Get comfortable, this may be a little long.
We've recently moved from the city to the country (finally!) and in doing so inherited a CB 6048 with our "new" house. I had absolutely no idea what the thing even was when we first saw the house, so I've been doing as much research as I possibly can on the subject. That being said, I don't know if I'm using the boiler to its full potential.
We purchased approximately 15 tons of seasoned wood before late fall in preparation for the cold months here. The boiler heats our 3500sf late 1800's farmhouse and hot water. It heats via two exchanges on the furnace in the cellar and in the attic. Best I can tell, the water travels around 100' from the boiler, through pex tubing into the cellar and splits to the furnaces and hot water tank from there.
Currently, I can expect a 14ish hour burn when the weather stays above 30 degrees, and when it gets into the teens and below, I'm lucky to get 10-12 hours. I know our windows are drafty, but the house has been inspected by an insulation company and we were told the house is very well insulated.
My biggest question/concern is, is that a typical burn time and does that consumption sound right? We've probably used around half of our wood already. When I load the boiler, I use probably 40 pieces of split wood to fill the box bottom to top, one single stack, right at the front of the box. When I return from work at 8am, I find that the wood is largely gone but large coals are left over. Another issue I'm seeing is that I wind up with a huge amount of coals, very little powdery ash. I have so much coal that I have to scoop out what I assume are perfectly good coals to make enough room for more wood. I empty the firebox of coal/ash at least two to three times a week. To the tune of 2 barrows full.
Am I emptying to frequently and filling with wood, therefore wasting a viable heat source? Should those coals be enough to heat the water back up? I have a feeling that I'm jumping the gun on filling the box up when the coals may be enough to heat the water up again. The taco 009 pump burned out and was replaced as soon as we fired it up, but no other issues to date.
I've read the good, bad and ugly on CB but really enjoy the unit and what it provides. I'm just way behind on these things and want to be sure I'm doing the right thing. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. I've don't my best trying to explain what I have, but I'm a special snowflake and my knowledge is limited. If you need more information, I'll do my best to provide answers.
Thanks!
Drewsy64
We've recently moved from the city to the country (finally!) and in doing so inherited a CB 6048 with our "new" house. I had absolutely no idea what the thing even was when we first saw the house, so I've been doing as much research as I possibly can on the subject. That being said, I don't know if I'm using the boiler to its full potential.
We purchased approximately 15 tons of seasoned wood before late fall in preparation for the cold months here. The boiler heats our 3500sf late 1800's farmhouse and hot water. It heats via two exchanges on the furnace in the cellar and in the attic. Best I can tell, the water travels around 100' from the boiler, through pex tubing into the cellar and splits to the furnaces and hot water tank from there.
Currently, I can expect a 14ish hour burn when the weather stays above 30 degrees, and when it gets into the teens and below, I'm lucky to get 10-12 hours. I know our windows are drafty, but the house has been inspected by an insulation company and we were told the house is very well insulated.
My biggest question/concern is, is that a typical burn time and does that consumption sound right? We've probably used around half of our wood already. When I load the boiler, I use probably 40 pieces of split wood to fill the box bottom to top, one single stack, right at the front of the box. When I return from work at 8am, I find that the wood is largely gone but large coals are left over. Another issue I'm seeing is that I wind up with a huge amount of coals, very little powdery ash. I have so much coal that I have to scoop out what I assume are perfectly good coals to make enough room for more wood. I empty the firebox of coal/ash at least two to three times a week. To the tune of 2 barrows full.
Am I emptying to frequently and filling with wood, therefore wasting a viable heat source? Should those coals be enough to heat the water back up? I have a feeling that I'm jumping the gun on filling the box up when the coals may be enough to heat the water up again. The taco 009 pump burned out and was replaced as soon as we fired it up, but no other issues to date.
I've read the good, bad and ugly on CB but really enjoy the unit and what it provides. I'm just way behind on these things and want to be sure I'm doing the right thing. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. I've don't my best trying to explain what I have, but I'm a special snowflake and my knowledge is limited. If you need more information, I'll do my best to provide answers.
Thanks!
Drewsy64
