, 06:42:46 PM »

Just got my owb fired up two weeks ago for the first time. Wanted to get the bugs worked out before cold weather. Right now I'm just heating domestic water. Smooth sailing. I will be heating my house with a water to air hx in my furnace. Furnace is a 2 zone Carrier gas furnace with a heat pump for AC. House is a two story house with one zone up and one zone downstairs. Each zone has it's own thermostat. On zone #1 downstairs I put a Honeywell non-programmable beside the existing t-stat and jumped from the "G" and "R" on existing t-stat to "W" and "R" on the new t-stat. Works perfect. Fan only will cut on when I set the new t-stat to call for heat. Now my problem.  I did the exact same thing upstairs on the other t-stat for zone #2 but it will not work. Am I missing something on this second zone? Not sure if I should have another wire somewhere for this second zone. Like I said it works great on zone #1. Both of the existing t-stats are wired the same. Should this other zone work just like the first or am I doing something wrong? Thanks guys.

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Portage & Main / Supply and returns

« on: June 13, 2013, 07:35:15 PM »

I purchased an ML36, and was wondering, does anyone bring the supply out the bottom of the boiler and the returns in the top? I understand the water up top should be hotter, but my mind wonders if circulation would be better to return into the top. I plan on running my pump 24/7 during the heating season. This may make no difference or may be worse on the stove. Does anyone have any experience with this, good/bad? Haven't built the first fire in this unit yet but, I think I'm going to like it.

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Plumbing / Re: Water to air exchanger location

« on: June 13, 2013, 07:26:31 PM »

Thanks guys. S7M, I will get some pictures for you. I'm leaning towards putting a 16x18 above the AC coil, I think I can squeeze it in but maybe the return would be less of a headache, as far as installation goes. Thanks again everyone, awesome forum by the way. Lots of great info on here.

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Plumbing / Water to air exchanger location

« on: May 29, 2013, 06:13:44 PM »

I'm getting ready to order materials to hook up my owb I just purchased, but was wondering about my water to air heat exchanger for my forced air. My question is, can I install the hx on the return side of the blower on the furnace and let the blower pull the warm air through it as opposed to above the blower? I have more room in this location because of the AC coil and duct work above the blower. I can put the hx above the AC coil but it would be a heck of a lot easier if I put it below it. Thanks.

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Portage & Main / Site of stove placement

« on: May 26, 2013, 06:01:16 PM »

Hello everyone, This is my first post on here. What a great site. I have learned so much just walking around on here. I have a few questions though. I just purchased a used P&M from a dealer in Ohio, will be going back to get it soon (I'm in N.C.).I  will be using it to heat domestic hot water and water to air hx in furnace of my house. I would like to heat my shop with it to. I was wondering, would I benefit by placing the stove inside my shop to keep the cold air and wind off of it. distance to house will only be about 30' shorter than where I would be placing the P&M if I put it outside, this longest distance is about 100'. I now have a regular wood burner in my shop to heat it, and thought maybe just the radiant heat from the P&M would heat my shop, with no need for any other plumbing or heating appliances. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.