I have a conventional wood boiler Energy King. Currently I have it piped into my gas boiler and then on into the house. I rarely use the gas boiler unless I am away.
The piping diagram that came with the install manual has no boiler temp return protection piping or mechanism for the wood boiler to keep the water temp up.
My question: Do I need to install return protection for this boiler. I have run this boiler for 2 years and it has done well. I have a large house with baseboard water heat and it keeps the house fairly warm. However, when its really cold the boiler has trouble keeping up because the fire is not always firing hard. If I manually open the draft and baby the fire for a while I can keep it rocking and thus keeping the house however hot I need it.
My pump is kicked on by aquastat set at 170. So a typical cycle is that the pump kicks on and runs and the water temp will drop as low as 120. It then will kick off and will not kick on again until the setpoint of 170 is reached (setpoint is adjustable). So if the fire is not burning hard it may be awhile before the pump sends more hot water into the house.
I'm not to concerned about corrosion due to low water temps but I am wanting more heat out of my system. I have thought of two ways to do this and was wandering your thoughts
Add a pipe between the boiler input and output just like most boiler temp return protection diagrams. I was thinking of using valves and adjusting the hot water manually that goes from the hot output and directly back into the return water into the boiler. This in my mind would keep my water in my boiler hotter and thus the pump would run more and put more heat into the house. My worries are that it would decrease my flow into the house and thus negate the idea
My other option is to add a blower (controlled by thermostat in house) instead of the little draft door that opens and closes by my thermostat. This would keep the fire rocking anytime the house is calling for heat and thus more heat than the rotating draft door.
I know I will burn more wood with a blower (and may have to reload during very cold nights) but this may be the simpler solution. Thanks for any input
The piping diagram that came with the install manual has no boiler temp return protection piping or mechanism for the wood boiler to keep the water temp up.
My question: Do I need to install return protection for this boiler. I have run this boiler for 2 years and it has done well. I have a large house with baseboard water heat and it keeps the house fairly warm. However, when its really cold the boiler has trouble keeping up because the fire is not always firing hard. If I manually open the draft and baby the fire for a while I can keep it rocking and thus keeping the house however hot I need it.
My pump is kicked on by aquastat set at 170. So a typical cycle is that the pump kicks on and runs and the water temp will drop as low as 120. It then will kick off and will not kick on again until the setpoint of 170 is reached (setpoint is adjustable). So if the fire is not burning hard it may be awhile before the pump sends more hot water into the house.
I'm not to concerned about corrosion due to low water temps but I am wanting more heat out of my system. I have thought of two ways to do this and was wandering your thoughts
Add a pipe between the boiler input and output just like most boiler temp return protection diagrams. I was thinking of using valves and adjusting the hot water manually that goes from the hot output and directly back into the return water into the boiler. This in my mind would keep my water in my boiler hotter and thus the pump would run more and put more heat into the house. My worries are that it would decrease my flow into the house and thus negate the idea
My other option is to add a blower (controlled by thermostat in house) instead of the little draft door that opens and closes by my thermostat. This would keep the fire rocking anytime the house is calling for heat and thus more heat than the rotating draft door.
I know I will burn more wood with a blower (and may have to reload during very cold nights) but this may be the simpler solution. Thanks for any input