Are there any other wood/ oil boilers for indoor residential applications besides the wood gun e210? Most of the stuff I’m seeing is for either commercial or not residential use. We are looking at adding on a garage with inlaw apartment above ( about 1,000-1200 or so sqft) and trying to figure out best way to heat and hot water. Could just do an oil boiler and a wood furnace but would prefer a unit that can do both heat and hot water. Or is it not worth it?
Indoor wood boiler with oil backup?
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Hi I am in a cold climate
I have an Econoburn boiler 1000 gallons of storage and a backup oli boiler in a dedicated building which i use as a workshop.
I was advised to not bother with domestic hot water from the boiler system,one reason is i have my own septic in clay,so the electric hot water tank acts as a limit as to how long the women can shower. DHW is not free from a boiler system as you need to add the extra wood to heat the water.
A well insulated electric hot water tank is a very cheap way to get domestic hot water with minimal costs and upkeep.
I have an Econoburn boiler 1000 gallons of storage and a backup oli boiler in a dedicated building which i use as a workshop.
I was advised to not bother with domestic hot water from the boiler system,one reason is i have my own septic in clay,so the electric hot water tank acts as a limit as to how long the women can shower. DHW is not free from a boiler system as you need to add the extra wood to heat the water.
A well insulated electric hot water tank is a very cheap way to get domestic hot water with minimal costs and upkeep.
Be aware you cannot put a solid fuel.burning appliance in a garage in the usa by code. You would need a furnace room
Correct. It would be in its own room (concrete block for fire rating)
Electric water heater is a very expensive way to get hot water. I know it’s not free heat but if you have a steady supply of wood you may as well burn it.
Don’t really have room for storage tanks, looking for something like a owb but smaller footprint and rated for inside installation. Doesn’t seem like there is much out there.
Without storage you will not have an efficient burning boiler, plus with storage then you can decide when to burn the boiler.
Electric is cheap here. Plus the cost of setup is cheaper,less maintenance and no burning excessive wood in the off season just for hot water.
You mention building the garage...
So design the room for storage before you build, then you can have the best boiler system.My boiler building was designed for that purpose, plus i have one bay shop that is warm 24/7. Maybe next year the boiler building will be connected to my 20x30 shop it sits next to.
Do what I did. kuuma vapor fire to heat the house with a hybrid water heater for the domestic, it’s the cheapest way to heat water besides solar. Most power companies are offering huge rebates, mine is $1600 dollar rebate with a 30% tax credit up to 2k. I’m a plumber and have installed a good many hybrid WH with very few issues and the savings are unmatched.
Our power is very expensive and I hear more often then not the hybrid water heaters rely on the electric element, the other issue is the power requirements are very high for those. It was a thought.
Did look into the kuuma, and seems like a good option but then we would need to have some kind of backup (oil/ propane) or something.
The other factor is this is going to be going in a garage (In a fire rated room) so smoke will be a concern, not sure how to deal with it, exhaust fan maybe?
We are just exploring the options, would love a owb but houses are too close to run one. Which smoke from a boiler/ furnace is another concern I have to consider.
brenndatomu
Minister of Fire
X2...even when I had old school electric water heater, bill wasn't that bad at all...but the hpwh does save $15-20/mo...enough to pay for itself in 4-5 years, and has 10 year extended warranty on it.
I have it locked on HP only mode...that provides enough hot water for family of 4, at least so far...I guess if anyone starts to take too long showers and hot water runs out, problem solves itself
Same here, heat pump only.X2...even when I had old school electric water heater, bill wasn't that bad at all...but the hpwh does save $15-20/mo...enough to pay for itself in 4-5 years, and has 10 year extended warranty on it.
I have it locked on HP only mode...that provides enough hot water for family of 4, at least so far...I guess if anyone starts to take too long showers and hot water runs out, problem solves itself
House currently has an oil boiler with a 40 gal storage tank, mainly heated with a pellet stove. Looking to build a garage addition with an apartment above, this would be a seperate heating system. Trying to figure out the best option .
Correct, it is going to have its own central ac system, and heated separately from the main house as well as hot water.
that’s a lot of money to spend just to heat a 1000-1200sqft space…my neighbor has an inlaw sweet in his basement and he has a pellet stove down there for them, seems to keep them happy, you could do that or a wood stove, the new ones are super efficient with long burn times. heat pump water heaters only need 10/2 wire on a 30 amp breaker I would think electric should be less then fuel oil or at least the same price as fuel oil, and you can put them on heat pump only mode. I don’t think there’s a lot of options for domestic hot water unless you have a wood fired boiler…. Hope this helps.
The original thought was a heat pump ac system and then propane backup furnace, but I hear propane is very expensive, and would be the same to put In a separate oil system for the apartment.
Could always do that and then a wood stove as a supplementary heat when it gets really
Cold.
Propane would probably be the easiest but just not sure how much itll end up costing to heat
sloeffle
Minister of Fire
You can lock the elements out by putting it in heat pump only mode. My elements only run when I choose to run them every few months. Mine uses roughly 500W when running, years ago, that was five light bulbs.
I agree with the others, burning wood to heat hot water during the summer doesn't make sense. Your time is worth money too. Personally I'd get cold weather mini-split, a HPHW, and a decent wood stove and call it a day.
Propane is typically cheaper then oil but less BTUs per gallon. If I were in your position I would install a heat pump/propane furnace for your main heat source. The heat pump would get you through the transition seasons but you would still have the propane to fall back on. install a high quality/efficiency wood stove or pellet for supplemental heat. Finally a heat pump water heater.
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