My Switzer install

[Tonty]

I don’t know if this is how to do this, but here are some pictures of my Switzer wood-fired boiler install. I’m starting on my third season with it, and so far I enjoy it! I burn almost exclusively what we here in Kansas call hedge wood, also known as Osage Orange.
My boiler isn’t a big one, 600 gallons of integrated water storage, but it is big enough for a Kansas winter! Most of the time I fire it once or twice every 24 hours. Last winter I did have to fire it 3 times one day, but that was when the wind chill was very close to -40F and I had my garage heat on.
I also heat our domestic hot water with it during the winter.
I have a WiFi temp probe on the water pipe and in the flue. I can check temperatures wherever there is internet and keep an eye how much heat is being pulled from it.

 

[Tonty]

Here is another picture. This is a screen shot of the graph on my WiFi temperature probe. The top graph is water temp, and the bottom graph is flue temp.

 

[sloeffle]

What's the make / model of the Wi-Fi temp probe that you are using ?

 

[McKraut]

Thanks for the pictures. I am also interested in the remote sensing for the temperatures. I had used the A-100 (?) a few years ago and I liked it a lot, but the product stopped working days after the 1 year warranty expired and the company would not replace it.
From what I can see, it looks like all of your piping is metal. Do you have any PEX? Gary wants the boiler's high limit to be set at 220* but the PEX is only rated to 200*.

 

[Tonty]

The WiFi sensor is the UbiBot WS1 pro. The main unit also tracks light, room temperature, room humidity, and a couple of other perimeters that I don’t really use. You can set up alarms that get sent to you if some perimeters go out what you have set. The external sensors are purchased separately, the one in the flue is RS485 and the one on the hot water line is DS18B20. This unit is not made in the US, so be prepared for some extra deciphering on the instructions that aren’t translated very clearly. 🤔😳 Once you get it going, though, it seems to work quite well.

 

[Tonty]

On the water lines- yes most of my lines are copper. Like you said, Gary says to shoot for 220, and pex isn’t rated that high. I actually usually shoot for 200 on the boiler temp gauge. I had an HVAC contractor make up my zone panel, and he was uncomfortable with the 220, although all of his line is copper, also. He recommended 170, so I kind of split the difference. The unit itself has no trouble going to 220, but I do have just a little bit of pex that makes me nervous going that high. I do want to change that out to copper sometime yet. It gets a little soft even at 200. As a side note- I have a couple of external probes on my hot water line, and they both read higher than the boiler temp gauge, so when I say I shoot for 200 on the boiler temp gauge, they would say 210-215. My floor heat zones have mixing valves to limit the water temp in them to 100. I also have a mixing valve on my domestic hot water line and limit it to 130-140.

 

[McKraut]

I was always very nervous about running the PEX above 190* with the EKO. It would be a disaster if I blew out one of the underground lines so I will keep the high temp limit at 180* when I first start. That will give me some room for error while I am learning how the boiler burns. I do have dump zone for added security, but the water still has to go through the PEX to get to the zone.
In the screenshots above, are they taken from a laptop, or are they from your phone? I am very interested in this type of monitoring. It would be especially helpful during the learning stages for the Switzer.
Thanks for all you are posting.
Bob

 

[McKraut]

I just visited their website and downloaded the PDF for the product. Did you watch any of the YouTube videos?

 

[Tonty]

That screenshot is from a phone. UbiBot has an app that you install and integrate with your sensors.
On the higher temp, would it make sense to install a mixing or tempering valve so that the water going into your underground pex line wouldn’t go above 160 no matter what the boiler temp would be? If your return was still above 160, it wouldn’t have cooler water to mix, so it wouldn’t work then.

 

[Tonty]

I just visited their website and downloaded the PDF for the product. Did you watch any of the YouTube videos?

Is this for the UbiBot? No, I haven’t.

 

[McKraut]

That screenshot is from a phone. UbiBot has an app that you install and integrate with your sensors.
On the higher temp, would it make sense to install a mixing or tempering valve so that the water going into your underground pex line wouldn’t go above 160 no matter what the boiler temp would be? If your return was still above 160, it wouldn’t have cooler water to mix, so it wouldn’t work then.

Last night I found an aquastat that may be what I am looking for. It would turn off the circulator below 140* to save energy, and I can set it to turn off around 195*. If i set the dump zone to start at 190*, it would be able to bring the temperature down (I don't know how much it would drop the temperature of 1000 gallons). If it doesn't bring it down enough, the aquastat would stop the circulator at 195* to protect the PEX. I am going to start a new post to ask others that know more about it than I do.

 

[Wook660]

Love my Switzer Boiler. I've had my 1050 for 6 years now. Light a fire once every 2 days during the winter and once every 6 days or so the rest of the year (DHW). Very low maintenance too, cleaning is easy. Just swept my 30 foot chimney for the first time and got maybe a gallon total debris out of it. Burns super clean!

 

[Tonty]

Love my Switzer Boiler. I've had my 1050 for 6 years now. Light a fire once every 2 days during the winter and once every 6 days or so the rest of the year (DHW). Very low maintenance too, cleaning is easy. Just swept my 30 foot chimney for the first time and got maybe a gallon total debris out of it. Burns super clean!
View attachment 287123 View attachment 287124

I’m curious if you run your circulation pump when you aren’t using heat. I do so that my boiler doesn’t stratify. I know that in most instances with water storage, stratification is desired. I understand why that would be, but I’ve found that with mine it’s difficult to hit my target temp if it’s stratified because I don’t know how much wood to put in. I also don’t want to cause any unnecessary condensation in the tubes by dropping below the 120 degree mark. But I’m open to trying something different, and just curious how you do it on yours.

