so, this is year number 2 with my OWB. I own a Shaver unit and in general, it's pretty bare bones. like another poster said, wind is my nemisis. my pex is buried below frostline to the house(here it's about 5ft deep), i burn mostly hard(some soft) pallet wood i get from a pallet maker. i also burn hardwood logs. plumbing goes into house, through the coil and back to boiler. problem is the wind, it makes the fire burn relentlessly. water temp, can get very hot. it's a forced draft unit with no damper in the chiminey. i was thinking about putting one in that would open when the draft fan kicks in and closes half to three quarters when there is no call for draft. any suggestions on how to conserve wood. i think that is a start. http://www.outdoor-wood-furnace-boiler.com/pictures-of-outdoor-wood-furnaces.htm this is what i have. any tips would be great.
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The link shows a water volume of 175 gallons and its a common owb design. The chimney goes straight out of the top of the fire chamber. I really can't see how or what changes you could make it more efficient. Somewhere I had read that 400 gallons of total water was the right mix so maybe adding a couple hundred gallons will allow the stove to idle a little more but in the long run, that doesn't really save wood. Its the nature of these beasts. No fuss, plenty of heat, but allot of wood.
does your boiler have the ability to close off ALL incoming air? I built my own OWB and had the same problem, at first I just had the blower hooked to a tube that ran into the firebox but the stove would draft right through the blower housing. After experiencing what you are I built a box around the blower with a door on the box with a gasket that is acuated by a electric solinoid. this cut wood use by1/3 to almost 1/2. You MUST be able to stop all incoming air check for air leaks, maybee it could be a leaking door gasket, does the door have adjusters that you could tighten? Ill try to get some pics of my set up on here. try putting some of yours on so we can see whats going on. Also Hawken Energy builds OWB and they have a realy neet stack cap that readuces draft they have a web site to. Nate
i put gaskets around the rear door to the mechanicals, i even insulated that door as well, to keep heat in to prevent any kind of freeze up. theres a small flap on the blower that i have half-way shut. i guess it's the nature of the thing. i have a 12*12*14 wood shed in front of it, so i have about 6ft of chimney extension on it, with a rain cap. i spent the summer building the shed to keep the wood dry. well, i guess this summer will be more insulation, and finding fixing leaks. oh, and since i'm here, what do you guys do to "summer-ize" your owb....this year i added the chemical to the water and i leave the blower fan on so that the humidity stays out and the fire box is kept dry then with a constant draft. i also scrape as much creosote out as i can, and ofcourse clean out all ash......any tips on running /maintainence cycles from you guys would be great, thanks
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