e-classic users

[logjammed]

Hi everyone, just looking for some follow up on the previous e-classic posts mostly on operation stategy/techniques. I just fired up my unit (wood only model ) yesterday. burning dry pine and silver maple. starting water temperature was 62f and water was circulating through entire run with no load(two zones one radiator and plate exchanger not tied into existing boiler water jacket yet)and it took approx 3.5 hrs to reach 180f. i did not think that was bad . i did have fairly signifigant smoke possibly due to initial firing. day turn to night and could not see stack well from approx. 160 f on up. My questions are would it make more sense to fire unit w/circulaters off to heat up water jacket faster ? for gasification type operation,or would that be bad for anything? and second as expected (due to previous posts) fire was completely dampened out on auto re-start of unit most likely due to lack of load and ambient temp. problem is the blower fan runs continuosly. did anyone wire extra outlets so you could shut of main switch and still have pumps running. reason being all that hot water maintained is being cooled off by the blower fan out the stack (correct?). On a second note I would like to say that I am a first time wood burner , turned 39 this year and never split wood until now. I think i lost ten pounds so far and should write a woodsmans exercise book.I own a 1877 house with 10 acres that burnes 1600g oil a year with domestic hot water for 7 people. After looking at the numbers if i live here another 20 years it will cost me $210,000 for oil if prices stay the same ,No thanks I have two kids 4 and 6. I did a super high dive in and am afraid of heights. but i love the idea of being at least partially off oil and went for the cleanest unit available and safe being outside. Just looking for some moral support that i did the correct thing from other users,and how to make this as clean and efficient as possible/easy to use. Thanks and will follow up also

 

[Jim K in PA]

Logjammed - welcome to the Boiler Room.

Although I am not an e-classic user, I am sure you will get it figured out. Perhaps your dealer can help you out? I am pretty sure the e-classic should not smoke that much, at least once secondary combustion gets going.

I am only a few years older than you, and have just started on my install of a GARN WHS 2000. I have split plenty of wood in my life, but never to use as a primary heat source. 6 months ago I started researching OWBs, and thought I knew what I wanted. Then I discovered the Boiler Room, and opened my mind up a whole new world of alternative heating technology and options. Stick with it and you will gain more than just $$ saved. My kids already have a better understanding of the entire process by which we heat our house, and how that energy cycle really affects their lives. We all have been too long spoiled by the convenience of the oil delivery truck or NG pipe coming into the house. For us, those days of ignorance are over.

Best of luck with your new "toy".

 

[FBKS]

Hi, I too am a first time E-Classic owner, I started mine up last Friday (9/19) -- my water temp started at 44 degrees & it took me quite a bit longer to heat up to 185 -- it took a second load of wood the next morning but our wood up here in AK isn't as good as some others. I share your problem with the fan running when the fire isn't on -- all it is doing is to cool off the hot water we just spent $ heating up! I will probably do as you suggest and run another power line to operate the pumps. Another issue I have is I have 2 ciruculation pumps -- one for the house & one for the garage/hot water heater -- I am in the process of installing a relay on the circulator for the house so it only operates when a zone valve opens and calls for heat -- I am currently losing a lot of heat in the basement of my house due to some un-insulated pipes. I also had a terrible time getting my unit to keep burning that initial load -- as you can imagine when the wood is surrounded by 44 degree water it is tough to get the chamber up to temp -- I eventually had to leave the by pass open for an hour or so & then was able to ge it to fire off. We are starting to get a heat load up here now -- 25 degrees last night & mabye snow this weekend so we will see how it does. So far it is buring a little more than I thought it would but that is probably operator error & I am buring some pretty wet stuff right now (saving the dry for cold weather).

 

[warm in VT]

I also just fired my classic up for the first time making sure all was working properly. My luck the control head was wired wrong and had a terrible time trying to get it working right. My electrician figured things out and with help from CB staff we got it straightened away. Fired it up with a water temp of 65' and had it to 185' in about 5 hours with a very small load of wood in the furnace. Within minutes of being started I had no smoke and it appeared not even to be running. I have the same issue with the circulator and will also be running the second recepticle for plugging in the pump. I will be anxious to see how it measures up but so far from what I have seen it worked very well with no smoke except the initial start up for a few minutes.

