First Season with Windhager

[Tennman]

Most of us are off doing other stuff this time of year, but those researching Windhagers will find this useful. Last year about this time I was deciding whether to replace or supplement our BioMass Was about to pull the trigger on a Froling. Then it dawned on me that if I was to disappear my wife could not sustain operating a wood boiler. Don't get me wrong, she can start fires and feed it. But would never take off panels to clean chambers, replace ceramics, mess with nozzle guards... you get the point. I also recognized a diminished enthusiasm for bringing wood out of the hills and processing by myself. Went to Michigan and Heaterman showed my wife and I the impressive dual Windhager XL600 operation.

Ordered, received, assembled, and installed the XL. This time due to time demands, paid for the plumbing install. Other than going to purchase 2000# pallets of pellets from Tractor Supply it was like running propane. Totally hands off. The in-house HX runs off storage which can be fed by either the BioMass or the XL. The XL cycles based on the mid-storage tank temps so if charged by the BioMass, the XL stays on standby.

We burned about 7 tons of pellets over about 3.5-4 months or about $350/month. I looked at this as a 10-15 year heating solution (15 years I'll be approaching 80) so ease of use was a major factor in selection of the XL. I did not have to empty the ash bin during the heating season. The ash volume compared to the BioMass is a stunning difference certainly reflected in the quality of pellets as a fuel source, but the energy conversion efficiency is just amazing. I'd guess I put about 60-70 lbs of ash from the bin.... or 14,000 lbs of pellets to ~70 lbs of ash.

Very pleased with the product. Certainly hope the Windhager takes off in the U.S. from a sustainability standpoint, but worst case need to order parts from Europe, so be it. I highly recommend using Heaterman if at all possible to assist. The pallet and ash bin pictures are pretty amazing. Best wishes.

2,000 lbs of pellets from Tractor Supply converted to ~70 lbs of ash

 

[Tennman]

Noticed some confusion in my post. That pic is of ~2,000 lbs of pellets. We burned ~7 pallets or 14,000 lbs. The ash in the hopper is what remained of that 14,000 lbs.

 

[velvetfoot]

The ash in the hopper is what remained of that 14,000 lbs.

Really?

 

[Lcback]

Thats pretty awesome. Around here pellets cost as much as propane. So I would just be using the l.p. furnace we have. But because of the hassle to find wood. I'm switching to a hand fired anthricite, bit, or wood furnace. If something happens I can't get the wood we will buy a few ton of coal for a year

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

[Tennman]

Velvet, The ash in that bin is the remains of ~14,000 lbs of pellets. Hard to believe it was never emptied until season end boiler cleaning. It's operation was basically flawless. I'm spoiled.

LC, Back in '08-'09 when we turned to wood, propane was very high. Not nearly as bad today but not believing it will stay at current prices. Besides, we found we really enjoyed using wood and now pellets. We still burn wood but now when convenient to reduce pellet use. Last winter was our most comfortable yet in our old home.

 

[velvetfoot]

That really seems to be low ash for 7 tons. Some pellets have more ash than others, I guess, and your ash pan seems to be bigger than mine.

 

[Tennman]

Velvet, I can't disagree about the amazing conversion of pellet volume to energy/ash. I also find it hard to believe. But I bought 8 pallets and the pallet in the pic is the season left over. I've emptied the bin exactly once. I placed the tape measure so folks would have some reference to the size of the bin. My guess on ash weight may be low +/- 10 lbs. But that's what I saw when I pulled the bin at season end. Throughout the season I'd pop open the front of the lid to gage ash level and left it alone. Pretty amazing how you can turn 14,000 lbs of mass into energy and be left with ~70-80 lbs of boiler poop.

 

[velvetfoot]

Unless it went out the stack. Just kidding.
I have yet to clean out my Windhager this season, but, in response to this thread, LOL, I just took a peek and the cassette looks packed full. There isn't that much ash piled up in the burn chamber though. I went through 2.44 tons of pellets. Make of pellets was Dry Creek out of NY/PA. I don't have the dimensions of the cassette.

 

[Tennman]

Next season I'll empty the bin about half way thru. I noticed the ash still in the auger was considerably more dense due to pushing fresh ash into the mound in the bin. Just make the auger's job easier. Really an amazingly well designed product. Many of our visitors are in technical fields and they love tours of the boiler barn. BTW, I invested in a new shop vac that holds big bags internally. Works beautifully. Ended having some of the ash blowing out the vac's exhaust during boiler cleaning. Much cleaner. Cheers

 

[heaterman]

The installation you visited last year burned through 23 tons for the entire heating season of 2015/16. None of the 3 boilers were cleaned during the winter. Just a single time this spring after shutdown. About 4 hours for my boys to clean the 3 boilers plus the flues and chimney and they are good to go for next winter. Knowing what goes on in the combustion process it's amazing to me that they have achieved that level of efficiency without having to use an O2 sensor. It's just a phenomenal product.

 

[Lake Girl]

Different efficiency rates on the two different Windhagers? XL60 vs BioWin 100/150... If the larger BioWin is cycling more on/off, does efficiency drop off and produce more ash?

Edit: Hardwood vs. softwood pellets?

 

[Tennman]

Well.... Happy 4th of July all... a little late! I've been off doing summer stuff.

The one thing different in our system from all other BioWIn installs I know about is running with a large storage volume. I wanted to continue to pull heat from our storage so either the BIoMass or BioWin could charge the 1000 gals. This means the BioWin when called to recharge storage runs hard for maybe an hour (I'm guessing here, my memories weak on run time) then goes to sleep for a LONG time. BioWIn firing/day were obviously based on our temperate climate in southern Tennessee, not Michigan or NY. The BioWin is controlled by a thermocouple attached at mid height of the storage tanks and I don't try to attain uniform top to bottom 180F like I did with the BioMass, no need. I don't have data comparing running the BioWin without storage, but it appears to really like fewer burn startups and running hot and hard for longer periods. I spent about 2-3 hours in April cleaning and peeking into chambers I'd never seen before. The engineering everywhere on this thing is really is stunning. There is no comparison between the BioMass and BioWin as far as hours/season time demand. It has to be far less than 1/10th the time.

I still enjoy running the BioMass during holidays and weekends. Our property produces more firewood than we can consume, but I don't have the energy or time to keep up. I understand not everyone can install a BioWin, but I love our heating options now and we've never been more comfortable..

Lake Girl - All pellets we've burned have been hardwood. When buying from Tractor Supply, I probably used 3-4 different pellet brands. There is a noticeable difference between brands with some pellets being more dusty than others. This dust issue is only apparent in the storage bin. But, once the accumulated dust was swept towards the vacuum pickup, it burned just like the pellets. This year I'll take the big trailer and buy probably 6 pallets in advance from the local pellet factory instead of TS. Will use TS if we run out.

The product is really outstanding. I hope Winhager can establish a distribution/dealership organization to multiply its U.S. presence. They have the product.

 

[heaterman]

Re on/off cycles....it doesn't matter if you are burning gas, oil, coal, wood or pellets .... or what particular boiler brand you are using. Less = more in terms of cycles vs overall operation.
A steady burn, or one that modulates, will always produce lower emissions and increased efficiency compared to a fire/burn that is on/off.
A very good example is the new gas equipment we install. Many times the AFUE rating is only 10-15% greater for the new equipment. In real life use though, customers routinely report fuel cost reduction from 25-40% compared to their old on/off boiler. The difference is the ability of the boiler to vary it's output through modulating the flame up and down.
This is a huge advantage for a modulating pellet boiler with adequate storage like Tennman has installed. (Nicely done BTW)

Think of cruise control on your car. Same deal.