Interested in having some storage, got a few questions

[JayDogg]

I am currently heating around 2800 s.f. with central air and another 1000 s.f. with hot water modine in the garage. I have a tarm solo 40 with a buderus oil with 80 gallon indirect hot water tank. Im am considering having some type of storage tank installed only becuase it is recommended by everyone i talk to but I dont quite understand how the whole concept works. Could someone breifly explain this to me. And rough costs for purchasing and installation. My system is currently less than 6 months old.

 

[flyingcow]

I'll try, but others will chime in and do a better job. Right now my tank is down to about 115 dgrees. I'll start a fire in the next hour or two. I'll burn at least 1 fire box full and probably fill it up about 2/3 4 hours later. This will recharge my storage to 180 and heat my house really good. With storage, this allows my boiler to run pretty much wide open. A little more efficent way to burn wood. But I don't have to tend to the boiler again until about 24hrs later. This for me is convienent.
Takes me, at most, 10 minutes to split kindlin'. light fire, and fill firebox. On a milder day, I only fill firebox once, and forget about it. In the summer I'm doing about 5 days of DHW on 1 fire. You can DIY storage, these guys on this site will help. Or you can buy a tank and HX's. prices vary, maybe $4,000 +. Dunno, just a guess. I don't know if the storage will save enough wood, but it's more for convience for me. Also, when boiler running fullout, a little more time in between cleanings of boiler.

 

[JayDogg]

So you are saying you could build your own type of storage?

 

[flyingcow]

Many have on this site. Before the next few hours, you should get all kinds of info and ideas on how to do it. You are at the right place for that.

 

[huffdawg]

Hi Jaydogg, Hows the wood boiler doing as far as heating without storage ? Does it keep up? Im just in the midst of installing an eko 40 with the intentions of adding storage after I get it up and running first.

I have approximately the same square footage as you.

You can find a lot of good info on storage by using the search tool.

cheers huff

 

[JayDogg]

Without storage it works well if I am around to put wood in it every few hours or so. You could load it right up, which is what I do overnight and about 8 hours later there is still enough coals to get another fire going but its idles so much with that much wood in it that there is some creosote buildup in the firebox, enough to make the door stick a little. It would be nice to just load it up, let it burn out and fill the storage tank. Other than the over night excess creosote buildup, its been great not using any oil.

 

[stee6043]

Without storage it works well if I am around to put wood in it every few hours or so. You could load it right up, which is what I do overnight and about 8 hours later there is still enough coals to get another fire going but its idles so much with that much wood in it that there is some creosote buildup in the firebox, enough to make the door stick a little. It would be nice to just load it up, let it burn out and fill the storage tank. Other than the over night excess creosote buildup, its been great not using any oil.

You will still have creosote in your firebox with storage. This is 100% normal and really causes no problems other than the occasional sticky door or bypass flap.

If you check out the sticky at the top of the "boiler room" you'll see a thread for "simplest pressurized storage". This thread will give you a pretty good idea of how many people setup storage. Propane tanks seem to be one of the more popular ways to use thermal storage as you will find...

 

[Chris Hoskin]

JayDogg, give us a call at BioHeatUSA to discuss the different options we would recommend for your SP40. We will put you in contact with a local dealer who can talk to you about installation costs too if you are looking for that. Many on this site have done DIY tanks, but it's not for everyone and this will at least give you something to compare. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Chris

 

[Rory]

A typical diy solution is basically a big wooden box insulated with foam board panels and lined with EPDM, a rubber-like material that comes in large sheets. The water in the tank (box) goes nowhere, simply absorbing or releasing heat as the case may be via a large heat exchanger, typically coiled copper piping. An additional coil for heating DHW as it passes through is typical. This is referred to as unpressurized storage.

 

[JayDogg]

The wooden box idea sounds like a great solution. Has anyone posted any pics or step by step process they have done to accomplish this. Or better yet, are there any plans available that someone has come up with?

 

[Bad Wolf]

I did mine using a scaled down pool. Took a 24' pool, cut the sheet metal down to make a 8' dia pool, put 4" of foam board in the bottom and lined it with EPDM, made a 1200 gallon tank. Very similar to the SSTS ones. (actually stole the whole concept from them) The advantage is it is self supporting, the disadvantage is it takes up a little more room for the same volume as a square tank. I can send you pictures.

 

[gorbull]

I can imagine having an open tank of heated water in your house creates a hell of a lot of humidity. Anybody have problems with that aspect of their storage tank?

 

[Bad Wolf]

Actually no. I placed a cover faced with EPDM and sealed all of the pipe penetrations, and caulked with silicone around the edge. After one year I had to add about 2" of water. I lose more than that out of my fish tank.

 

[JayDogg]

Any pictures would be a great help.