Fröling user update !

[ktm010]

Well I have racked up over 1000 hours on my unit so far. Started on Dec. 3rd with wood and have not burned any oil since. I have gone thru 6 cords of wood so far which I think is very good. The house has never been warmer although the house temps to fluctuate from the varying tank temps . I will work on that issue next winter. I 'am heating a 2400 sqft house and the garage 1200 sqft where the wood boiler is located, garage floor temp is set for 55* giving me a 50* room temp minimum on the coldest days. I burn two batches a day from a full load to a half load , and this has been a very long cold winter here in the northeast. I have some pics to show what the boiler now looks like inside. I do have lots of ash I think on the stack but this could be from cleaning and having the fan run, plus rather the ash outside then inside. I forgot to take a picture of the heat exchanger tube area, but have checked it regularly with only a light brown ash and no build up!. The fires are started very easily and this was a huge factor for me, I work a rotating shift which changes every week along with OT on both ends so my hours of running the boiler have been challenging but the 1000 gal storage has worked great for this. I only had one misfire and that was probably my fault as I walk away to soon not giving the stack temps enough time before shutting the doors. So approximately 240 starts, one dud, not bad, my fault !. I hope this info is helpful to some one, because this site helped me alot.

 

[velvetfoot]

You're acting like the cold weather is over! .
Seriously, looks good! Impressive capabilities on the controller.

Also impressive you got the umlaut in the title!

 

[Chris Hoskin]

1100 hours with only 2 hours in slumber - well done!

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

1100 hours with only 2 hours in slumber - well done!

OK, ... tell me more about "2 hours in slumber"

 

[mustash29]

Slumber - When your system temps are up to setpoint, you still have some burnable wood remaining, the unit has already throttled down to minimum output, so it has to go idle or shut off the cumbustion fans. The intent of a gasser with storage it to burn flat out & charge the storage. That is where the efficiency and clean burn come from.

Compare that theory to a typical OWB which smolders and slumbers frequently for long periods and you can see they are not at all equal animals.

< 2% slumbering for a new install / first season is outstanding performance.

 

[ktm010]

I must have lucked out with my set-up, and it turned out very forgiving. It does struggle to reach over 80*Celsius at storage with a full load if cold out. When I'am home and watching a burn cycle interesting to see the boiler ramp down at the end of a burn. And I don't see the need to try to get tank temps any higher if the house works well with it. I have no experience with other brands so I can only give results that I have been having. Or maybe the "Slumber meter" is stuck or broke !!

 

[hiker88]

Or maybe the "Slumber meter" is stuck or broke !!

Nah, you won't get hardly any slumbering at all at 80c (assuming you set point is higher that is). I charge my unpressurized storage 85/80c top to bottom with no slumbering regularly since I started weighing my loads before hand.

It is very cool to see it ramp down to 35%, keep gassifying, and output 92c supply.

You stack looks almost exactly like mine. I cleaned my chimney for the first time this summer after 10 months of use (October till August) and I burn all summer as well. When I took the rain cap off and shone a light down the pipe, I could still see the seam.

 

[henfruit]

Only one dud, that is good. I just watch the smoke gas temp.If it is climbing at a steady rate I can walk away with out the fear of the boiler not finishing a complete burn. With the Vigas as long as the stack temp reaches the pre set number you have programed it to.( I like 200f ) The boiler will lock in and will run till it is out of wood.

 

[skfire]

Very nice indeed.

I have 1700 hrs with 13 hrs of slumber, in 3 years and the 12 hrs came the first year...learning curve.
Only 2 other times I got slumbered...for about 15 minutes, I think it was because the house load return(all radiant mixed down to 120f @ 160f in) did not reach the termovar element's sweet spot(72C) quick enough and the boiler saw higher returns(unlike my SEP IRA) instead of return to the primary loop or switching over to storage(after zones get satisfied).
Of course both these times I was using very dry wood and bio bricks... was definitely in the low 5-6% m.c..and with the setpoint set to 87C, the boiler reached 90c fairly quick after ignition and above that slumber.
Scott

 

[velvetfoot]

Can I ask if an extended power outage affects the memory? It'd be a shame to lose all that.

 

[Chris Hoskin]

the history/memory is not lost if power is cut to the boiler for extended periods.