Help. Newbie. want to build own.

cmv · Jan 21, 2014

Hi. Sorry if I'm repeating a question already asked. We live in a typical 1979 split level house. Living, kitchen, bath & 2 beds up. Family, laundry, bath, 2 beds (only thing finished) in basement. We live in cold MN...frozen tundra of the midwest. & burn anywhere from Oct - may depending on the year. We have an old wood burner. Works well. Too well, LOL. Problem is allergy & sinus infections during burning months. We are a 1 income homeschool family & can't afford too much. I would like to build a outdoor wood burner. I found plans online using an old water heater tank & old propane tank. How do I get the heat from the burner to the house? We do not have a furnace or duct work of any kind (base board heat) the good news is 2/3 of the basement isn't finished.
Baseboard electric heat jacks my electric bill from $150/mo to $700/mo. That is not an option. Can't afford to install furnace & propane. Natural gas not available. I can't afford to hire someone to do the work but hubby is super handy, if I can give him complete directions. He formerly was a plasterer (sheetrock, taping & spraying) & knows how to weld.
Can anyone give or point me to step-by-step directions of what materials & duct work & best way to run it? &/or how to build a wood stove for outdoors? I'm so sick of being sick burning inside

flyingcow · Jan 21, 2014

usually building a boiler is not feasible, just better off to find a used one.. You may have to look for an OWB(used) and run under ground piping to a set of rads to the house?

There are quite a few of us that have an indoor boiler in an outbuilding. Works well. Mess and fuss outside. Maybe look for a used indoor boiler and put in an out building?

None of this is cheap. Especially underground piping. Than add some delivery system for the house. More expense?

Just rambled a few answers to bump this up to the top. Others on the site may have a better idea.

Welcome

arbutus · Jan 21, 2014

Here's a recent lower budget one https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads...ood-furnace-boiler.115569/page-4#post-1607322

Older posts on "Garn like" boilers. If I have the time and future need I'll build one of these.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/home-made-boiler-up-and-running.41463/ and search for other posts by Allan.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/building-a-garn-what-would-you-change.32986/ and search for other posts by Wade.

Spartan · Jan 22, 2014

cmv said:
Hi. Sorry if I'm repeating a question already asked. We live in a typical 1979 split level house. Living, kitchen, bath & 2 beds up. Family, laundry, bath, 2 beds (only thing finished) in basement. We live in cold MN...frozen tundra of the midwest. & burn anywhere from Oct - may depending on the year. We have an old wood burner. Works well. Too well, LOL. Problem is allergy & sinus infections during burning months. We are a 1 income homeschool family & can't afford too much. I would like to build a outdoor wood burner. I found plans online using an old water heater tank & old propane tank. How do I get the heat from the burner to the house? We do not have a furnace or duct work of any kind (base board heat) the good news is 2/3 of the basement isn't finished.
Baseboard electric heat jacks my electric bill from $150/mo to $700/mo. That is not an option. Can't afford to install furnace & propane. Natural gas not available. I can't afford to hire someone to do the work but hubby is super handy, if I can give him complete directions. He formerly was a plasterer (sheetrock, taping & spraying) & knows how to weld.
Can anyone give or point me to step-by-step directions of what materials & duct work & best way to run it? &/or how to build a wood stove for outdoors? I'm so sick of being sick burning inside

Ummm......okay. When you ask the question of "How do I get the heat from the burner to the house?".....short answer, don't do it.

First, "hubby" needs to be a decent welder to make a leakproof container that can stand up to 10 psi. Need to have above average fabrication skills. Need to understand the principles of what he/you are doing. Need to design and fabricate a "delivery system". Need to be able to wire everything up. Need to interlock it for safety. Need to be able to trouble shoot it. And good luck getting insurance.

From a indoor wood stove to a boiler system is one heck of a step in all aspects. Honestly, I'm not trying to be an a-hole, but if you are asking a fundamental question as to how to get the heat into the house, a long way to go to understand everything that is involved in creating a "heating system". What I suggest is you look for an used outdoor boiler and at least, you got a start to creating your "heating system".

