Need to heat historic house without electricity

Safetyman

We have an historic small cabin with basement and two floors that we want to heat.  There are no utilities (i.e. electric) available.   We don't want to install a woodstove inside the structure because it is historic and we don't want to take the chance on burning it down.  Is it feasible to install an exterior wood burning boiler that can supply a gravity hot water system?  We would also like to use a radiant floor heating arrangement to keep the system as invisible as possible.



The cabin is located in a federal park in Maryland.  The house runs east to west and has 18" thick stone walls and heavy timber flooring/framing.  In addition it is located in a flood area.  The house is not occupied full-time and is rented to interested persons on a daily basis.  Usually the house is rented only in the summer, but we are interested in using it in the winter as well.

Any thoughts and any suppliers/installers of such a system would be welcomed.  Thanks.

tim smith

What about freewatt on Propane

Just a thought, you could get some electricity along with heat. I am not sure if they offer propane or not but I think so.

TonyS

Chances are good

you wont be able to get enough radiant to heat the building if no insulation has been added.

Outdoor wood boilers are quickly being made illegal unless they are gasification units and they require electric.

I like the freewatt idea but if expense is too much you could install some direct wall vent gas heaters that are strategically placed.

http://www.empirecomfort.com/

radmix

Standing pilot boiler

Use a boiler with a standing pilot not electrinic ignition, gravity feed system no circulators with all piping pitched @ 1/4" per foot.

Tim McElwain

Standing pilot gas

equipment needs 24 volts to operate.



Now if you are talking about  Powerpile self generating system that is different. You can get special circumstance approval to use powerpile if you can prove an absolute need to do so. The Amish still get powerpile heating systems for example. A regular boiler can be converted over to powerpile from a standing pilot system.

hot_rod

Is LP an option?

I don't think you want wood fired, inside or out in a rental situation.



You might find a LP fired wall mount heater, I think Monitor was a brand that could run without electricity.



But you might want to run a heat load calc first to see what is is going to require to keep the building comfortable, or make sure the tenant picks up the fuel bill.



hr

World Plumber

Steam

Is there anyway to hid/conceal radiators connected to a steam boiler with a powerpile? 

Charlie from wmass

If there is no electricity how do

you get the water to supply the boiler? http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolAirHtSysBook/Chap02.pdf. Not so pretty or reliable but if they are renting a place with out electricity this may be enough for heat.

tim smith

Re Freewatt and remote site

They now have a plus model, it will act as back up genset now, before it was just chp unit that produced excess power while heating hw or space heat. It can be ran on propane. They are quite PROUD of them but could be a nifty idea for off grid app. Produces 1800 watts of power while also heating. You use an air condensor for cooling motor when not heating hw or space. Just a thought.