 

[logjammed]

Well i feel better already. Once i see that clear stack and charge my existing boiler/DHW all will be well. Still prepping dry logs also at this point. I have not refired yet , but am surprised how long water jacket stays hot. plumber tied into boiler/ exchanger today and hopefully electrician before this weekend for controls. building inspector was also happy w/install also a relief.

 

[antos_ketcham]

Hi all -

I have had my e-classic going now since July. I have been very happy so far. I had the problem with the fire going out with a low heat load. CB recommend I place a paper clip in the primary air vent so that when the fan shut and the solenoid closed the damper that a small amount of air could get in to keep the fire going. It worked. I load my unit every 3 or 4 days half full. This will obviously change as it gets colder. Wood is not totally dry but was cut in March. So far so good. Pete

 

[firewoodfred]

Hi , Everyone. I must say that I am thankful for all the information that I have read about the E-Classics. It has been a great help to me in deciding which to buy. I expect to recieve my E-Classic in November and will keep all informed as to my progress.
From what I have read, the E-Classic seems like a good choice for a boiler. I 'll keep all posted on my experiences. Once again thanks for all the information and insight.

 

[Johnbull]

Just installed my E-Classic Central Boiler on 10-3-08. Have been burning now for a week and am very pleased with the quality of construction and performance. Very little smoke. My wife is likewise pleased that the smoke is non-intrusive. I actually believe most of the discharge is moisture as there is no lingering smoke. We live on 59 acers and no neighbors to worry about but would not be concerned with the amount of smoke being discharged. Had a small issue with the circulation of the water into my in house oil furnace. Since it isn't heating season yet and I wanted to try out the unit we of course fired it right away. The domestic water was not staying hot because of the lack of demand for heat into the house. We are using a heat exchanger and the water was not being drawn into the boiler. We corrected the issue by installing a circulator on a switch to extract the heat from the heat exchanger into the boiler in the "mild" season. Will switch off in the "home heating season" as the demand will keep the boiler hot. My domestic coil in the the oil furnace with an adjacent electric hot water heater for a reserve tank. The electrice breaker is off.

Invitation is open to anyone who wants to see the CB E-Classic in operation. Will be heating both house and detached garage. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site. The information and insights have been very helpful.

Craig Ormsby
Central PA

 

[kubatob7500]

Just installed my E-Classic Central Boiler on 10-3-08. Have been burning now for a week and am very pleased with the quality of construction and performance. Very little smoke. My wife is likewise pleased that the smoke is non-intrusive. I actually believe most of the discharge is moisture as there is no lingering smoke. We live on 59 acers and no neighbors to worry about but would not be concerned with the amount of smoke being discharged. Had a small issue with the circulation of the water into my in house oil furnace. Since it isn't heating season yet and I wanted to try out the unit we of course fired it right away. The domestic water was not staying hot because of the lack of demand for heat into the house. We are using a heat exchanger and the water was not being drawn into the boiler. We corrected the issue by installing a circulator on a switch to extract the heat from the heat exchanger into the boiler in the "mild" season. Will switch off in the "home heating season" as the demand will keep the boiler hot. My domestic coil in the the oil furnace with an adjacent electric hot water heater for a reserve tank. The electrice breaker is off.

Invitation is open to anyone who wants to see the CB E-Classic in operation. Will be heating both house and detached garage. Thanks to everyone who contributes to this site. The information and insights have been very helpful.

Craig Ormsby
Central PA

I'm also from central PA. I will be installing E-classic or a garn.

I have researched the e-classic and thought that was the way I was going, however, just recievied some info on the GARN and for the difference in price I will now need to look harder at a garn.

I would like to possable take you up on your offer to see e-classic running. Where are you in PA and who did you purchase e-classic from?

Thanks

 

[DMX_512]

Kubatob,
What was the price difference between the Garn(which model) and the E-Classic?
I have a quote on the E-Classic at $9700 wood only