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[jack1243]

I have determined there is a draft issue my guys is coming Wednesday told me to open the draft all the way and let it burn. So, this morning at 6am my house is at 68 degrees. It's cold in here it was 22 outside. Great go to stove and water temp is at 120 with glowing coals in the box. I loaded a load of red/white oak in the stove and cut off the thermostat in the house. (My heatpump kicked in) I left for church with the boiler system off and a fire in the firebox. Came home from church at about 11am did the early service and my water temp was 185....great we got hot water now!!!! In less then an hour my water temp is back down to 140 with a fire in the box..... Someone please tell me what this issue might be. Thanks jack1243

[Scott7m]

I can't imagine how you could possibly lose 40 degrees in a couple hours with wood in the firebox and 500 gallons of storage.  It was colder than that here last night and my stove only holds 60 gallons of water. 

If your burning up all your wood, I don't see how it's a draft issue, because the wood is obviously burning. What kind of underground line do you have?

[jack1243]

The lines are buried 3 ft deep in a trench with poly-foam inulation and in a corrigated pipe. I just checked and cut off the system at 12:30 in the house and at 1:30 it was back up to 170. As for the draft issue the installer condensed my flue from an 8" with a 90 degree elbow to the 6" flue tile in the wall. The chimney is only about 6 to maybe 7" so it is not big enough for the draft of the stove according to mfg. We may have to run an 8" metal flue thru the floor into the loft and out the roof a striaght stack since the chimney is not working correctly. I can't understand the heat loss myself. It has worked fine the past 3 weeks since installation and now that it's colder here it will not come up to temp even burning the wood in the box. The other day I loaded 3 times and could only reach 140 with the unit on. I figure if I've got 180 on the dial and it runs to the exchanger and back to the stove maybe 10/15 degree change but it's coming back to hot water....Somethings amiss here.

[jack1243]

pex pipe sorry forgot to add that information.

[woodman]

I guess you lost me there a little, did you say you had to load the stove 3 times in 1 day? If that is the case, how on earth could it be a draft issue? I am unfamiliar with your stove, what is the size of the firebox?   

[gandrimp]

 I dont have any first hand experience with a boiler of any kind, but since you first started posting about this I have always wondered about your pipe, if your pipe got water in it how would that affect your heating ability.  Had any rain?

[MattyNH]

 Just curious how could it be a draft problem since your boiler has a forced air blower on it?..The only way I could see if it could be a draft problem it that your stack is plugged..500 gallons is a lot of water...To have it go down 40 degrees in a couple of hrs..Something is robbing your heat..Something doesn't make sense when you said you load it 3 times a day and couldn't get it above 140F..

[willieG]

witht he home isonlated form teh stove the stove is able to get to the set point..when house is added to the  lines then  the water drops and  the OWB can not recover...1 draft problem of plugged chimney ( i doubt that the 7 inch flue is the trouble unless it is plugged)

2.. owb is too small for the demand of the house?
3 sir feed system to the OWB is clogged or not working properly..(bad soenlid if stove is equipped...stuck door flapper?

leave door slighty open and see if stove can recover while home is online

[baldwin racing]

I can't imagine how you could possibly lose 40 degrees in a couple hours with wood in the firebox and 500 gallons of storage.  It was colder than that here last night and my stove only holds 60 gallons of water. 

If your burning up all your wood, I don't see how it's a draft issue, because the wood is obviously burning. What kind of underground line do you have?

i was thinking the same thing scott...how well is the 500 gal. storage tank insulated.? ...is your system pressurized or no? if it is I was just wondering if he is loosing water somewhere and it's filling the system back up with the auto filler and cooling the system down with well water?
kelly

[Scott7m]

First of all, line depth means nothing.  Once the btu escapes, it's gone, whether its lost to the ground or air, often times folks bury the lines to deep and get to far down into the much, wet soil wicks away heat faster than dry soil. Kinda like going outside naked in 20 degree weather, you could likely handle it a little while but if you were wet, the moisture would be pulling heat so fast you'd freeze fast

If your corrugated pipe had become filled with water it could rob a lot of heat, but if your burning the wood that's in the box, it's not a draft issue because its obviously gone.  I just can't see 500 gallons of water being pulled off so fast,
Even if you were heating a large home, how many square feet are
You heating? 

[boilerman]

This cannot be a draft issue. If it were a draft issue, the furnace would not burn well. You've stated you are burning up 3+ fireboxes of wood per day. It's forced air fed, you're buning wood like crazy...You've got draft!  Sounds like it is burning flat out, yet cannnot hold temperature at the OWF and even lose ground. When you took the heat load off, up it went to set point...The btu and heat you are generating just doesn't disappear. It has to go to 1 of 3 places...1: Up the chimney....2: Lost in the ground during delivery ...3: The house exchange is eating all you can produce and more... You've also stated the building is poorly insulated in previous posts, my guess that is where it is going. It also sounds like the problem got worse at the outside temps have gotten colder.  You may have 500 gallons of water, but not a lot of firebox heat exchange area to heat all that water. Just less than 18 cubic ft of firebox based on your stated 3'x2.5'x2.5' measurements you gave us. You are pulling the heat out faster than you can put it back in. My old Classic 5648 held 400 gallons of water and had about 60 cubic ft of firebox transfer area and was a heating monster, easily getting me 24 hour burn times on my 2300 sq ft house with average at best insulation even on the coldest nights (-20 below) and holding 185-175 range...Good dry wood will deliver more btu than not so dry wood, as btu will be lost just drying wood out so it can burn... It sounds like the furnace just can't keep up with the temp being drawn off the water.

