My heating system consists of an old Tarm wood boiler(not gasification), an American Solartechnics 820 gallon heat bank, in the bank is one heat exchanger from boiler, one DHW exchanger, and a solar water heat exchanger. The system works very well in heating our radiant floors in our 1400 sq. ft well insulated home. I would like to add some backup heat source so we wouldn't have to rely completely on the wood boiler. We have a propane stove in kitchen but it isn't near the boiler room. It looks like an electric boiler would be slick and easy but I don't know about the cost of electricity. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Back up heat for system
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BadgerBoilerMN
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Depends if you are just looking for once in a while back up or more than that.
And what the budget is.
A wall hung propane water heater such as a Takagi can come in at $6-800 and not take up much space.
An oil back up system like a Toyotomi system is also petite and efficient, if oil is a consideration.
A third option would be an air to water heat pump, which is much more efficient than just electric resistance heat.
An electric resistance boiler can be used to heat our tank, off peak, when rates are lower.
Give me a call.
And what the budget is.
A wall hung propane water heater such as a Takagi can come in at $6-800 and not take up much space.
An oil back up system like a Toyotomi system is also petite and efficient, if oil is a consideration.
A third option would be an air to water heat pump, which is much more efficient than just electric resistance heat.
An electric resistance boiler can be used to heat our tank, off peak, when rates are lower.
Give me a call.
Tom do you know much about these Toyotomi hydronic heaters?
I too am looking at options for backup,and with a diesel-fuel oil tank already in place this might be an option.
I use one for back up. They are very quiet and efficient. They tend to short cycle like crazy but seem okay with that.
I have had some issues with the nozzle getting plugged from the short cycling. I clean it with carb cleaner instead of replacing the nozzle.
The nozzle is a specialty one and is expensive.
The newer units might deal with this issue better than mine which is about ten years old.
They are all stainless steel.
I have had some issues with the nozzle getting plugged from the short cycling. I clean it with carb cleaner instead of replacing the nozzle.
The nozzle is a specialty one and is expensive.
The newer units might deal with this issue better than mine which is about ten years old.
They are all stainless steel.
maple1
Minister of Fire
I have an electric boiler. If it were to be used for anything more than infrequent backup, I would likely have something else.
When you say infrequent backup, what do you mean? How often and how expensive is it? If you have figured it out. What electric boiler did you use? Thanks
maple1
Minister of Fire
I've got a Hydra, 18kw.
Our electricity cost is $0.18/kwh (Canadian, all in). That means that for every continuous hour it runs, it costs $3.24 for electricity. In reality, it doesn't run continuously, it cycles. So far in the almost 4 years we've had it, we're only away from home for 2 days each winter, over the holidays. We can coast through the first day mostly on charged storage. So only a day. Don't notice that on our power bill. But I did some very rough figuring one day, and deduced that if we were using it for full time heating, it would cost somewhere around $25/day. So expensive heat - but the cheap price, easy install, and no space it took up outweighs that, for us, so far. I am always thinking about what we'd really do for heat in the future if wood somehow got put out of the picture. Mini-splits are a possiblity, but they wouldn't cover all of it. We used to have oil, got rid of all that stuff when I did my system over (which was another plus to going with the electric boiler). And was very glad to do it. But have to admit that it's kind of slid back onto the radar for a future possiblity again with the way oil has tanked in price.
Our electricity cost is $0.18/kwh (Canadian, all in). That means that for every continuous hour it runs, it costs $3.24 for electricity. In reality, it doesn't run continuously, it cycles. So far in the almost 4 years we've had it, we're only away from home for 2 days each winter, over the holidays. We can coast through the first day mostly on charged storage. So only a day. Don't notice that on our power bill. But I did some very rough figuring one day, and deduced that if we were using it for full time heating, it would cost somewhere around $25/day. So expensive heat - but the cheap price, easy install, and no space it took up outweighs that, for us, so far. I am always thinking about what we'd really do for heat in the future if wood somehow got put out of the picture. Mini-splits are a possiblity, but they wouldn't cover all of it. We used to have oil, got rid of all that stuff when I did my system over (which was another plus to going with the electric boiler). And was very glad to do it. But have to admit that it's kind of slid back onto the radar for a future possiblity again with the way oil has tanked in price.
Hey Maple1, Thanks for the detailed description of your situation. There is so much to think about and your info really helps.
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