please help newbie!...... professionals?

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crackshot

crackshot

Member
Jan 15, 2011
111
Moosup ct
hey guys and gals, my name is nate, I live in moosup ct. I have been throwing the idea of a gasifier around for awhile now. I realize how much work they are to keep fed and all that stuff, but i would like to see if i can get a ballpark price on one being installed , purchased , the whole ball of wax. I hope this is enough info I lay out, so here it goes.
-home is a total of4300 sq ft including an unfinished basement, its a ranch with liveable space that is 2164 sq ft



-oil burning furnace with baseboard and a btu output of 175000

-will be looking to install this gasifier as an add on

-wood gasifier will be installed approx. 12 ft away from my furnace and its main pipes

-assume that the chimney will be installed with the correct flu size

-I will not be lookin to use a water storage system

-electical will be taken care of

I think thats it,.... also, have been looking at greenwood, eko,seton... thats about it,.... im on a budget , and dont have a certain one chosen, please give me some ideas on other brands,....... the cheaper the better,.... but i also dont want a trouble maker. so thats it, is there anyone out there that can give me a ballpark figure for install of pipes and purchase of the boiler and its extremities? I thank you for you help!
 
You'll need to find an installing dealer near you. If you were in Vermont I could give you a couple of names, but I don't know the players in Connecticut. Hopefully someone here knows who they are. Despite appearances, not everyone in the wood heat world lives on this forum.
 
I'm not a pro at anything directly related to heating systems. But some observations . . .

1)You need to do more research. GreenWood has been out of business for quite some time.

2)Sounds like your basement is unheated, am I correct? Seems to me that 175kBtu is way oversized on your oil unit. Don't make that same mistake on your solid-fuel hydronic especially if you don't incorporate storage.

3)You never mention your fuel supply. From your 'toy-list' seems like you are experienced with cutting/collecting. How much and what quality do you anticipate using each year?
 
Atmos is a good cheaper brand. With any gassifing system I bet you will have over $8,000 involved Installing it your self, probably more . I'd stay away from greenwood and seton personally. Read lots of posts and study the stickys at the top of the page for a good idea of what is involved.
 
thats funny , there site is still up and running??????.... I would imagine i would probably burn at least 5 chord a year,....whatever it is, it will be a great deal less than paying for oil,..... wood would range from white oak to read oak to hickory sometimes maple.....not 100% sure on my oil boiler,......its 1 year old,..... it was the same size as the last one
 
You need to do a heat loss calculation to see what size boiler you need. It's important to have the right size if you are not going to have storage. There is free software on-line to do this. Just do a search to find one.
 
ISeeDeadBTUs said:
I'm not a pro at anything directly related to heating systems. But some observations . . .

1)You need to do more research. GreenWood has been out of business for quite some time.

2)Sounds like your basement is unheated, am I correct? Seems to me that 175kBtu is way oversized on your oil unit. Don't make that same mistake on your solid-fuel hydronic especially if you don't incorporate storage.

3)You never mention your fuel supply. From your 'toy-list' seems like you are experienced with cutting/collecting. How much and what quality do you anticipate using each year?
Click to expand...

175,000 btu sounded high to me also. Unless you're poorly insulated and keep the t-stat at 80 all the time. i have a 2-story, 1800sq/ft house. Average insulation, on top of a hill in northern maine. My oil furnace is 80,000btu and it always kept up. Burned about 1,000gals a yr.

How many gallons of oil do you use a year?
 
12 to 1400 gallons a year...... the house is well insulated, but the windows suck,......
 
crackshot said:
12 to 1400 gallons a year...... the house is well insulated, but the windows suck,......
Click to expand...
Most windows have some type of top and bottom weather seals - in mine there is a 1/4" channel in the sash, into which the seal is glued. These seals wear out over time, and can be a hidden source of lots of air infiltration because they aren't easily visible. If you haven't done so already, check all window seals for deterioration. One other test is if the window doesn't have some resistance when being latched, indicating seals not compressing. +1 to the previous comments on your gasifier search - you should spend LOTS of time reading the archives on this forum - use the keyword search to find specific information. Doing this will take you in lots of different directions, but that's what you need to do in order to make a good decision. My advice would be to consider this an investment, not an expense (assuming you are planning to remain in this house for some time). My full system was 12K, and I didn't have that kind of $$ laying around, so it took a short-term loan to get it done. The boiler is on schedule to pay for itself next year (4 years total). But I am taking wood from my own property, so YMMV. Don't rush it - spend lots of time gathering information (and cross-check all of it) before pulling the trigger. Good luck with it!
 
crackshot said:
hey guys and gals, my name is nate, I live in moosup ct. I have been throwing the idea of a gasifier around for awhile now. I realize how much work they are to keep fed and all that stuff, but i would like to see if i can get a ballpark price on one being installed , purchased , the whole ball of wax. I hope this is enough info I lay out, so here it goes.
-home is a total of4300 sq ft including an unfinished basement, its a ranch with liveable space that is 2164 sq ft



-oil burning furnace with baseboard and a btu output of 175000

-will be looking to install this gasifier as an add on

-wood gasifier will be installed approx. 12 ft away from my furnace and its main pipes

-assume that the chimney will be installed with the correct flu size

-I will not be lookin to use a water storage system

-electical will be taken care of

I think thats it,.... also, have been looking at greenwood, eko,seton... thats about it,.... im on a budget , and dont have a certain one chosen, please give me some ideas on other brands,....... the cheaper the better,.... but i also dont want a trouble maker. so thats it, is there anyone out there that can give me a ballpark figure for install of pipes and purchase of the boiler and its extremities? I thank you for you help!
Click to expand...

I was with you until you said "the cheaper the better". Typically gaser installs are not cheap. Wood burning furnaces from Tractor Supply are cheap, not gasers.

I'd wager a bet that if you did 100% of the install yourself you will likely not get out for less than $10k. Here's my guesses for kicks:

60 Boiler (with one pump, pressure relief, small expansion tank, Danfoss, etc) - $7k
Plumbing (valves, pipe, fittings, HX) - $2k
Chimney (assuming indoor install) - $1k

This is probably a conservative non-storage estimate, self-installed....it only goes up from here I think. ha
 
well I appeciate the help,...... oh im definately looking into this as an investment,.... it definatly looks as if ill be waiting for a bit to do it,....I, (the wife and I) have decided to just put in a woodstove set up, and wait a while longer to to it,..... probably take 2 years,.... thanks for your time guys,.... Ill be talkin to ya, just so happens it will be in the "hearth" section for a bit while longer!...lol
 
this is another thing ive been thinking of,.... what about all these "wood boilers" that arent gassers,..... are they that much of a nightmare????? seriously
 
anyone?..................help....!
 
Wood boilers that aren't gassers. One you'll be using quite a bit more wood. Two depending on amount of smoke you may into problems with zoning. If you talking about the detached out door type you need to add to the equeation the underground pipe and that is another expense.
You mentioned at putting in a wood stove for now. Look at your chimney situation. That is part of both a stove and a boiler. Think to the future. If your really going to go with a Boiler at some point and need to add a chimney, try to setup your wood stove to utilize the same chimney in the future. The stainless insulated chimney is pricey you don't want to do that twice.
 
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