HWGA . . .

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

so this time, I've decided (at 9:48PM Tuesday) to not put any more fuel in the Green beast. By morning I'll need to plug in the oil boiler, assuming the electric is still on. But it's better to run 20 gals of oil than it is to overheat, then end up using 20 gals of oil anyway.

Anyone got a doghouse that would accomidate me if the electric does go out during this latest ice storm?

Jimbo

 

[Fuel]

this is one thing that i don't really understand about boilers, u need all that electricity to run then, where as a wood furnace setup right should still at least gravity feed on low if the power goes out

Just an opinion, please right me if i am wrong here

 

[Eric Johnson]

You can run a wood-fired boiler on gravity if it's in your basement and you have radiators and large-diameter pipe. I did it for about 10 years in the Adirondacks, where it gets pretty cold and the power goes out on a regular basis. Like most other houses around here of its vintage (1910), it was retrofitted with a gravity-feed coal-fired hydronic heating system probably in the '20s. All I did was tear out the old coal boiler (converted to oil) and hook up a combination wood/oil boiler. Plus an insulated stainless steel chimney liner. And it worked like a charm. If you have hot water in the boiler, you'll get hot water in the second floor radiators in no time. I did use a small circulator to push domestic water through a coil in the boiler and into my electric water heater. So you even had hot water during power outages.

It's not icing here yet, Jimbo, though I'm not really looking forward to my commute up north tomorrow morning.

 

[Fuel]

yes that makes complete sense! but how do these gasification burners really work? I have been on here reading for a long time know and have even watched some videos and i still don't get the whole picture on this process. Also, is a boiler style system the only way that u can run a gasification unit or can it run like an add on wood furnace too. I don't really want to spend that much on a unit sense all my wood is completely free and the add on furnace uses so little electricity

 

[atlarge54]

yes that makes complete sense! but how do these gasification burners really work? I have been on here reading for a long time know and have even watched some videos and i still don't get the whole picture on this process. Also, is a boiler style system the only way that u can run a gasification unit or can it run like an add on wood furnace too. I don't really want to spend that much on a unit sense all my wood is completely free and the add on furnace uses so little electricity

The pumps on my system use a little over 200 watts of power and the boiler uses a tiny fraction of that when the air solenoid is open. It would be impractical for me to include a gravity overheat loop. Since I always have a couple big trolling motor batteries on hand I store them near my pumps in the winter and use an inverter to run them when the power is out. It's hard for me to imagine a wood boiler without some form of elec. backup. The blower on a forced air add on probably consumes as much or more elec. than most boiler systems. Gasifiers are expensive, we need to be thankful to those who are spending the big bucks now so the future may be easier for the rest of us. It sounds like you're a candidate for an add on furnace, there are some nice examples shown here in the boiler room recently.

 

[Fuel]

yeah i recently just bought an add on furnace but have yet to install it, i guees i am just trying to learn about other means of wood heat. I am not trying to be critical against boilers, just trying to learn the pros and cons of each and the add on furnace is the only one that i really know anything about

And yes i think that a add on furnace is right for me since i only have about 1200 sq ft and the wood is free, just please feel free to educate me on new concepts(to me anyway) if u please

thanks

 

[Hydronics]

I believe that electric use is a minor consideration with respect to operating cost. The major advantage to a boiler as opposed to an air furnace is the quality of heat. If you don't intend to install radiant or baseboard, the most cost effective approach is probably to use a furnace.

 

[henfruit]

we need to invent a steam genny to make elec from the wood boiler to power the wood boiler in a power outage.

 

[Huskurdu]

The positives for me using a gasifier boiler are:
1. no more dust in the house from the wood stove
2. I can heat multiple buildings.
3. No more getting up in the middle of the night and loading the stove.
4. gas bill is under $50 a month instead of $300-500 a month during the bad months (so far). If I had set up the piping correctly, it would be the minimum service charge! I'll fix that in the spring.
5. The whole house and garage are warm! Big deal for us...no more freezing to keep the gas bill under control.

The negatives are (for me):
1. Really do need that electric backup of some sort and a dead loop circuit for thermal flow in case of elect. outage.
2. Quite complicated setup.
3. seems to burn more wood than expected....I assume my hydronic piping layout is to blame....more changes in the spring.

np

 

[Jim K in PA]

we need to invent a steam genny to make elec from the wood boiler to power the wood boiler in a power outage.

No need to invent anything. Just get a single cyl diesel "listeroid" generator and light it when the power goes out. It'll power just about anything you need to run your heating system short of an electric baseboard. You can even run them on WVO.

 

[henfruit]

jim just read about them and a story of aperson in fla. that hooked one up for his gen set.nice rig.