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j.w.young

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Oct 30, 2008
9
northern lower Mi.
Hi everyone, I just started reading this site, this looks like a great bunch of helpful people. I have been burning wood since the 60s but 4 years ago we built a new highly insulated home with some help from friends that are builder.& plumber. we have in floor heat with a Munchkin 140M boiler. The guy I hired to install the heating system insisted on 140M based on old standards of sq ft but other contractors did a modern heat calc at 60M. We burn 1000 gal of lp per year for heat,dhw,stove,dryer,bbqgrill. Now I want to return to wood heat with the gas as backup. We have all the tools, saws,tracktor,splitter,30acres of hardwoods. I just bought a small used boiler & plan to run it pressurized with a hx to an unpressurized 800gal buffer tank with a hx to the Munchkin's primary loop. My weakness is in the controlling of the pumps so wood is primary with gas as standby if we go out of town. Plumbing & simple wiring like aqustats & snapdisc switches are ok with me but logic systems are past me. Anyone have suggestions on control systems, differential temp sensors & the like? I'd like to keep it simple to moderate if I could. I'd also like to find a temp sensor for the buffer tank that I can read from the living area of the home so I know when I need to reload the boiler. Thank You
John in the enchanted forest
 
Welcome to the boiler room. There are several ways to accomplish what you're looking for, and complex controllers are not necessary. I have on approach documented in the sticky at the top of this forum labeled 'simplest pressurized storage'. The basic approach would work with unpressurized storage as well - just envision a coil going through the storage tanks.

Wireless barbecue thermometers would be one possibility for your remote temperature readout.
 
I picked up the used milk tank today. It turns out to be a 1000gal non pressurized insulated tank with a 24" man hole in the top. When I figure out the photo thing I'll post a pic. Thanks for the tip on bbq temp sensors, I'll read your sticky. brought home the used boiler today too.
 
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