i got a cheap englander pellet stove

I dont know of any way to do it. You need to run water pipes thru or near something that gets hot. maybe if you stripped some of the convection area off you could zig zag some coil on the surface of the stove?

johncro said:

jsut wanted to get some ideas here....i installed my pellet stove right next to my boiler in the basement with the hopes of somehow modifying it to use it as a boiler assisnt to heat the water in my baseboard heating system . i have a saranac heating the house right now with some help from my wood burning insert in the den . i dont mind altering the stove ...it only cost me 700 bucks . is this even possible? any advice would be great. merry christmas to everyone ......john

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This is what I did. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48073/

birdman Jack said:

johncro said:

jsut wanted to get some ideas here....i installed my pellet stove right next to my boiler in the basement with the hopes of somehow modifying it to use it as a boiler assisnt to heat the water in my baseboard heating system . i have a saranac heating the house right now with some help from my wood burning insert in the den . i dont mind altering the stove ...it only cost me 700 bucks . is this even possible? any advice would be great. merry christmas to everyone ......john

Click to expand...

This is what I did. https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/48073/

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This is the only way that I have seen it done ,and it works well for what he wants it to do . I don't know if it would make enough difference for you to warrant the cost of the pellets . There is only one way to find out ,you have to try it . Keep us posted on what you do .

Excell said:

.....I don't know if it would make enough difference for you to warrant the cost of the pellets . There is only one way to find out ,you have to try it . Keep us posted on what you do .

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I tend to agree with Excell's first sentence..... $700 for the stove, plus $$ for exhaust pipe, plus $$ for pellets, plus $ for electricity to run it....all to maybe raise water temp a few degrees??

You could have bought a LOT of natural gas or oil considering the relative cheap price it's at right now for all the $$ you spent on this.

yup, but for the alternative heating geek crowd, this sounds like a fun product. I fire up the wood stove sometimes, just to cook on it. Just because..am I saving over natural gas by the time the stove heats up and makes the AC turn on?? Nope, but it's cool

macman said:

Excell said:

.....I don't know if it would make enough difference for you to warrant the cost of the pellets . There is only one way to find out ,you have to try it . Keep us posted on what you do .

Click to expand...

I tend to agree with Excell's first sentence..... $700 for the stove, plus $$ for exhaust pipe, plus $$ for pellets, plus $ for electricity to run it....all to maybe raise water temp a few degrees??

You could have bought a LOT of natural gas or oil considering the relative cheap price it's at right now for all the $$ you spent on this.

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It raised my water over 30 degrees. I would consider that more than a few degrees. Plus it is heating the rest of the house on two bags a day on cold days and a little less on warmer days.

birdman Jack said:

macman said:

Excell said:

.....I don't know if it would make enough difference for you to warrant the cost of the pellets . There is only one way to find out ,you have to try it . Keep us posted on what you do .

Click to expand...

I tend to agree with Excell's first sentence..... $700 for the stove, plus $$ for exhaust pipe, plus $$ for pellets, plus $ for electricity to run it....all to maybe raise water temp a few degrees??

You could have bought a LOT of natural gas or oil considering the relative cheap price it's at right now for all the $$ you spent on this.

Click to expand...

It raised my water over 30 degrees. I would consider that more than a few degrees. Plus it is heating the rest of the house on two bags a day on cold days and a little less on warmer days.

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You missed my point, Birdman.......he already has 2 other stoves for heating the house. He bought this one just to try to raise the furnace water temp. Just seems like a lot of $$ to maybe accomplish what he's trying to do.

But hey, if he has that kind of $$ to spend on an experiment, go for it. You did yours with pretty much found (free) parts and used the same stove that you heat your house with.....he didn't.

macman said:

birdman Jack said:

macman said:

Excell said:

.....I don't know if it would make enough difference for you to warrant the cost of the pellets . There is only one way to find out ,you have to try it . Keep us posted on what you do .

Click to expand...

I tend to agree with Excell's first sentence..... $700 for the stove, plus $$ for exhaust pipe, plus $$ for pellets, plus $ for electricity to run it....all to maybe raise water temp a few degrees??

You could have bought a LOT of natural gas or oil considering the relative cheap price it's at right now for all the $$ you spent on this.

Click to expand...

It raised my water over 30 degrees. I would consider that more than a few degrees. Plus it is heating the rest of the house on two bags a day on cold days and a little less on warmer days.

Click to expand...

You missed my point, Birdman.......he already has 2 other stoves for heating the house. He bought this one just to try to raise the furnace water temp. Just seems like a lot of $$ to maybe accomplish what he's trying to do.

But hey, if he has that kind of $$ to spend on an experiment, go for it. You did yours with pretty much found (free) parts and used the same stove that you heat your house with.....he didn't.

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Apoligy not necessary we are all here to figure things out best we can and help each other. I forgot he was using other stoves which as you say makes it quite odd to add another. I hate to suggest this not knowing how skilled he is but I would add a loop inside the pellet stove to heat the boiler water and if done right might heat his base board enough to elimanate the other two wood burners and make the boiler only turn on once in a while. That is why I did what I did so as not to void the warrentee on my new toy. If he is not fimiluar with how the boiler works he is better off not adding the loop. I don't want anyone blowing up thier house because of me. Like you say sounds like he might be better off burning oil.

Only way to find out is to try it . No use stopping now .

johncro said:

for me safety is first. i installed the stove with the pipe dream....no pun intended...to see if a boiler assist could be accomplished so that all of the house could be heated by one stove. my bills for orange and robbers was like a grand a month when i used gas. so lets say id burn two bags a day plus say 20 logs a day to heat the house. if this mod worked out i could hea tthe whole house on say two bags a day using the baseboard. and use the fireplace for asthetics ...anyway thats my goal

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Forgot to ask you where are you at in New York?

johncro,

I have a wood boiler connected in parallel with the oil boiler, on separate chimneys, which does exactly what it seems you would like to do with your pellet stove.

When burning wood, the boiler will easily heat the entire house and the domestic hot water, which is in a separate tank, heated by whichever boiler is running. If the power goes out, an ectromagnetic by-pass valve opens and the hot water circulates through the baseboard heat system by gravity flow. Heated the house for 17 days in January, when we were without power, some years ago after a very ugly ice storm . . . . . just have to keep a low fire to avoid boiling the water in the system.

Also have a pellet stove in the livingroom and I just cannot see that particular pellet stove, no matter how modified, to be able to come close to matching a boiler's ability to heat water.

Could it provide a heating suppliment as the gentleman did with his modifications using baseboard heat sections, certainly . . . and I commend him for his innovativeness.

Regards,

Ranger