[Scott7m]

I agree with boiler man, I hadn't saw where you'd said it was poorly I insulated.  However, I can't imagine what your going to be dealing with if it does actually get cold this winter.  Where are you located?  A 22 degree night should be a walk in the park for any outdoor boiler, let alone one holding 500 gallons of water.  Which once again, water storage does not does not does not equal greater efficiency, I can't stress that enough. 

I'm still not buying any draft issues as your wood is obviously burning very well.  The bad part is that operating your boiler at such low temps is gonna doom it to an early grave, the moisture in the wood inside the firebox is normally sent up the stack because temps inside are to hot for moisture to gather, but since your temps are so low, that water is allowed to stay in the firebox to mix with ash and cause serious damage fast.


I know hicks is made in warmer climates which is kinda troubling and backs up issues I hear of folks around here that has them.  For them to have such small fireboxes, yet such large water capacities makes me really question there knowledge about how a furnace should operate.  Like one guy I knownhere needing 40 loads per winter, blows my mind.

You see the same thing with knock off brands advertising there 1/2" fireboxes and all that, I was approached by a stove company that's on here quite often with there big mammoth stoves and I let them spill, asked if they had any proof that there 1/2" fireboxes were more efficient and so goof, well of course they didn't, and there thoughts were based more on feelings and emption vs facts, but I can give you mountains of info showing anytime heat transfer is involved, thinner is better, but you have to go thick enough for it to be durable, and 1/4" is plenty for that to be durable.

[baldwin racing]

I agree with boiler man, I hadn't saw where you'd said it was poorly I insulated.  However, I can't imagine what your going to be dealing with if it does actually get cold this winter.  Where are you located?  A 22 degree night should be a walk in the park for any outdoor boiler, let alone one holding 500 gallons of water.  Which once again, water storage does not does not does not equal greater efficiency, I can't stress that enough. 

I'm still not buying any draft issues as your wood is obviously burning very well.  The bad part is that operating your boiler at such low temps is gonna doom it to an early grave, the moisture in the wood inside the firebox is normally sent up the stack because temps inside are to hot for moisture to gather, but since your temps are so low, that water is allowed to stay in the firebox to mix with ash and cause serious damage fast.


I know hicks is made in warmer climates which is kinda troubling and backs up issues I hear of folks around here that has them.  For them to have such small fireboxes, yet such large water capacities makes me really question there knowledge about how a furnace should operate.  Like one guy I knownhere needing 40 loads per winter, blows my mind.

You see the same thing with knock off brands advertising there 1/2" fireboxes and all that, I was approached by a stove company that's on here quite often with there big mammoth stoves and I let them spill, asked if they had any proof that there 1/2" fireboxes were more efficient and so goof, well of course they didn't, and there thoughts were based more on feelings and emption vs facts, but I can give you mountains of info showing anytime heat transfer is involved, thinner is better, but you have to go thick enough for it to be durable, and 1/4" is plenty for that to be durable.

I agree with boilerman and scott water storage is not always the answer.....it  takes alot more wood to keep that large amount of water to temputure than say a boiler with 130 gal...then if it is un insulated in a very cold enviroment forget it....the stove sounds to me is not big enough for your needs....and is not big enough to heat your poorly insulated house......try insulating all pipes that carry heat even with the black foam wrap.....to and from exchanger do everything possable to hold heat in boiler and all the lines and see if it works better.....if it does but still does not reach goal you know its to small of a unit and need to go bigger and go to a boiler weather outdoor or indoor model but buy either way it in an insulated jacket....to hold the heat in.... I am shure all guys /girls with boilers will agree with me on that unless you have it in your basement of your house and are using the radiant heat to heat down stairs.....
hope you get it  figured out buddy

kelly

[MattyNH]

I agree with boiler man, I hadn't saw where you'd said it was poorly I insulated.  However, I can't imagine what your going to be dealing with if it does actually get cold this winter.  Where are you located?  A 22 degree night should be a walk in the park for any outdoor boiler, let alone one holding 500 gallons of water.  Which once again, water storage does not does not does not equal greater efficiency, I can't stress that enough. 

I'm still not buying any draft issues as your wood is obviously burning very well.  The bad part is that operating your boiler at such low temps is gonna doom it to an early grave, the moisture in the wood inside the firebox is normally sent up the stack because temps inside are to hot for moisture to gather, but since your temps are so low, that water is allowed to stay in the firebox to mix with ash and cause serious damage fast.


I know hicks is made in warmer climates which is kinda troubling and backs up issues I hear of folks around here that has them.  For them to have such small fireboxes, yet such large water capacities makes me really question there knowledge about how a furnace should operate.  Like one guy I knownhere needing 40 loads per winter, blows my mind.

You see the same thing with knock off brands advertising there 1/2" fireboxes and all that, I was approached by a stove company that's on here quite often with there big mammoth stoves and I let them spill, asked if they had any proof that there 1/2" fireboxes were more efficient and so goof, well of course they didn't, and there thoughts were based more on feelings and emption vs facts, but I can give you mountains of info showing anytime heat transfer is involved, thinner is better, but you have to go thick enough for it to be durable, and 1/4" is plenty for that to be durable.

Yeah 40 loads ( I'm assuming cord) is def extreme down in Ky. Unless your heating a multiple or a huge commercial building..Few houses down the street from me.. Guy from burns 50 cord..But he is heating 4 or 5 apts in a very old building..Wood is unlimited for him...

[gandrimp]

Could you close vents in areas that are unused? That would let you heat a smaller area, I have geo-thermo and shut and open vents as needed,,,, but Im cheap and dont want to heat or cool a room thats not being used  .