Inside wood boiler (in my cellar)

I can't answer your question, but if you live on tug hill you know snow. My dad is from Casterland and we know a lot of folks in the Croghan area. So hello, and welcome to hearth.com. Regarding the wife, mine learned to tend a wood stove these last years right down to a science, and I have high hopes for the gasifier we just installed. Yours will do fine.

You'll probably get creosote with a non-gasifier. I've found that a gasifiers is as easy--if not easier--to run than a conventional boilers (I've owned two). My wife runs the EKO when I'm out of town, and she finds it easier than our old boilers (less loading--less fussing). The main disadvantage to gasifiers, in my experience, is higher cost, but you burn less wood (about half with hot water storage), and you don't have to worry about burning your house down.

She just keeps the fire going. That's all I do, for that matter. It runs pretty consistently between 60 and 80 degrees C. if you don't overfill it for conditions or let it go out. Everything else is automatic. Set the house stats where you want them, then make sure there's always wood to burn. And cold starts are no more difficult than a woodstove or conventional wood boiler.

I had a Tarm gasifier installed in my basement with a totally inside insulated chimney. A pretty nice set-up, you might think. I had a creosote problem but I attribute that to the lack of heat storage and operator error. With a hot water storage tank I think I could have had the boiler run fast and clean, dumping the BTUs into that tank. As I operated, I hated to use a single cubic foot of natural gas, so I kept the wood boiler going in the spring and fall. With not a lot of call for daytime heat, the fire in the packed firebox would smoulder and wood gas would condense inside my chimney. My next boiler will not be allowed to idle.

tug hill rook said:

I would like to replace my oil fired hot water boiler with a wood boiler in my cellar. If i buy a non gasifier unit and use dry wood and run it hot, would there be a creosote problem? I am gone for weeks at a time and While my wife doe's ok with the wood stove, I'm not sure she would be able to handle a gasifier boiler. Thanks,THR

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Guys, I don't want to start a bar room brawl, but I don't agree with the idea that non-gassifying wood boilers are nothing but creosote factories and fire hazards. I have 4 years of real life experience using a wood boiler that is about half the cost of a gassifier. I am averaging 5-6 cords of wood per season to heat a 2800sf house including dhw. The key to minimizing creosote is smaller hotter fires in warmer temps. Almost all wood burning devices make creosote. Just do a search on this blog for "creosote" to see which boilers are making creosote. I clean my chimney once every spring and have no problems with creosote. I realize gassifiers are more efficient and cleaner burning than conventional wood boilers, but some of us do not have the resources to purchase and install a gassifier and water storage system.

That's well said, Mainewood. A lot of it boils down to individual situations, and it's almost always a bad idea to make sweeping generalizations without taking different factors into consideration. Cost is certainly one. The conditions and mode of operation are another.

Having said that, I would still recommend a gasifier for THR, since he said cost was not the big hangup and (to make a sweeping generalization of my own), he's more likely to use less wood and produce no creosote with one.

:coolsmile:

Eric Johnson said:

That's well said, Mainewood. A lot of it boils down to individual situations, and it's almost always a bad idea to make sweeping generalizations without taking different factors into consideration. Cost is certainly one. The conditions and mode of operation are another.

Having said that, I would still recommend a gasifier for THR, since he said cost was not the big hangup and (to make a sweeping generalization of my own), he's more likely to use less wood and produce no creosote with one.

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I can't disagree with that Eric.

I think you are on track with thinking gasifier. I have a non-gasifier with heat storage and it requires alot of fooling with it. Alot more than I want my wife to deal with. I will be making the switch , as much as it hurts . But... its worth the piece of mind and less fuel consumption. And creosote - always had no matter how I run the boiler. So unless you have an afliction for chimmney cleaning buy the gasifier.

tug hill rook said:

I will be using a propane tank or tanks for storage. I know a person in the propane buisness, so i can get what i need. Any thoughts on which you would prefer, two five hundreds or one- one thousand gallon tank? (as far as plumbing ECT. go's) Thanks,THR

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I planned on a 1000 gallon tank, but that wing of my basement was 3" too short to fit it so I went with two 500s. 1000 is easier to plumb, but now I get to take advantage of thermal stratification by stacking the tanks one atop the other. Typically 1000s are around 16' long and 500s are around 9' long. Also, I have twice as many couplings to weld on, but my supply and return are at the same end (different tanks), a single tank would have suppy and return at opposite ends, so a longer pipe run.