Im Confused

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bulldogbones

Member
Hearth Supporter
Feb 10, 2010
72
Upstate NY
Last year I went from an OLD OLD outdoor Taylor Wood Boiler ( which is for sale $500 doesnt leak) to a 80k-165k btu corn boiler ( no comment ). I just sold the corn boiler so now I have my heating money and can buy an indoor wood boiler.

My Questions are as follows.

How, without a nuclear physicist degree can I determine how many BTU's my house will require?

Will a 68k atmos http://cgi.ebay.com/Atmos-indoor-wo...545765345?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0#ht_500wt_1154 be enough heat and is it a fair price

Also I picked up what I believe to be a 450- 500 gallon fuel tank ( for free ). The only problem is going to be fitting it into my basement LOL. I plan on using that as my heat storage.
 
How did the corn boiler do?

If it provided you with adequate heat and the rating is correct, that would be a good guide.
 
It was a variable rate you could have it as low as 80k and turn it all the way up to 150k. But I had problems with it so I don't know what I really used it at.
 
Basic rule of thumb for an averagely insulated house where I am in 30 btu per sq ft. So a 2,000sq ft house would be 60,000btus.

Very rough and ready, I have not been to Upstate NY, you are probably not that different.
 
Do a heat loss analysis on your house.
There are calculators at www.builditsolar.com
or Google heat loss analysis.

It does not take long and is enlightening.

Be sure to use this as a rough guide only. You should add on to that basic number for
pickup in coldest weather.
 
bulldogbones said:
Last year I went from an OLD OLD outdoor Taylor Wood Boiler ( which is for sale $500 doesnt leak) to a 80k-165k btu corn boiler ( no comment ). I just sold the corn boiler so now I have my heating money and can buy an indoor wood boiler.

My Questions are as follows.

How, without a nuclear physicist degree can I determine how many BTU's my house will require?

Will a 68k atmos http://cgi.ebay.com/Atmos-indoor-wo...545765345?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0#ht_500wt_1154 be enough heat and is it a fair price

Also I picked up what I believe to be a 450- 500 gallon fuel tank ( for free ). The only problem is going to be fitting it into my basement LOL. I plan on using that as my heat storage.
I gotta let the heavy hitters answer the sizing question, as for the price I believe this is fair. My 32GS was about $3500 & was a hassle to import from Poland (they dont ship anymore). This is a good dealer to deal with from everything I've heard. You will like the boiler, just be sure to put in a manual damper if you have a high draw chimney. Randy
 
Do a heat loss analysis on your house.
There are calculators at http://www.builditsolar.com

I used this as well and it proved to be pretty accurate for me. Now that I have a tank and temp sensors I have a very good gauge of how much heat I use. This link was a pretty easy way to "get in the ballpark" and plan for the size unit and tank you would need.
 
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