I recently installed a greenwood 100 in my garage i hooked it up to 14 cast iron rads in my 2100sq home.I find i dont get enough burn time when i load the boiler 6-8hrs max .When i installed the boiler i have no thermostate instead i put thermostatic controls on each rad .I find it takes a long time for the boiler to get up to operating temp. is there any one that can give me any tips.
greenwood 100 burn time
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I have mine setup to run in tandem with my old oil furnace (as a backup) but it is connected to a thermostat. I too am only getting 6-8 hour burn times and have the boiler located in the garage. I've heard that if your garage is insulated, this will help increase your burn times. I plan on doing that this summer, so I'll have to wait and see for next year. Obviously, there are a lot of facets that effect burn time. I think it will take a few seasons to cover all bases to maximize efficiency.
I dont think a insulated garage has anything to do with it seeing that the unit is insulated with a 6" ceramic and it is not hot to the touch even when it is operating at temp.I was thinking maybe a wall thermostat in stead of a thermostat on each rad.
My Greenwood is in my garage. If it is below 0, 6-8 hr burns are about what I am getting. Large unsplit rounds help increase the burn times. I think I will be doing some more insulating this summer to help keep what heat I am getting. Turning down the thermostat to 68-70 helps. I was under the delusion that there would be unlimited heat, this is definately not the case. I have a Vermont Castings wood stove in the house that I fire on really cold days, this helps alot.
djblech
Greenwood 100
djblech
Greenwood 100
Unlimited heat? Did you get a nuclear reactor...6-8 hour burn time when it's below zero dos'nt seam to bad, considering the less than perfect set ups we all face. Look at all of the combinations. Radiant, baseboard, forced air, storage, distance from boiler to heat load, insulation, wind effect, lack of sun, pump size, piping size,kids leaving doors open, wet wood to dry wood,not enough draft, to much draft, extreme temp variations day to day...all in all I think we do a pretty good job of keeping our houses warm and the water for showers hot!djblech said:
With another season of heating under our belts we can maybe optimize each of our setups with help and ideas through this forum.
I am happy with my setup but will do some tweeking this summer. $20.00 gas bills have made me smile since Sept.
My burn times run about 4-6 hours, I burn mine straight out to storage so it doesn't shut downuntil the timer is done. It keeps my insulated boiler room with insulated 1000 gallon tank at about 115-130* . It sure dries the wood quick. Keeps the saws nice and warm so they start nice. I too am glad we are getting done with the bulk of the cold, its been along cold winter , lots of wood.
My biggest heat problem is my 14x22 family room. It has radiant tubes buried in the sand about 6" below the slab. I can't pump enough heat into it. This was the recomended method when I built in 1995. Current standard is to embed the tubing in the concrete, this seems to work better. I could pour 4" of concrete over the existing slab, but then I wood have to re-tile the floor and move my 2 exterior doors up. After reading what Eric J has done with old radiators I am starting to get a new idea. I also think foam around the outside and more insul in the attic will help.
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
I might end up adding 12' of reg baseboard in that room and abandoning the radiant. That would be the simplest solution. The baseboard is on the wrong side of the room, it would be better under the windows. I can't get to that side because of the slab.
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
The damper shuts down once it reaches 140 as for the flue temp i dont know.I just insulated all of the pipes on the boiler and supply and return lines in my garage i hope this will help.
Draft seems to make a huge difference in the performance of these type boilers. my flue temp. is around 350 f when there is a high pressure system , the smoke goes straight up from the chimney.When there is a low pressure situation it drops to 270 f. My boiler will heat the water to 140 in about 30 min. then to 170 takes some time.the length of burn depends on the demand to heat the house.Any where from 6-12 hrs. Just wondering if you are losing a lot of heat out the chimney ?
Losing heat out the chimminey is possible can you tell me how to find out if that is happening and if so how to stop it .I havent see my temp get to 170 on my greenwood 100.
