1st Post.....Looking for some advice....

[strmh]

Glad to have found this forum and learn of the variety of systems available. I live in northern Maine and currently have baseboard heat and am 100% oil. (made THAT decision when oil was 69 cents a gallon!!)

I am about to construct a 58' X 40' shop and would like to include a wood boiler system in it. I hope to heat a portion of the new building along with my house which is about 2500 sq feet. I quess at this point I am considering a Tarm or EKO.......don't know sizes yet, but I like the sound of these gassifiers.

Questions:

Is 180' too far for an underground run?

If I'm able to afford storage, can the tank be located with the boiler? I've seen some inground storage configurations, and would consider that if I were able to locate the storage in the out building.

When locating the boiler in an outbuilding, must some sort of anti-freeze be used?

Thanks for any advice.....

TH

 

[heaterman]

Glad to have found this forum and learn of the variety of systems available. I live in northern Maine and currently have baseboard heat and am 100% oil. (made THAT decision when oil was 69 cents a gallon!!)

I am about to construct a 58' X 40' shop and would like to include a wood boiler system in it. I hope to heat a portion of the new building along with my house which is about 2500 sq feet. I quess at this point I am considering a Tarm or EKO.......don't know sizes yet, but I like the sound of these gassifiers.

Questions:

Is 180' too far for an underground run?

If I'm able to afford storage, can the tank be located with the boiler? I've seen some inground storage configurations, and would consider that if I were able to locate the storage in the out building.

When locating the boiler in an outbuilding, must some sort of anti-freeze be used?

Thanks for any advice.....

TH

Suggestions and worthless (free) advice

1. Tube and insulate the whole floor in the shop. I'll guarantee that you'll regret it some day if you don't. I just talked with a customer who built himself a nice 48x64 pole barn only three years ago. We did the heat in his new house and I strongly suggested insulating and tubing the Pole barn while he was at it. "Nope, no way I'll ever want to heat that building. It's just for storage" was his reply. Guess what.............things changed with his work and now he wants to heat it. It's so sad.

2. Use 1-1/4" tube for 180' and you'll be fine even with a small circulator

3. Putting the storage at the point of use would be my first preference. If the storage is in a low heat or no heat outbuilding, the heat lost from the tank(s) will be just that. Lost. If the storage is in the conditioned space, the heat lost is not really lost. It is a fact that no matter how well the storage is insulated, it will lose heat.

4. In a boiler with water capacity like an EKO, Econoburn or Tarm, I'd recommend a good boiler grade antifreeze that also contains some water "conditioners" which will help the overall life of your boiler and system components. That of course is not the case if you have a few hundred gallons of pressurized storage tied directly to your boiler. Can we say PRICEY?