integratin' a wood boiler into solar hot water system at a laundrymat

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zingerr

New Member
Feb 12, 2011
1
northern MN
New here, seems like a great resource. I've got a idea to throw out there. I"ve got a small laundrymat in Northern MN, and propane cost are killin' me. Installed a solar hot water heating system that works great from mid march to Oct. but winters are tough, and am thinkin' about plumbin' a wood boiler into the system to A: heat the buildin', and B: plumb it thru the heat exchangers to pre heat the hot water. Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this one???
 
That sounds an excellent use especially as you are having to pay for Propane.

So you have staff to feed it during the day? Do you have access to wood at reasonable cost? How is the building heated currently. What size are your current Boilers?
 
What style of heat exchangers are you using? If they are tanks and are big enough you could get by without storage. It may not work however because you'd be narrowing the delta of the HX, lowering their efficiency. Tanks seem to be one of the largest expenses for people.

Another question would be if you can burn wood where you're at, or are the wood nazis going to come after you.
 
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