I have a thermometer in the chimney pipe about 12 inches above the boiler.You can buy them in fireplace stores. It is the one you drill a small hole in the pipe and insert it in. I have black single wall pipe on the boiler up to the ceiling so it was easy to do.I believe the flue temps are the same as my green horizon 300-350 f. with a full burn.I was running at 180 f water temp with no problem but did not need it that hot. 170 is fine for my heat exchanger in oil furnace it kept the house at 70 f when it was -28.
Does any one know the burntime on a outside boiler system i have some people who own one and they tell me they get 12hrs plus per day and load it max 2 times per day.
e-dog
I have my aquastat set at 180*. The draft opens at about 175* and shuts at about 190*. I think you may be running to cold. this could cause creosote build-up. You should also check your draft with a manometer. Greenwood suggests .05 to .07 wc.(water column) or 12 to 18 pascals (I think). Check your owners manual. Also there are downloads on the Greenwood web site about chimney and draft that are good reads. I am getting 6 to 8 hr burns but at the higher temps so my water temp rarely falls below 120.
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
I have my aquastat set at 180*. The draft opens at about 175* and shuts at about 190*. I think you may be running to cold. this could cause creosote build-up. You should also check your draft with a manometer. Greenwood suggests .05 to .07 wc.(water column) or 12 to 18 pascals (I think). Check your owners manual. Also there are downloads on the Greenwood web site about chimney and draft that are good reads. I am getting 6 to 8 hr burns but at the higher temps so my water temp rarely falls below 120.
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
got 10 hours today/ and still had water temps in the 160s. put in 2 logs to hold me till 830 this pm.shut it down sat into sunday for cleaning. smoke pipe had just soot. inside the green wood by the drft pipes just soot also. vacume it all out. gave the water pipes a good brushing and scraping just soot there also. i have burning good hot fires so the fire book is white. when i relite it i got temp up to 195 for a short time.using about 1.25 to 1.50 cords a month.i think iwill look into water storage.
I purchased an oil based manometer from dwyer for under 60$ plumbed it in my stove pipe helps a lot to know your draft situation
Last night i checked the draft on my boiler greenwood 100 the draft limits are .05-.07 after following the owners manual on how to check the draft i had a reading of.10 does this really make a big difference.
I would say that a lot of your heat is going up the chimney. Shorten up your stack or put in a barametric damper in and check again. If it was a little over I wouldn't worry about it, but that is alot.
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
djblech
Greenwood 100
Stihl 170 and 360
kioti dk45 and dump trailer
120 acres woods 3 miles from home
i am looking into putting in a baromatic damper, i hope it makes a big differenece ,right now i have a really hard time getting it up to 140.i was thinking of setting the barometric damper to .06
edog
You mentioned your damper closses at 140. what is your aquastat set at . It looks like you need to adjust it up.What is your water femp .Do you have a temp. gauge on it.
You mentioned your damper closses at 140. what is your aquastat set at . It looks like you need to adjust it up.What is your water femp .Do you have a temp. gauge on it.
the gauge reads 140 when the damper closes but it takes a long time to get to 140 .If i adjust the aquastat up them the damper would never close .I am going to try a barometric damper and see what happens right now my draft is .10 and the manual says .05-.07 i think a lot of my heat is going up the chimmny
By using a infrared thermometer, you can do a spot check on temps to get a better idea of what is really happening. Be sure you shoot it a non reflective surface and you can tell instantly what is going on.
If you were to eliminate the heat load (loop to house) would you get your stove temp up? It sure sounds like aqua stat issues or a huge heat load that never quits. You mentioned your radiant was buried in sand. How long is the loop? From my understanding loop size is important so you don't cool the return water to low.
The GW should make a ton of heat, something (easy) right in front of you is messing things up.
Steve
If you were to eliminate the heat load (loop to house) would you get your stove temp up? It sure sounds like aqua stat issues or a huge heat load that never quits. You mentioned your radiant was buried in sand. How long is the loop? From my understanding loop size is important so you don't cool the return water to low.
The GW should make a ton of heat, something (easy) right in front of you is messing things up.
Steve
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