Installnew wood boiler in out building, tank too?

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cbb

Member
Apr 21, 2012
34
Nw. Maine
Am thinking of installing the new gasifing wood boiler in a building adjacent to the house. 40-50' away. also will build a wood shed and keep the mess out there. The building will be situated such that I can install solar panels at a later date.

My question is, should I also have the storagetank in the outbuilding or keep it in the cellar? 1000 gal. propane tank. Which would be better?

It does not matter either way as to where the tank is. Just want to do it the right way.

Thank you
 
Either way may be preferable depending on how you weight the trade-offs.

If the tank is in the cellar then any heat heat loss from the tank goes into the house, which is definitely better in the winter and even if you use the tank for DHW heat in the summer you may prefer a somewhat warmer and drier cellar all year round. Also if the tank is used to supply DHW heat it could simplify plumbing a lot to have the tank in the cellar.

But if the tank is in the boiler barn then the pipes to the house only have to be big enough to carry the maximum heat load of the house. If the tank is in the house then the pipes to the house have to be big enough to carry the maximum output of the boiler when charging the tank.
 
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Ours are in the barn. I'll be posting baby pictures very soon of our storage install. As much as I'd have liked to have storage energy loss inside our home, that wasn't possible without major structure changes to our house. Our tanks happen to be standing upright which is better for stratification and minimizes floor space. I'd say most have their tanks horizontal which apparently work fine. Our two 500 gal tanks required some creative fork lift ops mainly due to a 10' ceiling. Just think about how you'll handle that monster in your outbuilding.

BTW, our boiler barn has a long, shed roof off the end for wood storage. Works great.
 
I built a 12'x14' insulated outdoor building right next to the wood shed with 80' of buried 1 1/4 PEX to the house. I stacked two 500 gallon propane tanks in one end (though in 4 years I have only used one tank). It works well to have the boiler close to the storage with a short loop of piping and I can also easily isolate it if needed.

Good to keep the fire and the wood mess outdoors.
 
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