Getting ready to buy a wood boiler as a secondary heat source for my multi zone radiant floor heating system. Is there anything wrong with simply utilizing a plate heat exchanger in the loop instead of storage?
711mhw said:I have a wood boiler with radiant heat and don't have any storage. It works perfectly! I am confused by the guys that talk about storage, they clearly sound very smart or in the business. I have a Wood Gun "gasification" E-100 and it just turns on when the aquastat calls for heat, then seals off all the air and kills the fire. That is, I don't have a stinky smoldering fire when the unit is not running, no "idling". I do understand about the full burn at best efficency but I thought that all "gassers" were about equal in efficiency. (in using the fuel - wood) My radiant design people spoke to the folks at AHS that make the wood gun and were convinced that they (AHS) knew what they were talking about because they (my radiant people) wanted to include some storage in my system. I have only been burning now for about 3 weeks but I am very happy with it all.
711mhw said:Fred 61 whoa buddy, I am all ears! I wish that I had found this site before I had made all my decisions. My (mention) 3 weeks experience was intended to show my wetness behind the ears! Also no disrespect (or opinion) was aimed at anybody pro or not. I'm here to learn! I would like to know what type of efficiency I might gain from storage? In my limited experience burning I am supprised by how little wood I use. I have only used wood stoves up until this point for my reference/comparison on wood comsumption. One of my objections to storage in my situation is not willing to give up the extra space. Is the more storage the better and does a guy with storage use his boiler only as needed to "charge" his storage? I may be wrong but it seems like you would allways be building fires. THanks in advance for your thoughts.
711mhw said:OK storage is king! Fred 61, you got my attention when you start talking about the life of the unit! This brings me to ask 2 things,
1 has anybody tried using a septic tank, burried as deep as you could and insulate the heck out of the exterior? I have the equipment to do this myself and a 1500 gal tank is only about $600 and I could locate it within a few feet of the building.
2 This would obviously be un-pressurised and is there a reasonable way around this or am I smokin crack?
My building is basically a nice big shop with an attached house (900sf) stuffed in the end, super insulated and air sealed to the point of insanity. With a Bock Hot water heater providing the heat up until the point that I start to heat the shop. Last winter I did not have the wood boiler and therefore did not heat the shop, and we used only about 150 gal. of oil . You guys are a great source of experiance and knowledge,thanks again
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