How long will your storage retain usable heat?

[woodsmaster]

In the summer I can go 4 to 5 days just heating DHW so If I wasn't heating anything and was fully charged I would think there would be usable heat for at least a couple weeks.

 

[goosegunner]

I have coil in my forced air furnace. Right at the coil supply I have a auqa-stat that senses water temp. I have it set at 130 degrees, it is connected to a time delay. If the water is not 130 after 3 minutes it opens the circuit to the pump which stops power. It then closes the circuit to the gas furnace and the lp kicks in.

My pumps are controlled by a Taco zone control panel. I have it wired with a switch so if I am going to be gone for a while I just shut off the power to the Taco panel. That way there is no pumping and the lp just kicks in after 3 minutes.

You could run it down to a chosen temp and then have your wife shut off power to the panel. That would stop flow from the tank and minimize heat loss.

gg

 

[flyingcow]

Again my is unpressurized storage, but if my tank is down to 100/110 it will take about 4 hours? to bring up to 180. thats with no load from the house. With your Innova-50 i would think that would be quicker?

 

[hiker88]

FlyingCow, sent you a PM. Thanks.

 

[goosegunner]

Again my is unpressurized storage, but if my tank is down to 100/110 it will take about 4 hours? to bring up to 180. thats with no load from the house. With your Innova-50 i would think that would be quicker?

You must really have it dialed in. That is averaging 136612 btus/hr for just the 820 gallons.

I have a hard time getting that to storage with my Econoburn 200 but I am always feeding my load for the duration of the burn. I have never tried it with the load off.

gg

 

[flyingcow]

Again my is unpressurized storage, but if my tank is down to 100/110 it will take about 4 hours? to bring up to 180. thats with no load from the house. With your Innova-50 i would think that would be quicker?

You must really have it dialed in. That is averaging 136612 btus/hr for just the 820 gallons.

I have a hard time getting that to storage with my Econoburn 200 but I am always feeding my load for the duration of the burn. I have never tried it with the load off.

gg

Yeah , does sound a little off, now that i really think of it. I can push it to 165/170. Probably closer to 5 1/2 hours to push it to 180, and my bottom would be about 165? Thanks for picking that up gg.

 

[dogwood]

Onfoot, I did some calculations today following your lead, and figured it would take only six hours to reheat the 1000 gallons to 180 degrees, even if it dropped in the worst case scenario, to room temp of 70 degrees, assuming no load from the home or DHW. This seems very unlikely to be the case based on all your input. If my wife runs it down to 140 and then it drops another 20 degrees, per Eliot's estimates on standby losses, it should take only about three or so hours to get it back to temp, and probably some more with the load of the home added in. This seems to be in keeping with Flyingcow's experience with his Solo Innova 30, and doesn't seem unreasonable, or too much to deal with. Thanks all.

Jebatty, Woodmaster, and Rory, thanks also. Looks like I may be able to get some good use and value from the boiler even though I'm gone half the week or more. This whole problem will resolve upon retirement five-six years hence when I'll be home seven days a week and happily burning every day of the heating season.

Mike

 

[goosegunner]

Again my is unpressurized storage, but if my tank is down to 100/110 it will take about 4 hours? to bring up to 180. thats with no load from the house. With your Innova-50 i would think that would be quicker?

You must really have it dialed in. That is averaging 136612 btus/hr for just the 820 gallons.

I have a hard time getting that to storage with my Econoburn 200 but I am always feeding my load for the duration of the burn. I have never tried it with the load off.

gg

Yeah , does sound a little off, now that i really think of it. I can push it to 165/170. Probably closer to 5 1/2 hours to push it to 180, and my bottom would be about 165? Thanks for picking that up gg.

I wasn't doubting you. I have heard those Tarm Innova boilers are pretty nice, induced draft and lots of fire tube transfer area.

gg

 

[flyingcow]

Again my is unpressurized storage, but if my tank is down to 100/110 it will take about 4 hours? to bring up to 180. thats with no load from the house. With your Innova-50 i would think that would be quicker?

You must really have it dialed in. That is averaging 136612 btus/hr for just the 820 gallons.

I have a hard time getting that to storage with my Econoburn 200 but I am always feeding my load for the duration of the burn. I have never tried it with the load off.

gg

Yeah , does sound a little off, now that i really think of it. I can push it to 165/170. Probably closer to 5 1/2 hours to push it to 180, and my bottom would be about 165? Thanks for picking that up gg.

I wasn't doubting you. I have heard those Tarm Innova boilers are pretty nice, induced draft and lots of fire tube transfer area.

gg

You didn't bother me, it was a good observation. Yeah I'm pretty impressed with the unit, if it had Lambda controls on it....make me very happy. But then I'd have a Froling'. Or the new Effecta w/lambda.

I might be able to get this unit to run a little better, but once i get it set i usually don't goof with the settings. i run by stack temps mainly. If i hit 400-450 when the unit has clean tubes, I'm happy. Also i burn 90% rockmaple. Whats not rock is beech....It's the good stuff.

 

[dogwood]

Flyingcow, you probably already knew this, but in Europe you can get the Solo Innova with a Lambda control. I wonder if they could be retrofitted if you could somehow obtain one. They also have a DHW coil as an add-on. I tried to find out about their Lambda control a while back but was unable to get a response from the email address on the European site.

Mike

 

[Pat53]

My 500 gallon tank will keep usable heat for 3 weeks.... in July

 

[flyingcow]

Flyingcow, you probably already knew this, but in Europe you can get the Solo Innova with a Lambda control. I wonder if they could be retrofitted if you could somehow obtain one. They also have a DHW coil as an add-on. I tried to find out about their Lambda control a while back but was unable to get a response from the email address on the European site.

Mike

Chances are i chased the same website.

 

[dogwood]

If anyone's interested here is a link to the brochure on the Tarm Solo Innova LC (with Lambda Control), available in Europe. http://eshop.fbcstore.co.uk/WebRoot...0C6/4053/5C2F/35E1/0A0A/33E8/2751/SI20001.pdf

 

[dogwood]

Thanks Pat53. We'll be burning in July too for DHW use.

Mike