Welcome! Here are the website rules, as well as some tips for using this forum.
Need to contact us? Visit https://heatinghelp.com/contact-us/.
Click here to Find a Contractor in your area.

Layout for interconnection with gas wall boiler and wood pellet stove/boiler . where can I get same

I have a triple pass gas boiler that is connected into the heating system along with a wood pellet stove with its own internal boiler and pump. The gas is operated via a timer/controller and a room thermostat.
However the system is fine if using the gas only, but in order to get the wood pellet stove to operate I have to switch off the power to the gas boiler. There must be a better way for this to work.

Comments

  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 22,018
    got a drawing of how it is piped!
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    Solid_Fuel_Mankcopp
  • Solid_Fuel_Man
    Solid_Fuel_Man Member Posts: 2,646
    A common seamless transition from one fuel source to another can be two stage thermostats as well. Pellets on 1st stage and gas on second stage.

    If you want help on piping integrating show us what you have now and we can help to remedy issues.
    Serving Northern Maine HVAC & Controls. I burn wood, it smells good!
  • brendanmgr
    brendanmgr Member Posts: 2
    I don't have a layout for the system, and after it was installed, I asked for a sketch or plan of the system, however the plummer refused to give it to me. What I am looking for is a set h of the ideal layout for this interconnected system to work one boiler at a time.
  • GroundUp
    GroundUp Member Posts: 1,888
    Take a picture and post it for us to see? What I do in a lot of cases that integrate both solid fuel and gas or electric wall hangers is to strap an aquastat on the supply line from the wood boiler and set it so that it breaks when that temp is 120, 130, whatever you need. Use that aquastat to break the signal to the gas boiler, so that any time the wood burner is above setpoint the gas will not come on. Then when the wood fire goes out and temp drops, the gas automatically resumes as normal.
    Solid_Fuel_Man
  • egansen
    egansen Member Posts: 31
    My dad has a similar set up with an outdoor wood fired boiler and a gas furnace. It is set up as GroundUp described with the aquastat on the output of the wood boiler that locks the gas furnace out if the boiler water is above the set point. It works very slick.
  • brendanmgr
    brendanmgr Member Posts: 2
    While the suggestion of an aquastat ton the output of the woodpellet stove to operate the gas boiler when water temperature drops makes sense. My problem is simpler than that. I never have both boilers operate at the same time, always one or the other. The problem is that I have to adjust the room Stat upwards in order to get woodpellet stove to stay on and not shut down after a short while. Currently I cannot get the stove to stay working for more than 20 min or so. That is having already turned power off on gas boiler.
  • Solid_Fuel_Man
    Solid_Fuel_Man Member Posts: 2,646
    edited October 2019
    You need to take some pictures.

    There could be a whole host of things going on. From undersized piping, oversized boiler. Poor pri/sec piping or pumping etc etc.
    Serving Northern Maine HVAC & Controls. I burn wood, it smells good!
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 22,018
    Do you men the circulator pump shuts off? If the thermostat reaches the temperature you adjusted to, then the pump should shut down and require a higher temperature setting to come back on.

    One concern with any solid fueled device is what happens when the load, thermostat, satisfies and the fire is still roaring. Either you dump to some other load, pop a relief valve, or risk flashing to steam in the stove HX.
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    kcoppSolid_Fuel_Man