Ky. Owb help please

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docgogo

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Feb 6, 2008
56
Kentucky
hello i need some help actually a lot of help
I purchased a greenwood 100 last year installed most of it myself
Greenwood has done a heat loss study and determined i need between 300 and 330000 btu's of heat i have a 3,000 sq. ft. home 1,000 of which is basement space i use for a shop. I have a 350 gal hot tub hooked up also
Greenwood has offered me that i can upgrade to a gw 300 for the difference in price. I questioned do i need a gw 300 i asked them if i could upgrade to an aspen (I was told by an installer that the aspen series not designed by greenwood was a much superior design) They told me i would need an aspen 350 (probably because it cost much more) I'm just afraid if i get the 350 i will have heat dump problems (the heat dump i have works with my furnace works great for the winter but in the summer is non existent because i shut the valve off to the furnace so as to not heat the house in the summer)
I was told by another installer that i could get by with the 100 if i sat up an extra 50 gal water heater as a storage tank with an aquastat etc. I don't have any experience with this at all after this fiasco the gw install ran about double what i thought it would about $9,000.00
I have drawn out what i think the other installer was trying to get across to me i want to put a 40 plate flat plate to heat dhw just not sure what to do with everything else any help would greatly be appreciated. sincerely Doc
 

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I don't know anything about your specific situation and I have no experience with OWBs, but 300,000 BTU/hr seems very unlikely in Kentucky.

Just for comparison, my heat load for a 3500 square foot house at 20 degrees below zero is 30,000 BTU/hr. Unless Kentucky is a LOT colder than that, or unless your wall are made of tissue paper, I doubt that you'd use ten time the heat that I do.

It's fair to say that most boilers can't sustain their rated output for extended periods in the real world. My 80,000 BTU boiler actually averages more like 65,000 BTU/hr.

A 50 gallon tank doesn't store much heat energy at all. Even a 100,000 BTU/hr boiler would raise it from 60 to 180 degrees in half an hour. It might be helpful for extending your domestic hot water, but not as heat storage for space heating.
 
I haven't been with this forum for very long but I have found there are some very knowledgeable people who are members. From what I have seen 400 gallon storage tanks are considered small. 50 gallons would only be like a hot water heater and not much of a "battery" of hot water supply. There are pressurized and open style storage tanks. Do some snooping on the net before you take the advice of the people you have quoted. Google "outside wood boilers" and compare their rated out put to oil, gas or electric boilers or furnaces. Try cozyheat.net and see what they have to offer. I purchased an EKO 40 from them and it is rated to heat a reasonably insulated home of 4000 sq ft. Check the kwh rating of the unit you have, or have been advised to purchase, compared to those and others you find through your google search. The numbers you find should tell you what you need to know. Cave2k
 
something don't sound right. As nofossil pointed out.--- My situation, I have a 1800 sq/ft house, plus a full basement. So figure 2700 sq/ft,+/-. Approx 10yrs old. I am able to heat this with an 85,000btu oil fired furnace. I am putting in a tarm solo 30, rated at about 100,000btu's. I am in northern maine, had 4 good frosts already. You're in Ky. Again, something don't sound right.
 
well there is where the trouble begins i purchased the unit from Warm Again Mat Brinkman he says he is an authorized dealer however per greenwood he is not. He purchased the unit from This Warm House in Pennsylvania. yes and Mike Fox of Greenwood Says well i can't say everything but they are supposed to be working on a deal for me. Wainting since march
So if anyone has any ideas i would appreciate the help sincerely keith
 
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