Final question before purchase

[gradwell]

Ok, So after much confusion and still uncertainty, I think I'm ready to purchase.

The question is, I will have 4600 sq. ft. new const. home well insul. plus 1500 Sq Ft. out building all on radiant slab. I'm thinking Tarm Solo 30 no storage. After heat calc. and talking to tarm. This unit has been decided sufficient for heating all of the above (what do you guys think?). As I read and read and read various posts, It seems that I will be needing to burn several times a day poss. smaller loads to heat efficiently. The only thing I am sure of is that I work many hours, and that my wife will never touch this thing. Assuming that I can load early mornings 6-7 a.m. again between 7-9 p.m. and again before bed 11 p.m.-1 a.m., do we think it will be poss. to heat primarily with wood. I guess I am hopefull of this, but will not be devestated if not as my home is being built on slab and my initial reasoning behind unit was solely for warm floor. However, once investigating I became greedy and wanted whole house capability.

Are either or both of these options poss? What do you think? Joe

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

It doesn't sound to me like you are ready to purchase . . . I'd recomend a chill pill, reformulate your questions, ask people with real-world experiance (users, not sales people)

1)Are we to understand that you have +6,000 [] of slab?
2)Can we assume thae decision against storage is a cost one? The combo of long hours away and the wife's hands-off policy makes a compelling argument FOR storage.

Jimbo

 

[Nofossil]

Agreed. My burn pattern is a fire every evening in colder weather, with a bedtime refill if it's really cold. Slab will help hold the heat - it's storage after a fashion, so that may help carry you between fires. I'm skeptical that a fire would last from morning until evening unless you use a timer to shut off the blower so that the coals stay alive. My EKO 25 burns about 5 hours on a full load, and the coals are gone in about 8 hours.

 

[Eric Johnson]

If you let your boiler go into extended idle periods, it will last much longer. But then you have to contend with some creosote, smoke, system inefficiency and a shorter life for the boiler. Ironic that an inefficient burn would yield longer burntimes, but if you oversize your boiler with no storage, that's what the likely result will be.

On the other hand, storage can always be added later, so foregoing it for the first year is not a bad choice. It's just more work to keep it running efficiently most of the time.

 

[gradwell]

Thanks everyone for their response.

Jimbo, the main slab of the house is 2888 sq. ft., the garage 795 and the out building is 1400. your assumption is correct when addressing the storage costs. I quess I assumed that since the 97,000 btu needed to heat was so closely matched to the 100,000 btu output of the solo 30 that I figured storage would be a nice upgrade in the future, but not as necessary right now as some other upgrades for the house my wife will soon be hitting me up for.

Nofossil, so I guess I would have to build a fire when I get home? Obviously not the best situation, but do able? How much of a headache will this be and more importantly do you think the slab will hold enough heat for this couple hour overlap? will my secondary be kicking on all the time?

Eric, so when you say more work, are you saying shorter more frequent burns as this is my concern due to time management.

You guys are great and a tremendous help. I guess that I thought I was doing good and was excited to see that my required btu's matched so closely to this unit. I figured that it would burn "full out" most of the time which I thought was preferred over idle. Is this right or wrong thinking.

Keep in mind that floor warming is is #1, but full heat would be tremendous.

The main problem for me is that I am not a plumber, i'm not a lifelong woodburner nor am I an HVAC guy. So I must pay for installations and rely on information provided by salespeople. So any and all info. offered is greatly appreciated.

 

[Chris S]

keep in mind that the Btu calculation you have for 97,000 btu is for ... your design day I'm assuming. That's how I do mine anyway. The design day does not occur everytime you burn though, probably only 10 or so days per year. Then you have all of the warmer days, and maybe a few colder days, then the shoulder seasons ( days like today 50 degrees & windy- still need heat) Thats where the storage comes in at least until a modulating wood burner becomes available. Is your head spinning yet

C