I know the picture doesn't show much, but am considering purchasing this used aqua therm boiler and the equipment to heat two buildings and water for $3,000. I am hoping this would heat my house better without the mess inside. Also, I am hoping this can acheive overnight(or close) burn times. Any insight is appreciated
Aqua therm boiler
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![[Hearth.com] Aqua therm boiler](/talk/data/attachments/223/223098-bd8a056fd78e6175c4c7247b86270c3e.jpg?hash=PQhajqwPJ0)
10 years old, comes with the two pumps, furnace insert( can't think of technical name), hot water tank hook up, and a radiator type heater for shop/garage. I know nothing about outdoor boilers, but he said it comes with everything except the hot/cold insulated lines that run from boiler to house.
I think by "furnace insert" you mean a water to air heat exchanger. You will need to make sure this is proper size for what you need. If it's to small it will take forever to heat your home with it, if at all.
I looked into the aqua therm alittle bit just now. If it has a stainless steel firebox it would probably be ok. But it looks to be a basic firebox in water jacket design. So it will probably burn alot of wood. It will burn then smolder and then burn and smolder with a call for heat then no heat. I would defiantly check the water jacket for leaks or severe rust inside. If it never had water treatment used the steel water jacket might be toast. If it is in fact a pressurized model that would help that issue but I'd still check it out.
You could probably do some modifications to get a better burn out of it for more efficiency and less wood consumption.
For the boiler and all that stuff $3000 doesn't sound terrible but, I will speak for myself and probably most of the forum here, don't go cheap on the underground lines. You don't want a snow melt system in your yard. Get a good set of lines! I have and would recommend Central Boiler Thermopex lines. You should read the thread "don't skimp on underground lines" thread in this forum. Lots of good info.
I looked into the aqua therm alittle bit just now. If it has a stainless steel firebox it would probably be ok. But it looks to be a basic firebox in water jacket design. So it will probably burn alot of wood. It will burn then smolder and then burn and smolder with a call for heat then no heat. I would defiantly check the water jacket for leaks or severe rust inside. If it never had water treatment used the steel water jacket might be toast. If it is in fact a pressurized model that would help that issue but I'd still check it out.
You could probably do some modifications to get a better burn out of it for more efficiency and less wood consumption.
For the boiler and all that stuff $3000 doesn't sound terrible but, I will speak for myself and probably most of the forum here, don't go cheap on the underground lines. You don't want a snow melt system in your yard. Get a good set of lines! I have and would recommend Central Boiler Thermopex lines. You should read the thread "don't skimp on underground lines" thread in this forum. Lots of good info.
hondaracer2oo4
Feeling the Heat
It sounds like you are new to
Wood Burning a couple points to answer about buying a conventional( non gassificAtion) outdoor boiler are, how far away are you neighbors? Conventional owb tend to smoke ALOT. If you have neighbors within 300 feet or so or live in a valley you can really smoke out your neighbors. Second thing to think about is how many cords or wood do you think is reasonable for you to either buy per year or cut and process? How many cords you use will depend on your location and sqft and building construction.
Wood Burning a couple points to answer about buying a conventional( non gassificAtion) outdoor boiler are, how far away are you neighbors? Conventional owb tend to smoke ALOT. If you have neighbors within 300 feet or so or live in a valley you can really smoke out your neighbors. Second thing to think about is how many cords or wood do you think is reasonable for you to either buy per year or cut and process? How many cords you use will depend on your location and sqft and building construction.
I own an Aquatherm and have had it for 10 years. They are basic barrel in a barrel design that are pressurized. Most have a 409 stainless firebox but the outer water jacket is steel. They were quite popular in my area years ago and a lot of people got good life spans out of them. Sizing them to your heat load will make or break you on how much wood it will use and your burn times. Also season wood is the only way to get a good life span from these boilers. A guy I work with burned only scrap pallet wood he got for free from work and his stove was shot after 7 years. One thing about them is they do not have a very large water capacity and if you let the temperature go down they can recover quickly. It took me about the first three years of operation to get mine down and now mine smokes very little and uses half the volume of wood it did the first few seasons. One thing you have to get a grasp of is its not how much wood is left in the firebox, its what the water temperature is. I've come home to has low has 120f water temp but the house is still at 68 degrees, the set temperature. I can get it back up to temp in about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes with about 4 pieces of wood (soft wood if its in the shed) and leave the door cracked open to give it extra air until the temp is back up.
That being said, I think $3000 is kind of a steep price. If the circulators have been sitting any length of time they might be seized up. Also one of the most expensive parts of my install was the Thermalpex I bought from a Central boiler dealer. In 2007 is was $10 a foot cash and carry.
That being said, I think $3000 is kind of a steep price. If the circulators have been sitting any length of time they might be seized up. Also one of the most expensive parts of my install was the Thermalpex I bought from a Central boiler dealer. In 2007 is was $10 a foot cash and carry.
NateB
Feeling the Heat
My first concern would be is the fire box corroded through, and my second concern is you. If you like to tinker with things and figure out how things work, this might be something you would enjoy. This would not be something I would want to pay someone else to hook up. Also do you enjoy collecting firewood? I would guess you will need around 10 cord, and that should be cut split and stacked right away.
I would also make sure the boiler can handle the heat load.
I would also make sure the boiler can handle the heat load.
I was thinning about it but I don't think I mentioned it. With this being a conventional boiler, like hondaracer2oo4 said, it will smoke alot. You will need to figure out placement of the unit to not smoke out you or your neighbors.
And like Vinced said if it's been sitting with no water flow or water at all the components might be junk. If it was drained and left open the water jacket might be rusted to crap.
And I have to agree with others when saying only burn seasoned wood. Get a moisture meter and try to stay around or below 25% moisture. Closer to 20 or below is even better yet. Wet wood gives you longer burn times, in some cases, but also gives you a ton more smoke and creosote.
And like Vinced said if it's been sitting with no water flow or water at all the components might be junk. If it was drained and left open the water jacket might be rusted to crap.
And I have to agree with others when saying only burn seasoned wood. Get a moisture meter and try to stay around or below 25% moisture. Closer to 20 or below is even better yet. Wet wood gives you longer burn times, in some cases, but also gives you a ton more smoke and creosote.
I just sold my aquatherm 145ss for $3500 and bought a blaze king king ultra. The aquatherm was a good boiler ran it for 4 years and had minimal problems with it. I think it is one of the more simple OWB out there. Than being said I burned about 30 face cords (4'x8'x16") of wood each year on average in central new york. In my opinion it was a reliable boiler but burned a lot of wood for the heat I got out of it and it did smoke a lot. The smoke was not a problem for me but if I had any neighbors they might not have liked it.
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