stacked storage tanks

[NP ALASKA]

So with the new addition, i am making it large enough for boiler, pellet hopper, 2 cord of wood, tanks, skidsteer, pallet of pellets.
8' to 10' ceiling height is my thought

I considered putting tanks in a hole, but water table here is so high i worry about it. I can dig 10'-12' and hit water here

Half in hole half in building
Vertical 1000 gal tanks
Side by side sounds cool
And i need hotter water with old school base board fin in entire house

Regards

 

[Bj1234]

Hi everyone - I do read a lot of everyone's posts here but I never posted before.
Here's my situation, looking for someone's input /thoughts...

I have a geothermal Furnace. It sucks up here in Norther Indiana. Sucks up a ton of electricity in the winter $700/mo worth.

So I want to get a Natures Comfort Ncb 120 rated for 3000sqft 160,000btu . I don't want to spend a fortune yet unill I see that the wood burner will work for me. So to get the most out of the NCB 120 , I thought what if I add a 75 gallon hot water heater as a small storage tank since I already have one that's attached to my radiant Floor heat. Is that worth doing or not enough?
Or should I get 1 - 500 gallon tank as a start instead.? I'm trying to take baby steps in the best way I can and then upgrade later after I know the wood burner does the job. Just don't want to buy a $10k gasser until I know I like how the Natures comfort runs. (Trying to avoid another geo thermal mistake)we tried to be green with the geo but that was a expensive mistake, we can be green with a future gasification but I want to start small first till i get the feel of wood burning ... I know I can sell it (ncb 120) cause it seems like each time I look at a used one it's sold already...
can anyone give me advise on this small unit and adding storage tanks later to make up the difference for the small size. is this a stupid idea or worth trying? I'm being cheap..but I really want to try the smallest cheapest way possible for starting out.
Why..cause I like outdoor activities like splitting wood (it's a guy thing u know ) and I'd like my heating bill to not be so high anymore. Sound like a fun long term hobby.
My stats-
New house 3400sq ft ranch .basement 1500sqft radiant Floor heat..garage 800sqft radiant Floor heat... winters steady around 25deg with maybe a couple weeks in the single digits a year. We keep are furnace at 68 cause geothermal is expensive. I would Luke to keep it at 70-72

Thanks

 

[maple1]

Hi everyone - I do read a lot of everyone's posts here but I never posted before.
Here's my situation, looking for someone's input /thoughts...

I have a geothermal Furnace. It sucks up here in Norther Indiana. Sucks up a ton of electricity in the winter $700/mo worth.

So I want to get a Natures Comfort Ncb 120 rated for 3000sqft 160,000btu . I don't want to spend a fortune yet unill I see that the wood burner will work for me. So to get the most out of the NCB 120 , I thought what if I add a 75 gallon hot water heater as a small storage tank since I already have one that's attached to my radiant Floor heat. Is that worth doing or not enough?
Or should I get 1 - 500 gallon tank as a start instead.? I'm trying to take baby steps in the best way I can and then upgrade later after I know the wood burner does the job. Just don't want to buy a $10k gasser until I know I like how the Natures comfort runs. (Trying to avoid another geo thermal mistake)we tried to be green with the geo but that was a expensive mistake, we can be green with a future gasification but I want to start small first till i get the feel of wood burning ... I know I can sell it (ncb 120) cause it seems like each time I look at a used one it's sold already...
can anyone give me advise on this small unit and adding storage tanks later to make up the difference for the small size. is this a stupid idea or worth trying? I'm being cheap..but I really want to try the smallest cheapest way possible for starting out.
Why..cause I like outdoor activities like splitting wood (it's a guy thing u know ) and I'd like my heating bill to not be so high anymore. Sound like a fun long term hobby.
My stats-
New house 3400sq ft ranch .basement 1500sqft radiant Floor heat..garage 800sqft radiant Floor heat... winters steady around 25deg with maybe a couple weeks in the single digits a year. We keep are furnace at 68 cause geothermal is expensive. I would Luke to keep it at 70-72

Thanks

You might be better off starting a separate thread for your questions.

But storage doesn't really help an OWB much, and 75 gallons just isn't much storage. I have 660 and would like more.

The idea of storage is so you can burn wide open until the fuel is gone, and store the heat your house wouldn't be using when you do that. Then after the fire goes out you draw heat from storage. With an OWB that would mean it would go cold when drawing from storage. Which might pose freezeup problems, and would waste a lot of heat heating all that now-cold water back up together with what it loses when it is cooling down.

Have you checked out the classified section here? There are some used indoor gasifiers in there for sale. If I wanted to heat water with wood but didn't want the boiler in my house, I would put an indoor boiler in an outbuilding together with my entire winters wood. And put storage in the basement.

 

[Bj1234]

You might be better off starting a separate thread for your questions.

