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[Bud Man]

I know you are not happy with your boiler, but, before making any big decisions, sit back and relax, have a cold Bud and think thru the whole problem.

I'm not trying to talk you into keeping or getting rid of your current boiler. Talk to a dealer, talk to Slimjim, talk to other owners. You can do it through this website. See if others can help you.

I want you to be happy heating with wood and hope you can fix your problems without spending a lot of money.

A week ago, I wished I had never seen my boiler. Couldn't keep a fire going. Read all I could on this site concerning my model, found others were having similiar problems and found my problems. Now all is good.

[big cat]

Thanks for the encouragement Bud Man, I appreciate it. Everyone on this site has been awesome and I learn something everyday by reading the posts here.  After reading here, I'm fairly certain that the unit is undersized for our heating demand. I get that I'm not burning 18 month seasoned wood, but I have to believe I should be getting more than 6.5 hour burns.

The load this morning was a combination of oak, maple and elm in 18"lengths, ~8" in diameter, seasoned approximately 6 months. Firebox had 4" of coals and was completely filled and burned to outage within 6.5 hours.

[RSI]

I just thought of something, if you are located where you can get coal, I would try getting some and mixing it with the wood. That could be what the previous owner was doing to make it work. I never used coal but if you read up on it here, you will find a lot of posts about how to best load the stove with it. People claim it can make a huge difference on burn times.

Since you already have the pipe in, you should be able to get a new stove installed in the winter but it would depend on the dealer.

[slimjim]

 I'm doing a boiler swap out right now, it's not at all fun with wind blowing and darn cold in northern NH but it is doable.

[woodman]

What is house side heating system? Forced air or radiant? Any chance you have in slab radiant that wasn't installed correctly? That sure seems like a lot of wood to use in 6.5 hours. Not sure about where you are but it is not even cold here in Michigan this past week or so.

[big cat]

No in-floor heating, just baseboard radiant heat and DHW via a plate exchanger.

[fryedaddy]

Any chance you could verify the lines are in fact what the previous owner insist?

[hondaracer2oo4]

How many pieces of 8 inch diameter, 18 inches long?

[big cat]

fredaddy - lines are not the issue anymore - i replaced the lines this summer with Logstor.

hondaracer - approximately 12 pieces.