Wife Friendly Wood Gasification Boiler

does she have to put wood in it?

Our boiler is very wife friendly we have a deal- she runs the thermostat and I cut, stack and fill the boiler "the perfect combination"

My wife does great lighting our boiler if she isn't impatient and closes the damper too soon . She sure can get a mean fire on.

Before I put in storage, my wife would fill the Tarm in the afternoon. I am not sure she would have much interest in starting a fire though. She really enjoys not having to go near the thing anymore and having consistently hot water now that we have storage...

One of the ones with the draft fan on the exhaust might be good. That way there would be no smoke when filling...

The GARN is about as easy as it gets for loading, lighting and leaving. My wife and kids run it fine when I am not around. The big draft fan keeps the smoke in the flue, where it belongs, so reloading is not a scary or difficult proposition either.

Check out my videos on my web site if you have not already. Link in sig.

I start the fire in my Tarm but once it is lit my wife will feed it with no problem. The house is always toasty warm.

I have a 9 year old grand daughter that feeds a Garn.............

Turn the timer knob to 3, open the door, insert wood, close door, walk away.

what more can I say?

With the exception of the Garn all the indoor units have basically the same routine. My wife does not use our boiler (my choice) because I am not sure she could think through a problem if it were to overheat etc.

That said, if I were to type out instructions and post them I am sure she could handle it very well. Instructions to include basic lighting and loading and a flow chart if something is wrong.

Eric

I'm not sure I understand why everyone thinks it is so complicated to start a fire or add wood to these boilers. If you can open the damper (one lever), open the door, crumple up paper, add small kindling wood with slightly larger wood on top of it, light a match, pause for fire to catch, add wood, close door, push a button to turn on fan and close the door you can run the boiler.

As far as adding wood once the fire is established my 10 year old daughter can do it. Open damper, slowly open door, add wood, close door, close damper. This is the same procedure I've always used with any wood stove I've ever had.

It seems that a lot of people are trying to make it sound like you need to be a master plumber to operate these things. Once they are installed who cares what you have for controller's, zone valves, check valves, pressure tanks, bypass valves, etc. You don't have to play with them every time you add wood, or at least I don't!

VtRv said:

You don't have to play with them every time you add wood, or at least I don't!

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You and I think alike. BTW, how do you like the slip on wedge? I have about 5 of 20 cord split so far and am looking for any and all productivity enhancers.

The only problem I have is getting the wife to load 10 to 12 inch logs 24 inches long. There just to heavy but that is what burns the best in my boiler.

Solarandwood, I like the slip wedge quite a lot. Like anything there is a bit of a learning curve, but it reduces the time spent splitting for sure.

You could look at pellets with a large hopper and then the situation would never arise.

The Fröling Turbo 3000 has a lighting port and is draft induced (fan at the back of the boiler) so lighting is VERY easy and no smoke roll out during reloading. Because the Fröling must be used with storage, the day to day - season to season operation is also very easy.

Chris

Isn't it interesting how the opposite sex has got us convinced that they are too dumb to do any of this stuff. Reading this thread reminds me of the time that I bought a couple rolls of used chain link fence and couldn't snag anyone to help me load it so I took her along. Not far from where the rolls of fence were there was a guy having trouble starting his car. She went over to him and made a deal that I would help him jump his car if he would help me load the fence. I had to provide the labor to load the stuff along with the other guy and I had to help him start his car. She never lifted a finger, sat in the truck and smiled.

Fred61 said:

Isn't it interesting how the opposite sex has got us convinced that they are too dumb to do any of this stuff. Reading this thread reminds me of the time that I bought a couple rolls of used chain link fence and couldn't snag anyone to help me load it so I took her along. Not far from where the rolls of fence were there was a guy having trouble starting his car. She went over to him and made a deal that I would help him jump his car if he would help me load the fence. I had to provide the labor to load the stuff along with the other guy and I had to help him start his car. She never lifted a finger, sat in the truck and smiled.

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She's a keeper, don't throw her back.

I have an EKO 40 system and my wife can start the fires when I'm gone for extended periods of time with no problems whatsoever.

There is a little bit of smoke that comes out of the door but that's just part of the wood burning experience (much like when you go boating on the lake --your probably going to get a little wet).

NWM

Northwoodsman said:

I have an EKO 40 system and my wife can start the fires when I'm gone for extended periods of time with no problems whatsoever.

There is a little bit of smoke that comes out of the door but that's just part of the wood burning experience (much like when you go boating on the lake --your probably going to get a little wet).

NWM

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If the fire is at the right stage, it's going to smoke for you, me, your wife or anybodys wife if they open the door. That's the reason I installed a draft inducer. It only gets used when I reload or when starting a fire. You're lucky she will do it. My wife just turns up the oil thermostat. Maybe I should inform her that we burn wood. Actually, I don't remember if I ever told her!

Fred- what make and model of draft inducer did you put in?

Thanks

I got the AD-1 from Volko.
http://www.draftinducers.com/ad1.htm

Since it is not an essential component in the operation of my system, I just installed it, added a power cord and plugged it in to an outlet. I turn it on in the preliminary stages of a new fire to speed up the ignition of the small splits and then turn it off because the fast moving air flowing past the newly ignited wood doesn't allow the adjacent wood to ignite. Shut it off and let the flame spread and then close the bottom door. When re-loading reach over, flip it on and slowly open the door. Or in my case open the door, get a face full of smoke, slam the door and THEN turn on the inducer fan.

Fred61 said:

I got the AD-1 from Volko.
http://www.draftinducers.com/ad1.htm

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WOW! That looks like THE solution to my major and only complaint with my Tarm. My wife is very sensitive to woodsmoke, that's why we got away from it close to 15 years ago. I've been debating adding a boiler room to the back of the garage or putting a rig like a range hood over the boiler with an exhaust tube. This looks like a better idea.

I've had 3 different gasifiers in 11 years. The Froling is the first that I have dared to ask my wife to run. She not only has run it, but doesn't mind doing so...just so long as I bring all of the wood in. I do this without her asking me to. I've learned where the breaking point is! Lighting is supremely easy and fast and the boiler can go two weeks at my house without needing any ash removed. I am away more and more for business. It has been great to have my wife more involved with the process. I think she even has even gained a little no-oil-burning pride just like I have.

Why3 different gassifiers in 11 years Boilerman? Which ones have you had and what were the best features ?

I am an owner of BioHeatUSA. I try as many different technologies as I can so that I can speak from experience rather than theory. I have used a standard downdrafting gasifier, our Excel multi-fuel, a non-lambda Solo Innova with induced draft, and now the Froling, which is a lambda controlled, induced draft boiler. I have also used a Wood Gun extensively in a large building we owned. In my opinion, the Wood Gun is a unique product that is especially well suited for large and very large applications. With the exception of the Wood Gun, all have been used with storage. Each of the three home boilers has been successively better. The Froling has a lighting door, built in smoke hood, and huge combustion chamber that make it very easy to operate.