I have an 'idea', but need some meat on the bones

[Mothra]

I purchased an older home a year ago, built in 1895, but for the most part well insulated and with new windows. The home had radiant baseboards but unfortunately, the old lp boiler quit this previous winter and froze out the system. (i wasn't living in the home at that point, not planning on moving in until june/july '17). So my plans are as follows: I am excavating and repouring the basement which i plan on laying 1/2" pex-al-pex in the slab and also adding an 800 sq ft addition. I would also like to keep a radiant baseboard system, as no duct work exists, and had been looking into Buderus panels for retro-fitting the heating system. I had calculated the home needed ~ 95btu/hr at 70T before the addition and basement repour. It is a two story house in NW Ohio and as I grew up burning wood, i would like to heat my house in the same manner. My initial thoughts would be, after thoroughly reading this site, would be an indoor gassifer in an outdoor building, but my storage in the basement. Is it possible to run the radiant in-slab heat in the basement (~2100sqft) and the btu needs for the rest of the house from a single boiler in parallel? If so, what boiler(s) would you recommend and why? Or thoughts on this heating system as a whole?

 

[woodsmaster]

Yes it's possible to do with a single boiler. there is lots of boilers to choose from. Frowling, Tarm, Garn, and Biomass. to name a few.
It's going to be an expensive system up front, but should pay for itself down the line. Do you have natural gas there ? insurance will want you to have an alternate heat source.

 

[Tennman]

Great plan. How large is your home? We have two (2) 500 gal propane tanks for our pressurized storage. From memory I think each tank weighted ~1300 lbs with legs and fittings ready for install. We had a 10 ton forklift for the install and it was a challenge to handle them, but we also stood them vertical. I'd have loved to have those lost btus from our tanks be in the house but logistically it was impossible. I'd weigh the sacrifice/value of installing the tanks in the basement. Without question that approach is the most thermally efficient, but if well insulated the waste energy can't be that much. For example, we burned ~7 chord to heat our ~5,000 sf southern home. If we wasted 1/4 chord due to storage being in the outbuilding I'd be surprised. We have ~3.5-4" of foam on our tanks and if you lay your hand on them it feels very close to the ambient temp.

We have a BioMass wood boiler. I believe it is one of the best value, inexpensive gasser boilers out there. But last year, after concluding my wife and I can live with wood heat and enjoy it, I decided I was going to upgrade to a higher end boiler. Ended up installing a high end pellet boiler (lots of personal reasons) to supplement our BioMass. Our BioMass has been a very good, Chevy/Ford but I was ready for a Cadillac/BMW. Look for the boilers used by the guys here that post a bunch and you'll quickly identify the reliable, well respected boilers. WM's list above is a good start point. Best wishes. You've found the right site for information.

 

[Mothra]

The home will probably be ~3500 sq ft above grade, ~2100 sq ft below it. I see/read a lot people use old propane tanks as storage... anyone use poly tanks? can you use them for storage? I'm probably going to have a propane boiler back-up.

 

[maple1]

Don't think I would try poly.

 

[Mothra]

Don't think I would try poly.

Any reason why specifically?

 

[maple1]

Don't think it likes the heat. Definitely won't like any pressure at all.

 

[woodsmaster]

I know of a place a couple of hours from you that sells used propane tanks of every shape and size if you cant find a good deal on any around you.

 

[Nofossil]

As far as I can tell, propane tanks are the best option for storage. Poly definitely won't survive extended high temperatures, and the strength when hot is too low to pressurize at all.

Pressurized storage is the way to go if it's at all possible - you'll get much better results if you don't have a heat exchanger between storage an the rest of your system. Ask me how I know :-(

 

[Buzz Saw]

I know of a place a couple of hours from you that sells used propane tanks of every shape and size if you cant find a good deal on any around you.

Care to share? I'm looking for a used propane tank. I want to use it for propane though not water.

Thanks

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Mothra]

Thanks for the comments

 

[woodsmaster]

C & R recyclers Pioneer Ohio 419-459-8888
They have tanks with and without tags. Give them a call