Insulation of tank done. It ain't pertty, but it's done.

[Gasifier]

Well I was not to concerned about the looks of the spray foam. Like I was saying, I think I am going to wrap it with fiberglass left over from another job on the house. Maybe anyway. What I was concerned about was the temp of the tank being to warm. So I let it cool down to 120 today. Did a bunch of other junk and then took the wife and kids for a quick bite to eat and then to dance for the girls and straight to soccer for all of them. So when we finally got back around 7pm I set out to get it done and over with. I started by putting a mask on and taking some rough grit sanding disk (80) and sanding the whole tank quickly to rought up the paint job. Thought that would make the insulation stick a little better. Then I brushed it all off and wiped it off and placed cardboard and plastic bags around and over anything sticking out of the tank I did not want the insulation on. Then I donned the whole suit thing, head gear and all, and mask and glasses. Got the tanks shaken up and tested into a box. Al ready to go. All except I forgot the gloves. God dam $&* of a $@&(#in ........ Anywho, I went to work with an old pair of work gloves I found right quick and realized what a pain in the ass trying to spray a round tank that is in a corner and almost eight feet tall. (Well it is actually nine feet tall and part of it is in my new whole I made in my cellar.) I am crazy, you are right honey. I know.

Oh, anyway the spray foam came out okay, for a rookie who forgot a few things. I managed to get about 2-3 1/2 inches on the top half and 3/4 - 1 1/2 on the bottom. Roughly, of course. A few places look so bad I had to take a sheet rock saw and trim it up a bit. Now I have a mess to clean up. But the tank should stay much warmer now. Instead of acting like a giant pizza oven with the door open in my basement. Wow, am I glad that is done. Now it is time to finish up the sheetrock and new lighting for the boiler room. Pictures will follow when complete. They are saying the sun might actually come out tommorrow. I might get to cut my grass.

 

[muncybob]

Sun has finally appeared here and lots of grass to cut too!
I'm sure the insulation will make a big difference, in my basement I insulated my SS piping into the chimney from the boiler and also the water lines. I think it dropped the air temp about 10 degrees when the boiler is running.

 

[Gasifier]

The difference is huge. After I got the insulation done last night I got the fire going and brought the boiler and tank up to 150. When I woke up this morning 7 hours later, the tank and boiler were 140. I am going to keep that tank at least 150 when I do not need heat for the house. This will be pleny warm enough to heat my domestic water. My hot water tank is on a zone with circ. pump. Love it. Should not need much oil now. :coolsmile:

 

[bpirger]

First thing I saw and said this morning....ah, blue sky! You'll find the tanks will charge faster too of course! You used the "tiger foam" DIY kits? Let us know how the DIY kits worked too...any problems are just work right away?

 

[Gasifier]

Actually the kit was a Froth-pak 180 spray foam kit. Worked great. They carried them at a hardware store about 20 miles from my house. So I drove over there in order to get it done that night. I did not want to have to wait to have it delivered if I bought one from the internet. Price was only about $20 more. And this way if there was something wrong with it, I can bring it back right then and get another. I am now thinking about letting it sit the way it is instead of wrapping it in that fiberglass I have left over. Then when I get some extra money, maybe by another one of these kits and add on to that. If I did that I could try to even out my job from this year and have 5-6 inches over the whole tank. That would give me an R value of about 33-40. That would be nice. It is hard to believe how good it works with just a few inches on it. With the tank up to 150 last night it was unbelievable how cool the insulation was on the outside. The stuff is great. When I remodeled my garage I paid a contractor to come in a spray foam the walls and ceiling with 3-4 inches of the stuff. It was expensive, $3200. And worth every penny. I keep my garage at 45 °F all winter. In floor heating, now going to be heated with wood. :coolsmile:

 

[maple1]

How much is the DIY stuff down there?

 

[Gasifier]

The Froth-pak 180, which can cover about 200 board feet with 1" thick, cost me $369. Then I spent about $30 on a tyvek suit, which is optional. (Could use old clothing you don't care about and be careful.) And hood to cover head and neck, $10. Then good mask or borrow a respirator. I had all the windows open in my basement with a box fan running so I did not breath anything in. A good N95 mask does the trick when you have good ventilation. It is expensive. But you can not beat the seal you get.

 

[bpirger]

So if I understand that right, 200 square feet 1" thick? So that's 17 cubic feet? So if you had an average of 2" thick, you'd get 100 square feet....which is just about the size of your tank? It isn't cheap, for sure, but nothing seals as well. It will be interesting to hear if you can smell the stuff in a week or two from outgassing under the heat. Sounds like it went well....great to hear!