so thanks to everyone on the forum who have helped me in fine-tuning my wood/oil boiler to work together and not burn down my house. recently with my new wood burning strategy, i am having another small problem---
i am burning wood in the early to late morning--getting the house up to temp, letting the fire burn out (trying not to idle), then heating from late afternoon until midnight or so. i have been doing so with the air door always open, but adjusting the intake similarly to a conventional wood stove.
the problem i have been having is the blow-off on the wood boiler has been popping more frequently. granted, i am burning wide open and not allowing it to idle, but my temps have not been outrageous (two incidents so far--one @ 200 andf one @ close to 220) i would expect the boiler pressure to spike during those high temp mishaps, but it's also doing it during regular heating. we are heating a lot of water and have plenty of places for the heat to go. most of the time, the boiler pressure hovers around 12lbs, but i see it creeping up into the 20's more often lately--even when i turn some zones up to get rid of some of the temp.
on the top of the oil boiler, i have an extrol tank and a spirovent. on the wood boiler, just a maid of the mist.
a friend of mine who spent many years doing heating up in Mass. recommended another expansion tank on the top of the wood boiler, with a taller (12") riser (currently only about 4 inches off the top of the boiler) and an air scoop.
any recommendations??
btw: prior to my pyrotechnic event last winter, this was occurring on the oil boiler. now it's isolated to the wood appliance---i do not want to keep blowing off and bringing mineral-rich water into the system
i am burning wood in the early to late morning--getting the house up to temp, letting the fire burn out (trying not to idle), then heating from late afternoon until midnight or so. i have been doing so with the air door always open, but adjusting the intake similarly to a conventional wood stove.
the problem i have been having is the blow-off on the wood boiler has been popping more frequently. granted, i am burning wide open and not allowing it to idle, but my temps have not been outrageous (two incidents so far--one @ 200 andf one @ close to 220) i would expect the boiler pressure to spike during those high temp mishaps, but it's also doing it during regular heating. we are heating a lot of water and have plenty of places for the heat to go. most of the time, the boiler pressure hovers around 12lbs, but i see it creeping up into the 20's more often lately--even when i turn some zones up to get rid of some of the temp.
on the top of the oil boiler, i have an extrol tank and a spirovent. on the wood boiler, just a maid of the mist.
a friend of mine who spent many years doing heating up in Mass. recommended another expansion tank on the top of the wood boiler, with a taller (12") riser (currently only about 4 inches off the top of the boiler) and an air scoop.
any recommendations??
btw: prior to my pyrotechnic event last winter, this was occurring on the oil boiler. now it's isolated to the wood appliance---i do not want to keep blowing off and bringing mineral-rich water into the system