Wood Gasification Recommendations

maple1 said:

Not everyone is building smoke hoods.

My new unit allowed me to get rid of mine - and I wouldn't have it anywhere else but the basement. Aside from being able to feed it in my robe & slippers, the chimney height from there up through the two floors above allowed me to go natural with the draft. But like has been said, different strokes for different folks & situations. There are a TON of considerations. I actually second guess my whole install once in a while & wonder if I'd been better off putting mini-splits in, what with moderating climates & all that stuff. Those thoughts don't last long, I'm happy with what I did (although not done yet), but something else to consider.

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maple1 said:

Not everyone is building smoke hoods.

Maple, I may have asked you this before, but what size is your house that you are heating? The reason I ask is that, like you, I want to go with a natural draft. I will be going up through two floors and a roof so I should also have enough draft. I will be heating about 3000 sq ft of living space w/ radiant heat. I was surprised to find a Varmebaronen dealer not too far away. Was originally going to get a Biomass but decided that there seemed to be a lot of issues w/ fans and such. Also, do you heat your domestic water w/ it? Mini-splits? What are they?

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I have 2700 sq ft on two storeys, plus unfinished basement. 20 year old construction on windy hilltop. 30ft insulated stainless chimney. Also heat dhw with it yes except for the hottest couple months of summer. I have no regrets, would recommend to anyone who has enough chimney. Mini-split = ductless air source heat pump.

This new tablet is a pita to type on...

I have a Garn 1500 outside in an unheated, as of now uninsulated building. I built a box around the Garn and insulated the Garn itself with fiberglass...about R100 by the time you are outside the box. I love it. One fire a day to heat my place and all the DHW. In summer, one fire every 4 days. About 6 long showers (10 mins plus) per day and 2 loads of laundry. I have all radiant heat, so I can use water down to 100 or so nicely. We love the Garn and it has been rock solid.

That said, based on my experience and my understanding (but no experience) that a water to air HX is going to need high temps, I wouldn't recommend the Garn. My experience shows the higher temps don't last that long....and I don't know how much heat you will get from it once it drops below 160. Well, we can all calculate, but my experience tells me it would not be satisfactory. Seems to me like you'd be burning longer and more often than you should. If I was running water to air HX, I'd be running some smaller boiler that has a "constant" fire.

I do vote for the outdoor install though. To me, the walk outside is nothing comared to the potential smoke/mess/problems in the house. I've burned wood in a stove all my life, and was doing that prior to the Garn. I also had a little brother die in a house fire long ago....not wood burning related....and I'm a little anal when it comes to fire prevention. If possible, do whatever to prevent.

But, all that aside, I'd be concerned about the lower temp water not getting you the heat you need when it is cold and over 12 hours since that last fire in the Garn. Dectra suggest 190 as a Garn tank target. Measuring this at the wells on the tank, the bottom of the tank doesn't reach this level, there is a significant gradient (though I only have the well sensor, nothing up the side). So you don't really have 1500 (or whatever size) gallons of 190 water. For radiant, I don't think it can be beat. But for forced air HX, I suspect it would be a bummer. Of course if you oversize the HX massively then you should be able to dip to lower temps. But how low? 140? 130? Maybe....others will have more experience with this.

My two cents.....

If you had radiant, I'd say to remove the door and whatever (within reason) to get the Garn in. But with the air, I would likely vote against.

Also, if you have sliding door access for bringing wood inside, you might want to change that door to something you can readily roll a cart or something over. Carrying in by hand (bucket or otherwsie) over the threshold 6-7 cord a year is a bummer....been there before. An overhead door is ideal....roll the tractor cart right in. Just another thought.....

Enjoy leaving SoCal! I limit myself professionally incredibly by not joining the mess in the Bay area or SoCal...but living out there just sucks (to me) compared to a place like Vermont! I'd so much rather deal with 12' of snow a year than 6 million people and endless blacktop and concrete. My opinion of course! If you are sellign a home you bought long ago, take that and enjoy life in a beautiful place like Vermont! Keeping the mess outside is valuable....as is the peace of mind.

maple1 said:

I have 2700 sq ft on two storeys, plus unfinished basement. 20 year old construction on windy hilltop. 30ft insulated stainless chimney. Also heat dhw with it yes except for the hottest couple months of summer. I have no regrets, would recommend to anyone who has enough chimney. Mini-split = ductless air source heat pump.

This new tablet is a pita to type on...

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Yeah, it's been awhile since I've been here and the newer look is a little confusing. My basement will be finished (in time) so it sounds like I might have to get a larger model. What do you think? The guy I talked to told me w/ the larger one I won't have to feed it as much w/ the right amt. of storage. Fewer trips up/down stairs will be a plus as I put on the years. He mentioned something like 800 gal. Does that sound about right to you? Also, how many cords did you go through last winter? I'm sure it depends on the type of winter. How's it been up your way so far this year? I'm just trying to get prepared. I've got about 8 cords in logs laying on the ground now. I'll probably need a back-up system. Do you have an alternate system... gas,oil??? I'm glad you can heat your dhw w/ it too. Just another bonus.