I [heart] "driving" my gasifier

[pybyr]

OK, disclaimer up front- my mind may have been pre-warped on account of the fact that before age 10, I got a tour of a WWII sub where a bunch of people had to live in an area the size of a 1500 gallon tank and the people that read the gauges kept everyone alive

http://www.njnm.com/subtour/index.html

and it was probably further warped to even larger extents by my experiences as a 15 year old strolling a couple of junkyards that had stacks (piled vertically) of what would now be multi-tens-of-kilo-buck 1960s and early 1970s GM, Mopar, and Ford muscle cars-- hemis, six packs, and bosses-

but--

I love filling my gasifier with a not very heavy armload of good wood, watching the temp readouts on the water jacket and the flue, as well as stack temp and stack draft, all gradually climb, and going to bed knowing that a very small amount of wood is going to get my big, hard-to-heat house all warm and toasty for a long while.

 

[sdrobertson]

Your definitely not alone. The wife was really impressed when I took a chair that she wanted to pitch out in the garbage and I placed it in my boiler room so I would have a place to sit and enjoy the roar and watch the gauges change. Now that I think about it, this behavior screams for help....

 

[pybyr]

I just (after posting my initial message above) took a brief peek at that gorgeous jet of blue and orange flame in my lower burner chamber, and listened to that wonderful low bass rumble.

It's almost like listening to a well tuned 327 or 440, or for that matter, a hot-rodded slant-6 Valiant that I helped build that smoked Camaros at stop lights- except that it saves $$ and fuel instead of burning both.

I need some kind of 12 step recovery program- except, what could be wrong about small amounts of wood making huge amounts of heat and the most minimal amounts of pollutants, and getting to watch the gauges swing as you say "yeah!" knowing that it's going to lift off like a rocket?

My name is Trevor, and I am hooked on wood gasification boilers. Dick Hill, and some Scandanavians, and the folks at Econoburn/ Dunkirk who built my really heavy iron US-made version of same, are to blame...

 

[Nofossil]

Dick Hill, and some Scandanavians, and the folks at Econoburn/ Dunkirk who built my really heavy iron US-made version of same, are to blame...

I'm pretty sure the first step on the path to recovery is to accept responsibility and stop blaming others.....

 

[Huskurdu]

Or just enjoy the insanity.

np

 

[easternbob]

Sdrobertson,
I thought you were going to write you chopped the chair up and threw it into your EKO 60....

 

[heaterman]

I have to admit to the same malady.
Listening to the secondary burn kick in on a downdraft unit or the sound of the giant torch when a Garn lights off just brings a smile to my face.
In my minds eye I can see the btu's leaving the wood and going into storage, then from there hopping on the btu train to the house where they get off and bring warmth, comfort and pleasure to all who occupy the place. The train goes back to the storage and picks up another load of passengers to repeat in an endless cycle for the winter. I see the pressure change happening in the circulator/engine that drives the train and think .......wow.....150,000 btu's/passengers moved from point A to point B with only 85 watts of power. If you tried to do that with forced air it would take 15 times that amount of energy.

My insanity doesn't bother me a bit

 

[mole]

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one with a boiler addiction problem. I like the chair idea. I think I'll get with a cup holder so I can enjoy an adult beverage in front of the fire. I don't know why, but I get an ear-to-ear grin at the thought of making my next fire. I charged my tank Suday evening and unfortunately (or fortunately) I've been waitng for 3 days now for the storage tank to deplete with little end in sight. I'm getting antsy.

Yeah, its a rush to watch the gages and feel the radiant heat off the door, but my favorite part is that "toasty" sort of smell when I open the door to feed the fire. It's the smell of victory.

JR

 

[Birdman]

This is my second year with my Tarm... people in Lyme NH are awesome( Bioheat USA). I have the same addiction. I spend way to much time watching the gauges and admiring the flame. I will open up a wound here... it is not us... but the OWB inefficient.. smoke polluter owners who should join a group to get help. I have about 20-30 of these in a 5 mile radius off my house. Cool idea... maybe someone could map out where all these things are and come up with a number to see how much pollution they are creating. Bet it's alot... I will await the backlash from the OWB people. ( this does not include the gasifier OWB)

 

[heaterman]

This is my second year with my Tarm... people in Lyme NH are awesome( Bioheat USA). I have the same addiction. I spend way to much time watching the gauges and admiring the flame. I will open up a wound here... it is not us... but the OWB inefficient.. smoke polluter owners who should join a group to get help. I have about 20-30 of these in a 5 mile radius off my house. Cool idea... maybe someone could map out where all these things are and come up with a number to see how much pollution they are creating. Bet it's alot... I will await the backlash from the OWB people. ( this does not include the gasifier OWB)

Been there done that. I spoke with a guy from the Michigan EPA air quality division a few years ago who wound up doing that very thing. I never saw the final figures from the particulate traps he placed in a neighborhood with a bunch of these things (OWB's) in use but he said the numbers were "eye opening". as in a person might as well take up smoking.

 

[Birdman]

Guess i changed the direction of the original intent of this thread. Sorry. I heart my Tarm too ( I do however.. Unheart inefficient and polluting OWB). Thank goodness I found this site to do my research.... I am sure if I had not stumbled upon this site..... I would have bought a OWB. Instead... I have found bliss with the gasifier.