NEWB trying to get more heat :)

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petee2

New Member
Feb 23, 2012
6
New jersey USA
OK Heres what I am thinking any ideas or help would be helpful before it is fully installed and would be apreciated
Here is what I have waterford 103 woodstove
18†long 3†wide h2o loop for in the fire box
18x20†heat coil , Hvac blower 30gal hw tank (storage if needed)
B&G circulator pump, 110v thermostat
I want to put loop into firebox through chimney out the clean out (to avoid drilling into firebox for the water loop) the chimney will be sealed and I will be able to disconect and remove the water loop in 2 minutes to clean loop and chimney (easy hookup) the loop would be right above the baffle inside the box. then I want it to go to the HW tank for storage. Then to the circulator from the circulator to the heat coil back to water loop.
I would encase the heat coil with the hvac blower to the exsisting ducts inside the house with a new cold air return (systm in house now is not correct according to hvac tech) need to correct circulationThe blower would be on the thermostat and the circ pump woud be constant on . circulating the water/glycol
There is another thermostat to shut the entire system down if water temp is too low for heating
(Then house would use gas heater to heat)
Does this sound right?
I do have a little knowledge of heat sysems ( a little knowledge may be a bad thing lol)
Ps . my stove is in a enclosed addition on the house. The system will be only 10 to 15 feet away from the duct work in the house
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A couple quick comments....

Firstly the idea of sucking air into a cold air return can be dangerous. In fact, it is illegal as per most codes. The reason is that such a return creates a negative pressure in the room and can make the stove downdraft or reverse, the result being smoke throughout your house! I've seen it happen with coal stoves and it was not pretty!

I'm not sure from your description if you intended to do that, but just in case you did......

That is a big stove and I'm sure you could get some decent BTU's out of it into the water - but you may need more than that small coil. It's an older stove so drilling may be preferable to having pipes from the top coming down - which may create air lock problems.

If I were trying to get as much heat as possible, I'd probably go with custom coils from a place like Hilkoil and get as much surface area inside as possible. Maybe even two or three of them in that stove!
http://www.hilkoil.com/product.htm
 
I'm just a stupid firefighter . . . but I'm not sure this is a great idea . . . how would you control things to reduce or minimize the chances of steam building up and causing a steam explosion . . . also what does your insurance company think of this idea?

To get more heat out of this unit we could perhaps offer some suggestions on how we move heat around in our homes (reversing ceiling fans, pushing air towards the woodstove, etc.)
 
Are you planning to run this to a heat exchanger in your hvac plenum? Even those aren't the most efficient, and if it's just a simple loop in a duct you'll likely not get much benefit out of it.
Also make sure to put a temp/pressure relief in it. Steam explosions are bad, and even a small pipe can be very dangerous. And what will happen in a power failure when the circ pump isn't running?
Just some random thoughts. Those coils can help to supplement DHW and maybe a small loop in an hydronic system, but I'm not sure you'll get any more heat through your house.
 
I don't think you would have a steam problem (explosion) because convection will circulate water through the pipe. You would have to get all the water in that pipe up to steam temperature, and that would be very hard to do with a short loop. BUT, I think this is a bad idea, for several reasons. Webmaster said the one, and the other was brought up by firefighterjake. Thirdly, you aren't going to reap much of a benefit from such a short loop of pipe for heat collection. You would be much better off buying water jackets for your stove if you are determined to make a heat loop for your water. I am sure your insurance company would agree. Spend the time and money and do it right.
 
We used to have a chimney hx for dhw on our All Nighter Big Moe that worked pretty good. Putting piping through the chimney seems pretty sketchy, but what do I know.
 
Thank you for the responses
I am posting to verify I am not a total Idiot but I did not explain correct :red:
Good eye I did forget to mention there is a auto air eliminator, pressure relief/temp valve as well as standby gen on the house.
we loose electric alot in my neighborhood

the system would only be used while someone is present (not left unattended)
the entire system would use the plenum but when I said new cold air return i meant for the plenum to the entire house,
not going into the room the wood stove is in.

the wood stove is totally cut off from the house with exterior doors shut at all times (my smoking room)
reversing fans does not work. No heat is going to the house now

as far as the heat coil I was referring to it is a 18x20 heat exchanger (80k to 140k btu) in the plenum
but i wanted to use a seperate blower for the heat exchanger as I do not have clearance for it at the heater
at this time so i was installing another blower on the plenum with another cold air return in the house for this blower

I do have to determine the btus from the coil in the fire box it is constructed from s/s hydraulic line 3/4 in. now,
that can be re sized as needed or replaced by other type (any suggestions?) I do have access to machine shop to
make what is needed and bend piping. copper/stainless /black I have no idea what size might be needed to get the 140/180 °F temp for the loop
if it is possible at all.
but this stove does pump some heat
the circulator is because the heat exchanger and tank would be approximately 2 feet below the wood stove
last thing is.
as far as drilling into the stove the 8" chimney comes out the back or the top I actually use the back flue (as diagram I drew)
and thought that was better than drilling into the side or back of the fire box . this wood stove is a little different from others I have seen as it has
plates inside the box to divert air to the fire from 3 sides i would have to drill them as well. (this is from factory not add on)
comming out the cleanout seems a better option

I hope you think I am a little smarter than the last post I did forget to mention a few details and explained myself a little better
I think faster than I type

And I am considering if this is a viable option at all, I will look into outdoor wood boiler. I was thinking the woodstove instead of installing another wood burner
because I do like the wood stove and have heard of this type sytem

I used a pic. off the site to show the wood stove as I do not have picture of mine yet
(The room is not completely done ,and I would get hell for posting a picture of it :cheese: )
I did look at the boiler room and agree I will post there if not moved
 
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