But storage doesn't really help an OWB much, and 75 gallons just isn't much storage. I have 660 and would like more.

The idea of storage is so you can burn wide open until the fuel is gone, and store the heat your house wouldn't be using when you do that. Then after the fire goes out you draw heat from storage. With an OWB that would mean it would go cold when drawing from storage. Which might pose freezeup problems, and would waste a lot of heat heating all that now-cold water back up together with what it loses when it is cooling down.

Have you checked out the classified section here? There are some used indoor gasifiers in there for sale. If I wanted to heat water with wood but didn't want the boiler in my house, I would put an indoor boiler in an outbuilding together with my entire winters wood. And put storage in the basement.

I did check,the for sale thread but I look again for the indoor wood burner suggestion. And I replyed to the thread cause you all were talking about storage. After re-reading it I guess I did go pretty deep on my question....I ll try another thread for my other issues. .thanks for the suggestion though ...

 

[rippa25m]

Nice set up

i stacked 500 also,

Are

 

[BoiledOver]

I too have stacked 500's, around here they are called stubbies because they are shorter in length and a might larger in diameter. A close recollection is 42" x 92". I am totally satisfied with stacked horizontally and see good stratification. They have 3 - 1" holes to flow from one to the other and could have gone larger. Larger hole will cause less stirring, my thoughts anyway. They are installed in a nine foot ceiling height and just makes it for the insulation and plumbing out the top.

 

[rippa25m]

I too have stacked 500's, around here they are called stubbies because they are shorter in length and a might larger in diameter. A close recollection is 42" x 92". I am totally satisfied with stacked horizontally and see good stratification. They have 3 - 1" holes to flow from one to the other and could have gone larger. Larger hole will cause less stirring, my thoughts anyway. They are installed in a nine foot ceiling height and just makes it for the insulation and plumbing out the top.

 

[NP ALASKA]

I think I went pretty far, with my tanks. If I did it again, i'd do flat bottoms.

How is your tank design performing so far- I am curious as I have still. Ot done anything with my two 1000 gallon tanks

Thanks

 

[rippa25m]

How is your tank design performing so far- I am curious as I have still. Ot done anything with my two 1000 gallon tanks

Thanks

I am more then happy with it. Stratification is excellent. I hear a 60x45 shop and a 2800 square foot home with it and my water temp never drops below 140 degrees.

 

[Boardroom]

Hey NP. We had talked about my flat bottom tanks earlier in this thread. Just thought I would let you know that they are still going strong. 3 Winters now with no issues. Great Stratification.

 

[nhtreehouse]

I dont even want to look at stand a 1000 gal tank on end

The idea is cool, but building a building for it is crazy talk

I know I'm crazy. I'm working on a building designed around a 1000 gallon vertical tank. Instead of going down into the ground, I decided on a cupola to hide the top of the tank.

Can't say how it stratifies, as it's currently filled with air...

If you're looking for design ideas, the concrete slab under the tank is 12" thick with a rebar mesh made out of 1/2" rebar on 12" centers. The 1/4" steel plate under the tank is intended to spread any point loads from the tank feet. The door in the above pic is a standard 6'-8" version and the fire stops are approx 8' off the slab.

The tall wall is 16' with a 4' cupola on top. Here's an outside view taken when you could still see the tank.

Just throwing out some ideas for you to consider. There are plenty of ways to think outside this box.

 

[JohnDolz]

I know I'm crazy. I'm working on a building designed around a 1000 gallon vertical tank. Instead of going down into the ground, I decided on a cupola to hide the top of the tank.

Can't say how it stratifies, as it's currently filled with air...

View attachment 200730

If you're looking for design ideas, the concrete slab under the tank is 12" thick with a rebar mesh made out of 1/2" rebar on 12" centers. The 1/4" steel plate under the tank is intended to spread any point loads from the tank feet. The door in the above pic is a standard 6'-8" version and the fire stops are approx 8' off the slab.

The tall wall is 16' with a 4' cupola on top. Here's an outside view taken when you could still see the tank.

View attachment 200729

Just throwing out some ideas for you to consider. There are plenty of ways to think outside this box.

You going to get some heat out of that thing this year? Looking good!

 

[nhtreehouse]

You going to get some heat out of that thing this year? Looking good!

Sure hope to! Getting chilly up north these days... Getting it all running by Thanksgiving would be great, but Christmas is a better bet... maybe new years?

 

[Bob Rohr]

You can purchase those domed "heads". LP tanks are usually a standard diameter. If you cut the tank it may. Be easier to start with a clean new head. Shop online, I sourced some from Quality Tank in WI.

The dome can be up, like the bottom of typical hw tanks, or domed out like the top of hw tanks

When I stood my 500 gallon LP tank on end I carved out a piece of 3" foam to the shape of the dome for extra support and to lessen the load on the legs. It also insulated the end from the concrete