First of all I’d like to say thanks to everyone on this forum. I’ve never been on a more helpful forum than this one. Unfortunately, after weighing the pros and the cons(budget), there is no way I can get my econoburn fired up this heating season. I appreciate everyone who gave me advice.
  I will be watching in the background for all the latest and greatest ideas because I will be using wood as my primary heating next year. The pro to it is I’ll have a lot more seasoned wood and my newly installed radiant floor will be ready for a wood boiler as well as an indirect water heater. The con is I have to buy oil for another season.
  One problem that I saw with this forum: It was never pointed out that because my boiler supplied my DHW that it was next to impossible to easily incorporate my wood boiler into my oil boiler.  Don’t get me wrong it was all my lack of planning. But I think some of the more knowledgable heating experts should put together a sticky warning newbies of what’s involved. What the experts take for granite, others haven’t got a clue….ME.
          Thank you very very much,
                            Sincerely, Beeper

The difficulty with a “warning” is that each situation can be incredibly different based not only on what someone has as a pre-existing system, but also what they plan to install and how they want to configure and operate it (storage or not, etc.). 

It’d be really hard to give warnings to cover all complexities, without it turning into something that boils down to “don’t try this at home”—when in fact nearly of this is learnable and do-able, in one way or another, by anyone who’s got some real DIY aptitude and drive. 

The same thing that leads to the wide variety of complexities and variables in hydronic systems also means that there are a wide range of possible solutions, which’ll also vary a lot with field conditions, budget, and personal preferences. 

If I knew what I know now, I’d have definitely done some parts of my install differently, but that’s not to say I have regrets, because nothing has turned out badly and I would not have learned if I hadn’t taken the plunge at some point.

You’re absolutely right. You can’t warn against all complexities. I didn’t want it to sound like I was blaming the forum for my shortfalls but after reading it again it sounds exactly like that. So to make things perfectly clear.  I did not do enough homework ! Yes I could still tie in my new wood boiler but my budget would force me to cut some major corners.  I refuse to do that so I’ll wait one more year before enjoying the benefits of burning with wood. By waiting I can install right the first time saving myself alot of time and rework.

b33p3r - 02 September 2010 06:34 PM

By waiting I can install right the first time saving myself alot of time and rework.

There’s a really fine line in here somewhere. For me at least, there’s always more that I could learn. It takes a certain amount of recklessness to charge ahead and do a project without knowing everything that there is to know. With the amount of information and knowledge on this forum, almost anyone would be intimidated. Too intimidated, and the project never happens.

So, how do you know when you’ve done enough learning and planning? No easy answer. I guess for my part it’s important to be aware of the major tradeoffs and design decisions, and have some reasonable level of comfort with your choice on each. Still wish I’d done pressurized storage, though. Shoulda done radiant when we built the house, too. Life needs a rewind button.

Years ago, I tried to capture the major decisions that we faced in our own wood heat journey. It would be pretty hard to fully document all the variations. This forum is the best way I’ve found to help navigate that path.

Best of luck and stay involved. Share what you’ve learned with others who will be asking the same questions.

Beeper - I understand where you are coming from. I was close to making the leap but decided that I would be too hurried to get everything done how I want this year. Though the tax credit makes it tempting to try.

So you already have the boiler? Is there any way you could hook it up as a stand alone boiler and connect to a modine heater in your basement? Not sure if that is even possible but it would allow to get experience burning in it and you wouldn’t have an expensive boat anchor sitting unused.

I think that is an excellent decision.  It’s always better and less $$ and hassle to do it correct the first time.

Defining “correct” can be challenging.

Good news is oil and LP prices are very low, at least in my area, maybe you can lock into a good oil price?

hr

I had very similar concerns when I started my project.  Ultimately, I blew my budget by roughly 2x’s.  I ultimately decided on taking out a small, short term loan as opposed to spending another year paying the gas man.  The money sent to the gas company is sunk, gone forever.  The money I spent on my loan was more of an investment.  At least this is the way it worked in my simple mind….

I’m down but I’m not out. I’m going to keep piecing it together little by little. As long as I get my underground lines in before the ground freezes, I can do some here and there through the winter. Maybe I’ll get it up and running in Jan. or Feb????
  Another Idea I’m pondering is tieing it in to oil boiler and just using it during non DHW needed times. i.e. overnight and after everyone is showered for the day. I’ll disable the oil boiler until we need Hot Water The family will have to get on a more rigid schedule but that’s their contribution to the cause.
  We’ll see how things go. Thanks for the support.

stee6043 - 03 September 2010 02:01 PM

I had very similar concerns when I started my project.  Ultimately, I blew my budget by roughly 2x’s.  I ultimately decided on taking out a small, short term loan as opposed to spending another year paying the gas man.  The money sent to the gas company is sunk, gone forever.  The money I spent on my loan was more of an investment.  At least this is the way it worked in my simple mind….

There are tax advantages splitting it up, or doing it all at once.  Say for example you make solar part of your plan, 1/3 the cost can be for just the tank.  But if you were to locate your panels on top of your woodshed and (uhem) add a few extra lines in the ground for a wood boiler later, and then a dual coil tank instead of just electric backup…..

My boiler install cost me close to 4 grand, and the boiler was only $1500 of that.  I can believe it adds up quick.