Help with my Heatmor

[amsoil dealer]

I am new to this site and new to outdoor wood boilers as well. We recently moved to Minnesota and the house that we bought came with an outdoor wood boiler for supplemental heat.

Here is some info about my system. The boiler is a Heatmor model 200. It appears to be an older unit. short story, the guy we bought the house from runs his own business. He received the boiler as partial payment for a job that he did. He told me that he didn't use it much because electricity is cheap (ok.........) and he was never home enough to keep it stoked up. Our house runs off geothermal forced air, but there is also a plenum inside the ductwork that has lines running out to the boiler. We also have a 38x50 shop with floor heat. That has an electric boiler, but i can close a few valves and open others to run it off the outdoor boiler as well.

Being new to the whole boiler game, I have some questions. First and foremost, how do i know how much coolant is in the system? I can not find a gauge of any kind on the front of the stove, so i don't know how much coolant is in there. I have added about 20 gallons of RV antifreeze to the top of the stove. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's what I used. My biggest concern is that I may end up running the system too low on coolant and wreck something.

Should I have a certain amount of pressure in the lines?

How can I check to make sure that nothing is leaking?

I really don't like the way that everything runs into the shop. The closed loop in the shop works great with the electric boiler. I keep about 5-15 psi in the lines and don't have any issues. Although, that electric boiler only gets to about 120 degrees. Not sure if it should be higher or not. When i choose to run the wood boiler in the shop, i have to shut the 2 valves that loop through the electric boiler. i then open the 2 valves that loop outside to the wood boiler.

I only burn wood when it gets really cold (10 degrees and lower). This is primarily because we moved into the place the end of October and i never got a chance to stock up on wood. My electric boiler runs on offpeak from 11p to 7a every day. so in the evenings, i end up going out and reversing the process to get back on electric. The problem is, when i switch to wood, i lose all of the pressure in my lines. when i loop back to electric, i have to take a pump and add some coolant (usually less than 1 gallon) to get pressure back in the lines. what i would like to do at some point is set it up so that i can burn wood and run the shop off that, then if the wood burns out or we aren't around to stoke it, it automatically switches over to electric.

does anyone have any advice for a newbie that wants to save some coin by burning wood? I have attached some pics of my stove. as you can see, it's not in the greatest of shape. is there a place where i can download an owners manual for this thing for replacement parts?

 

[mchasal]

Not a lot of experience personally with those, though a friend had one for a while. Here is their site with manual downloads: (broken link removed to http://www.heatmor.com/downloads-manuals-only.php)
That's probably a great place to start. There is a section on how to check the water level in there.

From the way you describe your switchover woes, it sounds like things aren't setup correctly. I'd encourage you to get some dealer or other experienced advice to get it setup properly.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

I agree with mchasal, there should be a water to water heat exchanger in the system to isolate the unpressurized system (wood boiler) from the pressurized system (electric boiler). As far as fill level goes, if theres not a sight glass on it, fill it till it runs over. As it comes up to temp, it will purge until it equalizes. That is the idea behind the vent, to the system unpressurized regardless of water temp. I've had mind purge when the controller messed up and overheated the water.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

Is the heatmor a pressurized unit? If so, completely disregard everything I said my other post.

 

[Clarkbug]

Another note for you, 120 is fine for your shop boiler, since its in-floor heat. No need for higher temps out there, and in fact it probably sucks quite a bit out of the wood boiler when you connect the system that way. Also, RV antifreeze isnt the right stuff. You want glycol for heating systems.

 

[jebatty]

High risk in giving advice knowing only partial facts when the operation has no experience. I've had a Heatmor, but that does not help much. I advise that you talk to a Heatmor dealer, or at a minimum someone in the area experienced with burning an outdoor boiler. There is lots to know in integrating a Heatmor with a pressurized system, as mine was.

Plus, ignore the advice on not using RV water system antifreeze. Whatever you do, do not use (auto radiator type) ethylene glycol - it's poisonous and very dangerous to use in a hot water heating system. A small leak or spill, an animal or pet taking a drink, or a child taking a drink, and a horrible death can be the result. RV may be right, I don't have an RV and no experience, but what is right is propylene glycol which is non-toxic.

 

[mchasal]

High risk in giving advice knowing only partial facts when the operation has no experience.

Fair point, I've pared down my posts a bit to stay in my lane better. Apologies.

 

[Chicken Farmer]

High risk in giving advice knowing only partial facts

Point taken.