 

[Wook660]

I’m curious if you run your circulation pump when you aren’t using heat. I do so that my boiler doesn’t stratify. I know that in most instances with water storage, stratification is desired. I understand why that would be, but I’ve found that with mine it’s difficult to hit my target temp if it’s stratified because I don’t know how much wood to put in. I also don’t want to cause any unnecessary condensation in the tubes by dropping below the 120 degree mark. But I’m open to trying something different, and just curious how you do it on yours.

So my circulation pump only runs while the boiler is burning, whether it be wood or oil, or when I'm running heat through the house. When I'm not calling for heat it sits idle. I burn when it gets down to 140 (if I don't the oil kicks on) and always try to bring it up to 220 although I occasionally go over and it has to dump the heat. I've had it over 80 in the house while it's 30 outside. (when I was still getting used to it in the beginning) I burn a mix a hard woods and have found that the type of wood has an effect on how much wood it takes to get to 220.

 

[Tonty]

Okay, thank you for the info. It gives me something to think about. I burn almost 100% Osage Orange. Since I always weigh my wood, and also only use one species, it’s quit predictable. I try to stop shy of 220 due to just a bit of pex in the line to my expansion tank. Probably wouldn’t be a big deal, but….

 

[maple1]

Just wondering the particular reason for running the temp up that high? I rarely go higher than 180 unless there is an oopsey involved. And takes a bit more wood to get that last higher amount - cooler return temps will pull more heat out of the exhaust.

 

[Tonty]

I don’t know if there is a reason other than having more time between firing.
It doesn’t take more wood to get to a higher temp, but as a general rule it will run longer to go higher. That may sound confusing, but what I’m trying to say is the heat rise will slow down at the higher temps, although I’m still only using 1lb per degree. I’ve attached a screenshot from my sensor that somewhat illustrates that. You see it tapers off (doesn’t rise as fast) as it gets hotter.
Another thing I’ve noticed in mine it’s easier to get hot if I wait until there is a bigger difference between my start temp and the end temp. The amount of wood need to hit a certain temperature doesn’t really change, it pretty consistent at 1lb per degree no matter how high I go, but it works better if I start at a lower temp than 150 than above 150.

 

[Tonty]

Here is the picture.

 

[clancey]

Don't know much about wood boilers but i found the posting interesting and what a large piece of equipment you have there and so clean looking...thanks for the information...clancey

 

[McKraut]

Okay, thank you for the info. It gives me something to think about. I burn almost 100% Osage Orange. Since I always weigh my wood, and also only use one species, it’s quit predictable. I try to stop shy of 220 due to just a bit of pex in the line to my expansion tank. Probably wouldn’t be a big deal, but….

Tonty,

 

[McKraut]

Well, that didn't work out.

Tonty,
How do you weigh your wood? I had my first burn in the Switzer last night and had to guess the amount of wood to put in. I got up to 160* and quit there.

Bob

 

[Tonty]

Good to hear that you got it going! I have been wondering how you were faring with the install. How did the first burn go?
I bought this digital scale. I’ll put the link here, but I don’t know if that will work.

Angel USA Extra Large Platform 22 Inches x 18 Inches Stainless Steel 400 Pounds Heavy Duty Digital Postal Shipping Scale, Powered by Batteries or AC Adapter, for Floor Bench Office Weight Weighing Amazon product ASIN B075RFL2ZR
It works well for me. Since your boiler is bigger and you would burn more wood to get it up to heat, you may need to make a bigger platform or bin to hold the wood. I can get 100lbs of Osage Orange to balance on there, but that’s about it. It wants to start falling off since there aren’t sides. It recalibrates every time you start it, so if you have another bin or platform on it, it should reset to zero.

 

[McKraut]

Thanks for the link and picture. I was trying to figure out how to use the bathroom scale but I figured that if I took it out in the shed my wife would be pissed. Looking at the picture I will build a box to hold the wood and that should do the trick.
My first burn was ok, but I'm still hesitant to get the boiler too high. Today I was out insulating the boiler (I am impressed with how it will look and how easy it was to wrap it) and I fired it up to 180*. I set the high limit to turn the boiler off at 180* and it did just that. The aquastat for the dump zone did not kick in when I set it so I will have to look at that.
I am going to frame out a room around the boiler so that I can keep the pipes in the back from freezing. While I am doing that I think I will cover the face of the boiler with cement board. I am afraid that since the boiler is right next to the door on my shed that I will eventually tear the silver reflective surface. I'd be lying to myself if I said I would always be careful around it.
Right now I am content with my first burn up to 180*, the insulation, and the fact that I haven't heard the oil burner kick on all day. That by itself is priceless.

Bob

 

[McKraut]

The WiFi sensor is the UbiBot WS1 pro. The main unit also tracks light, room temperature, room humidity, and a couple of other perimeters that I don’t really use. You can set up alarms that get sent to you if some perimeters go out what you have set. The external sensors are purchased separately, the one in the flue is RS485 and the one on the hot water line is DS18B20. This unit is not made in the US, so be prepared for some extra deciphering on the instructions that aren’t translated very clearly. 🤔😳 Once you get it going, though, it seems to work quite well.

Tonty,
I am still looking at the UbiBot. Do you know what range the sensor/unit provides? I want to put the unit in a shed (with the boiler) about 50 feet from the house. Will I be able to pick up the signal from that far away?

Bob

 

[Tonty]

I would say it would be questionable. I don’t really know, but usually the range for something like that is +-300ft with no barriers. I have a WiFi range extender in my garage already due to my water heater needing it, so mine is only going 20’ and it does have full strength at that distance. That is through one wall with tin on one side and OSB on the other. It might work if your actual connection point is 50’ away.

How is your journey with the Switzer?