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[diesel-dodge]

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

[idahohay]

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.

[heat550]

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 . 

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 . 

heat550

[diesel-dodge]

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

[mag1266]

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 

[farmer695]

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.   

[ITO]

Diesel-dodge, as far as adding a device there is one company that makes this:
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.

[diesel-dodge]

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

[mag1266]

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.   

[juddspaintballs]

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.

[ITO]

 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.

[hatfield]

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.

[diesel-dodge]

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

[ITO]

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.

[juddspaintballs]

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

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.