Indoor or outdoor pellet boiler?

[Dirttracker18]

Hello from a Newbie to the forum and boilers

I have been considering a change to better suit my situation and would love some advice from the forum. After cruising the net and lurking here a while I figured its time to get some better information.

I currently have a 1000 sq/ft house on F/A propane and a 1080 Sq/ft shop with I floor heat on an electric water tank. Neither of these are ideal and we are looking at an addition to the house in the next five years that will include in floor heating in the slab and additional heating needs for the second floor.

I am almost settled on a pellet boiler but am wondering about indoor or outdoor.

So my first question is can I get an indoor pellet boiler that can service those kinds of needs? Yes I know I will need some heat loss numbers but is this even possible? I would have the indoor boiler in the nearby shop and pipe additional lines back to the house for current and future needs.

Second, is there efficiencies to be had by going indoors vs outdoors? I assume there is some heat loss on even good outdoor units that I would prefer to have lost inside my shop . I this a correct assumption?

So would anyone care to comment on the basics of this idea and questions?

 

[Hydronics]

If your intent is to heat the shop also then it definitely makes sense to put the boiler in there so heat loss will go to the shop as you noted. This will also give you a warm dry place to clean, maintain and load the boiler. I would definitely go indoor.

 

[velvetfoot]

Plus, you could store pellets in the shop. Easy delivery too.

 

[heaterman]

Not a fan of any heating appliance outdoors for reasons of efficiency, maintenance and repair.
It doesn't matter what fuel you are using, the heat lost to the wide open spaces is just that. Lost.

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, there are pellet boilers available to do the job. They are very expensive.

 

[F4jock]

Harman makes a good pellet boiler. Go indoors.

 

[Dirttracker18]

Yes, there are pellet boilers available to do the job. They are very expensive.

What is expensive?

Both in and outdoor are expensive?

Finally, are you over on GJ too?

 

[F4jock]

What is expensive?

Both in and outdoor are expensive?

Finally, are you over on GJ too?

Ten grand or so installed.

 

[Highbeam]

What is expensive?

Both in and outdoor are expensive?

Finally, are you over on GJ too?

Yes, on gj too. 10k$ is not chump change.

 

[Dirttracker18]

Yes, on gj too. 10k$ is not chump change.

You posted on my thread over at GJ too.

Based on rough estimates I have figured on $15000 all in for the system.

There would be some savings on the propane for the house and much bigger savings for the garage which is currently using an electric tanked water heater. Our electricity is some of the highest in North America and rising!

While the up front cost will be high, I anticipate an ROI of 5 to 8 years.

That is without the addition on the house in 3-5 years.

The big question for me is indoor or outdoor. Indoor in the shop is looking like the best option.

 

[Highbeam]

You posted on my thread over at GJ too.

Based on rough estimates I have figured on $15000 all in for the system.

There would be some savings on the propane for the house and much bigger savings for the garage which is currently using an electric tanked water heater. Our electricity is some of the highest in North America and rising!

While the up front cost will be high, I anticipate an ROI of 5 to 8 years.

That is without the addition on the house in 3-5 years.

The big question for me is indoor or outdoor. Indoor in the shop is looking like the best option.

Unless your local government or insurance forbids it, I would always recommend an indoors installation. I also park my cars in the garage.

 

[mchasal]

There doesn't seem to be much middle ground with pellet boilers. You can get a pellet stove for $1500, but there aren't many boilers under $7k just for the unit. They often have a lot of self-maintenance and fancy control features, but it seems like someone could put together a simple boiler for $3k or so. Of course, I may be completely delusional. The smaller Harman (Hydroflex 60) is just over $5k, so that might be a reasonable option for mid range heat loads. As it stands now I continue to get by with my stove though I really do want to do a boiler.

 

[heaterman]

This is where governments, at all levels get really messed up sometimes. Had a customer tell me the local "officials" told him the Windhager pellet boiler he bought could not be used inside. ..... Until he showed him the UL listing that said indoor use. They had no idea there was such a thing.

Outdoor wood burners have given wood burning in general such a black eye in many areas that anything "wood burning" gets lumped together with them. As a result there are many elected officials that need to be re-educated.

 

[Dirttracker18]

Township rules are not an issue as I am out in the country and wood burning devices are common place.

I still have to check with insurance for indoors use. Worst case would likely be higher premiums but pellets are much less of an issue then wood. The premium for insurance with indoor pellets is only a quarter that of wood.

 

[David7636]

Hello my name is David there are options for an inexpensive pellet boiler I put mine together for around 2500.00 dollars of course I did I the install to help keep it down.If your interested I would love to share my buil.David

 

[Willman]

Hi David. welcome to the Boiler Room. I know most on here would like to see your build. Start a new thread with pics.

 

[Dirttracker18]

Hello my name is David there are options for an inexpensive pellet boiler I put mine together for around 2500.00 dollars of course I did I the install to help keep it down.If your interested I would love to share my buil.David

Share away!

Start a thread and send me a link!

 

[David7636]

Starting a new thread now I've been working a lot so this is my first chance.