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Woodfired add on boiler

Vince
Vince Member Posts: 8
What if any is the down side of an add on wood boiler. My existing boiler is one year old. I have a 2 pipe hot water system that is 75 yrs. old with the cast iron radiators. I live in north east Ohio. Thank You. Vince

Comments

  • John Lenhart
    John Lenhart Member Posts: 25
    woodburner

    Vince, I have been through this experience slash science project. Your biggest problem is control. Wood fires tend to get hot. Once the house heat is satisfied, the boiler usally opens the relief valve and vents. This is the part where you wade though the clouds of steam and try to cool it down. Not much fun. It tends to become not your ideal centralized heating system. Your chimney will require cleaning more frequently. Have a professional install it to be on the safe side. Hope this helps.
  • Tony_8
    Tony_8 Member Posts: 608
    indoor or outdoor ?

    pressurized or non ?
  • kevin coppinger_4
    kevin coppinger_4 Member Posts: 2,124
    you need to...

    spend the $ up front to get the dump zone into a 500-1000gal well insulated tank. That will then draw off it as needed later.kpc
  • David_5
    David_5 Member Posts: 250
    Been there done that

    I installed one in my house about 12 years ago. I found that the boiler burned wood so fast I could not keep up. Even in mild weather. I switched to coal and used that for years with good results. I have a 110 year old 2 story house. I made the first floor zone double as the dump zone. This is the zone that runs to prevent the boiler from overheating. In my experience the boiler only overheated when the load changed quickly, like setting back the thermostat at night. If the outside temp stayed below 50 then even my dump zone never went over 72 degrees. I would suggest getting a smaller boiler than what you already have. In extreme temps you can run the other one to help out. If you don't know how to do this get a pro.

    David
  • Lloyd Nichols
    Lloyd Nichols Member Posts: 20
    High quality wood boilers

    installed correctly by a top-notch professional contractor and operated as recommended will give excellent performance. We have many hundreds of happy, enthusiastic customers who enjoy the benefits and ease of use. It is true that older technology wood-fired boilers, especially if they were not used or installed properly could cause problems. As with most things...you can get good results, or not, depending on how well things are done. Visit our website www.woodboilers.com or call me at 1-800-782-9927 if you would like to talk or get one of our videos.

    Lloyd Nichols, Wood Heat Professional
  • Vince
    Vince Member Posts: 8


    Thanks for your input, It would be indoor, I have natural gas now. Low pressure, my limit is set at 140deg. THanks, Vince
  • Dan Peel
    Dan Peel Member Posts: 431
    try this

    The aqua-therm is a good general purpose stainless steel owf. The only outdoor unit I know to be pressurized.

    www.aqua-therm.com

    dan

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This discussion has been closed.