First off, thanks to everyone here for all the insight on wood stoves, I'm just starting out and trying to learn all I can. What a great reference this site has been. I was just looking for real-world info on burn time for gasifiers, especially EKO's and Econoburns. I won't be adding heat storage right away, and was just trying to get an idea on what kind of burn time I can expect on a full load of wood. I've got a 3500 sq ft, 2 story, moderately insulated house, and I'll be adding the stove onto my hot air system, if that helps. Thanks in advance, guys.
Burn time of gasifiers...
- Thread starter shawntitan
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shawntitan said:
Welcome to the forum and to the boiler room. Let me preface my answer by saying that there's a lot of variables. In my case, my boiler always runs flat-out. I have a control system that dumps any excess heat into storage to try and ensure that the boiler never idles. Of course, the fule is a variable. Wood species, size, and moisture content have a big effect.
In my EKO 25, burning medium sized (4-5" diameter) hardwood at 15-20% moisture, I get around 4-5 hours out of a full load. However, that's enough heat to keep me going for 12 to 24 hours depending on outside temps. Usually I do one fire and two loads per day. I'll adjust that a bit depending on the temps in my storage tank and outside.
I can get 6-10 hours out of my Tarm depending on weather and loading...Typically, I fire the boiler with a full charge 3 times a day (24hrs) if the weather is in the single digits. In the manual it says: load for an 8 hour burn and that is what I shoot for. If the weather is mild I may only load the boiler 1/2 full. It took a couple of seasons for us to get the firing scheme figured out but we may be slow learners. ;-)
About the only prediction I feel qualified to make is that with the right setup, you would have to load a gasifier less often than an OWB or a conventional indoor boiler. And by "setup" I mean heat storage and the right size boiler.
Thanks for the fedback, guys. 5-8 hour burn times don't seem really practical for me, as I work 10 hour shifts. I was hoping to avoid adding heat storage for a few years to trim the cost a little. Guess I'm back to the drawing board.
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