Indoor wood burner and steam heat?

Jim_158

My Dad installed an oil fired steam boiler (The make of the boiler was Pacific, he was a mfg rep for them at the time)next to the original coal fired steam boiler (Arco, 30" or 36" round). He did this in 1954. The new boiler was elevated on a concrete platform to match the water lines of both boilers.
The steam outlets of each boiler were valved then tied together. Both of these valves were left open all the time.
There was an equalizing line between the Hartford loops of each boiler to keep the waterlines equal. I don't recall if the returns were left as they were on the original Hartford loop or piped into the new equalizing line.
This system worked fine while we lived there until 1981.
We used it though blizzards, hurricanes (for DHW from the side arm heater) power outages, etc... and especially the 1970's oil embargo's and oil shortages.
I was born in 1958 and by 1966 I knew how to run it.
In 1986 I helped a friend with an old coal fired boiler that was converted to gas, install a new HB Smith gas fired steam boiler AND they had the original grates to put back in the old boiler. They also had lots of wood and then a low gas bill.
One advantage to these systems is that when you are firing on wood or coal and the fire dies the other boiler takes over automatically. A disadvantage was that we did not have any automatic draft control and sometimes it was a little too warm in the house. Fortunately it was a large masonry house that was slow to heat up or cool down.

Today I live in a house with HW heat, and two boilers. One oil fired, the other wood and coal. Once you have it you don't want to give it up!
Nothing beats the comfort and security of a steady coal or wood fire in the middle of winter.
If you have to pay for wood, consider (Anthracite) coal it typically has about twice the heat value per dollar. The old coal boilers absorb more radiant heat from a coal fire than from a wood fire.
I am not sure, but considering I use wood in the fall and spring and coal through the winter I bet my carbon footprint is no worse than if I were burning oil.
Keep the old boiler if you have the grates and install a new oil/gas boiler.

Evan David

indoor wood burner with steam heat???

Just wondering if it would be possible to plumb a wood burner/furnace in sequence with a new gas steam boiler.

The wood burner I'm looking at is an EKO Line Boiler
http://www.newhorizoncorp.com/eko.html

and the steam boiler is a Weil-Mclain
http://www.weil-mclain.com/products/display/54-EG

The original boiler was coal... just hoping there is some way to stay with steam and use an alternative source of fuel. I've got access to a lot of wood.

Thanks for any information/advice.
Evan David
U.P. of Michigan

Steamhead (in transit)

We looked at that one

it's hot-water only. That company and rep have nothing for steam. Besides, I don't think it has the ASME stamp so you couldn't use it where ASME approval is mandated by Code.

Instead of a W-M EG, why not look at the Smith G-8, which can burn either oil or gas and has a better thermal efficiency than an atmospheric boiler such as the EG?

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Lil-Roc

New Yorker Boiler has a indoor wood/coal boiler available. From what I've looked at, its would be mainly used for supplemental loads.