I'm just wondering, do you have a pot of water on top of the stove? If you don't, then your problem may stem from the house being too dry. My wife complained about some nasal symptoms and we solved it with a 1 gal kettle on top of the stove and a small fan behind it.

huffdawg · Jan 22, 2014

cmv said:
Hi. Sorry if I'm repeating a question already asked. We live in a typical 1979 split level house. Living, kitchen, bath & 2 beds up. Family, laundry, bath, 2 beds (only thing finished) in basement. We live in cold MN...frozen tundra of the midwest. & burn anywhere from Oct - may depending on the year. We have an old wood burner. Works well. Too well, LOL. Problem is allergy & sinus infections during burning months. We are a 1 income homeschool family & can't afford too much. I would like to build a outdoor wood burner. I found plans online using an old water heater tank & old propane tank. How do I get the heat from the burner to the house? We do not have a furnace or duct work of any kind (base board heat) the good news is 2/3 of the basement isn't finished.
Baseboard electric heat jacks my electric bill from $150/mo to $700/mo. That is not an option. Can't afford to install furnace & propane. Natural gas not available. I can't afford to hire someone to do the work but hubby is super handy, if I can give him complete directions. He formerly was a plasterer (sheetrock, taping & spraying) & knows how to weld.
Can anyone give or point me to step-by-step directions of what materials & duct work & best way to run it? &/or how to build a wood stove for outdoors? I'm so sick of being sick burning inside

My wife gets allergy & sinus infections during winter months also and we don't have a wood stove.. We think she is getting it from where she works, something in the walls like mold or something.. In the spring and summer there is good ventilation in the fall and winter not so much. are you sure its the wood stove. you should be able to fix the wood stove so it doesn't leak.. You should be able to confirm the allergies also. Maybe you have already done this .

What sort of old wood burner do you have ? It shouldn't be letting smoke into your house.

mike van · Jan 22, 2014

cmv, these are just some more ideas - Unless you have a pretty well equipped shop, I'd forget about building a wood furnace or boiler - The best you could hope for is the furnace wouldn't send carbon monoxide into your home, and the boiler wouldn't leak or fail in a year. In your place here's what I'd do - I think a raised ranch or split level would do better with baseboard hot water than hot air, you won't have to install hard to make ducts in every downstairs room. 3/4 copper pipe is much easier to hide. You'd also have 'free' hot water as long as you're feeding the fire. If you know any local plumbers or heating people, contact them about a used boiler for the house, sometimes they get removed fairly new or nice and can be had cheap. You might even get lucky and find a free one. Same with the outside wood boiler, craigslist, ebay, places like that have used ones all the time. You can buy this stuff a little at a time, as you find it. No matter how you go, this is a huge job, somewhere it's going to cost you some $$$$, but so will the electric heat if you have to use it.

maple1 · Jan 22, 2014

huffdawg said:
What sort of old wood burner do you have ? It shouldn't be letting smoke into your house.

Echo this.

I would do one of two things : either update the wood burner you have now with something newer of the same general type, or put in indoor wood boiler in the basement hooked to your baseboard. First is the quicker, easier, & likely cheaper way, the second choice will keep you a LOT warmer & more comfortable overall.

Okay, I just re-read your post - the baseboard you have now is electric? That means that whatever you do aside from a new stove will require a lot of work & investement, either in the form of new ductwork, or new hot water distribution (baseboard or underfloor).

So, what exactly do you have now? Are you measuring indoor humidity?

I would forget about building your own OWB - way too much trouble potential there, and it could end up costing you dearly. Maybe replace what you have now with something more capable, then start investigating long-term solutions. There is usually quite a bit of used stuff to chose from in the way of boilers etc., but you need a solid plan.

flyingcow · Jan 22, 2014

As a rule wood heat is cheaper than oil. My thoughts were to find a used OWB( or an indoor boiler and put it inside an out building) run underground insulated pex to house. In the short term, use pex to feed a few basic unit heaters to heat house?

Tough out this winter....And I agree, keep a pot of water on top of stove/boiler.

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Help. Newbie. want to build own.

cmv

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flyingcow

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arbutus

Feeling the Heat

Spartan

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huffdawg

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mike van

Feeling the Heat

maple1

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flyingcow

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