Homemade Wood Stove Hydronic Radiant Heat Setup

rbs12 · January 2023

@MikeinMaine Hi Mike, I am not too familiar with thermosiphon loops but simply used a UPS system like @Solid_Fuel_Man suggested. The one that I have will run the system for about 4 hours, plenty of time for me to hook up my generator or get home from work. With all the other fail safes I incorporated I am not too concerned about beyond 4 hours as the stove will not be hot enough at that point to super heat the water. I am in Southern NE but have property in Maine near Sunday River as well. More than happy to answer any questions you might have.

gvdevnt · December 2023

Very interesting setup , would like to learn more if I could connect

rbs12 · April 30

So I built this whole system and wife didn’t want to run the wood stove this year. She said the smoke is too much for her. Has anyone ever installed a air purifier in the ceiling above the stove that will filter out the smoke and then recirculate into the house?

hot_rod · April 30

Is the smoke from opening the door to tend the fire? There should always be a draft up the chimney and not much smoke escaping?

Opening the air adjustment before you open the door can help .

I have seen homemade hoods over wood boilers to help eliminate that small leakage when the door is opened, it only runs when the door opens

check the Hearth website for good wood burner experiences

I agree it doesn’t take much leakage to stink up the room

rbs12 · April 30

@hot_rod yeah just small amounts that add up and she wants a large air purifier. Just didn’t know if an in ceiling system existed so I don’t have a huge hood over my stove.

Bob Harper · May 1

I'll leave the hydronic issues to the pros here. As for the stove and its legality, it depends. If you are in a jurisdiction where the International Residential Code is in force, then it is illegal. Freestanding woodstoves must be listed to UL 1482 and installed per the listing. I don't recognize that stove but it does not appear to be one that is EPA 2020 certified. What is the age, make and model of the stove and its EPA emissions rating?

If you want to place anything within the stated clearances to combustibles, it must have passed ASTM E-136 or meet the definition in NFPA 211.

Does your insurance carrier know about this? Did you pull a permit and have it inspected by a municipality? If no and there's an Oops!, you could be held criminally liable.

If wood fired hydronic heating was such a swell idea, don't you think all the mfrs. would be all over this?

For one, cooling the stove drastically decreases combustion efficiency and increases pollution. It's a good thing you have an insulated ss liner. I'd put a barometric damper in the chimney connector to maintain a stable draft as the temps fluctuate.

Never seen a connector angle off a stove's rear take-off up 45 degrees into a chimney but acceptable. If it doesn't have a slip section, put one in so you can disconnect the pipe without moving the stove. Where is your cleanout?

Pics of the chimney, especially the cleanout and termination with roof clearances?

rbs12 · May 4

@Bob Harper you lost me at legality, code and permits. All three of those benefit one group, manufacturers. Of course they don’t tell you this will work or offer a cheap way to heat your home, that doesn’t help them. That’s why they’re pushing electric heat and stoves, the least efficient way to heat but they can control it. They do offer a hydronic system in the way of an outdoor wood furnace for $20k+. Manufacturers lobby to get these laws and codes passed to help their bottom line, make it so only they can meet the requirements. That wood stove is 30+ yrs old, when it breaks I take out the welder and fix it. I scavenge all the wood I need for the winter from dead standing, zero cost. In the highly unlikely event that it fails I’ll be sure that you’re the first to know. You must be a blast at parties.

Larry Weingarten · May 4

Hi @rbs12 , Bob Harper is just the messenger. From what I've see of his involvement here, he's one of the most knowledgeable people about combustion, codes, and safety, you'll ever find. He teaches it, and clearly cares about getting it right. He has offered to help you.

This is a public forum. Even though you very likely have the skills to manage a system built outside of normal practice or code, others reading here probably don't. It would be encouraging unsafe practice to help you design a system, in a public forum, that could hurt or kill someone if not managed properly. I've done things with my own water heater that I would never encourage others to do… but I'm a recognized water heater nerd.

Anyway, at the right party, Bob Harper very likely is a blast! 💥 Putting him down for seeming to rain on your parade isn't justified. He knows a lot, and he's offering to help. That's in line with the spirit of this place.

Yours, Larry

Bob Harper · May 4

Well, that was awfully nice of you to say rbs12. I'm very impressed how you gained so much knowledge as to be smarter than ALL the engineers, inspectors, contractors and stakeholders who deal with losses and failures. It is not just a matter of the cheapest form of heating. The only ones I know of pushing electric are the woke lackeys of the globalists. Having been a quality assurance mgr. of a hearth mfr. and having sat on the BoD of the HPBA, you could not be further from the truth about wanting laws and codes. These retraints COST mfr. and INHIBIT trade. These regulations exist to protect the public who may ever have cause to enter your premises. That includes paramedics, firefighters, cops, inspectors, guests and company. Codes protect them from people who think they are above public safety.

As for your clunker polluting stove, hey, knock yourself out. If you want to burn several times more wood than a modern stove or boiler would require, get your axe. If you think scavenging wood has zero cost you are deluding yourself. Aside from a chainsaw, fuel, maintenance, etc. and some means of transporting the wood to the boiler, I would hope your time is worth something so no, it is not 'free'.

I'm sure you have an ASME certificate for welding boilers so you don't take out the neighborhood should it fail or poison your guests with CO.

It sounds like you have it all figured out. You've surely impressed a lot of people here.

Shalom

WMno57 · May 4

This is a vampire discussion. Look at the date on the first post. rbs12 brought it back to life because he had a question about filtering wood smoke within his home.

The time to offer unsolicited opinions on his wood stove was January 2023. I personally think its not illegal, just undocumented. 😁 And pretty cool. And maybe dangerous.

HE DID NOT ASK FOR UNSOLICITED OPINIONS ABOUT POTENTIAL CRIMINAL LIABILITY. Then or now.

The chance of rbs12 being convicted of a felony for this? Almost ZERO. Yeah, it could blow up, injure someone, and he could get sued. That is CIVIL LAW, not CRIMINAL.

I enjoy Bob's posts about chimneys. He knows his stuff, and I have applied some of his tips to a flue at my brother's home. If I ever need a criminal defense attorney, Bob won't be on the list.

@rbs12 , Wood smoke has very small particles. That is why it is a health hazard, and the small size makes it difficult and expensive to filter.

Erin Holohan Haskell · May 6

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1800987#Comment_1800987

Thank you @Larry Weingarten. Well said.

Homemade Wood Stove Hydronic Radiant Heat Setup

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