 

[amsoil dealer]

Bringing this post back to the top so I don't have to retype the whole thing to ask another question.

Here is what I learned so far:
Use straight water, fill it to the top and keep the pumps running all winter.
I need to buy a plate exchanger and a mixing valve to run my shop the way I want to.

new question. In regards to running the wood stove and the geo heat in the house. Should I be powering the geo down somehow and only running the fan to blow the heat off the plenum or do I run them both?

 

[bear350]

I am new to this site and new to outdoor wood boilers as well. We recently moved to Minnesota and the house that we bought came with an outdoor wood boiler for supplemental heat.

Here is some info about my system. The boiler is a Heatmor model 200. It appears to be an older unit. short story, the guy we bought the house from runs his own business. He received the boiler as partial payment for a job that he did. He told me that he didn't use it much because electricity is cheap (ok.........) and he was never home enough to keep it stoked up. Our house runs off geothermal forced air, but there is also a plenum inside the ductwork that has lines running out to the boiler. We also have a 38x50 shop with floor heat. That has an electric boiler, but i can close a few valves and open others to run it off the outdoor boiler as well.

Being new to the whole boiler game, I have some questions. First and foremost, how do i know how much coolant is in the system? I can not find a gauge of any kind on the front of the stove, so i don't know how much coolant is in there. I have added about 20 gallons of RV antifreeze to the top of the stove. Right, wrong or indifferent, that's what I used. My biggest concern is that I may end up running the system too low on coolant and wreck something.

Should I have a certain amount of pressure in the lines?

How can I check to make sure that nothing is leaking?

I really don't like the way that everything runs into the shop. The closed loop in the shop works great with the electric boiler. I keep about 5-15 psi in the lines and don't have any issues. Although, that electric boiler only gets to about 120 degrees. Not sure if it should be higher or not. When i choose to run the wood boiler in the shop, i have to shut the 2 valves that loop through the electric boiler. i then open the 2 valves that loop outside to the wood boiler.

I only burn wood when it gets really cold (10 degrees and lower). This is primarily because we moved into the place the end of October and i never got a chance to stock up on wood. My electric boiler runs on offpeak from 11p to 7a every day. so in the evenings, i end up going out and reversing the process to get back on electric. The problem is, when i switch to wood, i lose all of the pressure in my lines. when i loop back to electric, i have to take a pump and add some coolant (usually less than 1 gallon) to get pressure back in the lines. what i would like to do at some point is set it up so that i can burn wood and run the shop off that, then if the wood burns out or we aren't around to stoke it, it automatically switches over to electric.

does anyone have any advice for a newbie that wants to save some coin by burning wood? I have attached some pics of my stove. as you can see, it's not in the greatest of shape. is there a place where i can download an owners manual for this thing for replacement parts?

View attachment 154232 View attachment 154233 View attachment 154234 View attachment 154235 View attachment 154242 View attachment 154243 View attachment 154244

Hello amsoil, I have that exact stove, You can send info to me if you need to. But first of all you should only put antifreeze into your boiler if you don't run it all winter or your worried about it freezing. Not sure if it is the 200 or not but is looks just like mine, Mine is one of the first models made, Not Stainless Steel, mine is in excellent Shape. Now you should know it is an OPEN SYSTEM, If you have it hooked into your Home inside Boiler you should have a Valve to both systems are running apart, with a shut off valve to inside Closed system Boiler, you should have very little PSI in your outdoor boiler, also if you are using Forced Air your stove should be running at 180f they do make a special antifreeze for that boiler, I Use plain water and it runs all winter long start it in Sept. and runs till April, My house is about 2000 SQ. and my shop is about the same, stove heats all very well with about 10 full cord a season, I would like to see some pic of the boiler itself, if you run that stove at the right temps you will be very happy with it. I fill mine once a day full of wood but in the day time I throw about 4 to 5 sticks of wood in, and fill it at night. I love mine and cannot find any info on these older HEATMORS, but I have been using for quite sometime now and love it. When you fill the water in the stove here is what you should do. Shut Valve on the Bladder fill up with Water or Coolant and fill till it comes out the top where your filling it by the anode rod once it comes out the top. shut off water and go to front of boiler and open the Bladder, it should fill your badder and your fill water sign should rise out or sight, I see your stove is a bit beat up but i am sure it still works like a charm. going out to take some pics to show you. If you need anymore info maybe we can help each other. Thanks good luck