Oil boiler to supplement wood stove

[Woodspliter]

I know this is off topic for this forum, but I figured I'd ask anyway. I'll try to keep this short and sweet. I'm thinking of installing a small oil boiler to my 1100 square ft ranch in southern maine. I currently heat with wood and have a few other sources of heat but I'm in need of some sort of thermostaticly controlled heat source for the cold winter days to back up the wood stove. Can I get some of your opinions, I know it's kinda a dying bread but that are dependable long lasting heat source. Just wanted to ask around for some input thought this wood be a great platform for some ideas

 

[maple1]

If you don't already have a hot water heating system I would go furnace before boiler, I think.

 

[Woodspliter]

Yeah I thought about that today too, but 1/2 finished basement that I would like to heat as well. I thought it would be less evasive to run pipes than heating ducts. I know it more expensive up front but I'd do the base board work myself to save on some of the labor.Its a big expense and I'm having a tuff time deciding.

 

[hedge wood]

So I am guessing you don't need AC in your area? Do you all ready have a fuel tank? Propane or Natural gas in the area?

 

[Woodspliter]

No we do, I have mini splits. One in my kitchen and one in my finished basement. They work well for heat during the mild days never used them below freezing. I just recently bought a hybrid water heater to replace my toyotomi hot water heater. So I have a almost full tank of k1. I thought of the wall hung condesning route but decided for long term dependability and the propane pricing game that oil is still a good viable solution.

 

[salecker]

Find yourself a Toyo oil heater.Cheap to run easy to install

 

[Woodspliter]

Thanks, I seen those when I was looking to replace the toyo water heater. Looks like they would be plug and play. Do you know much about them? Do they have multiple zones and or DHW available?

 

[salecker]

i was thinking of the space heater,they are very common up here because of their efficiency.

 

[brenndatomu]

Is the basement area you want to heat insulated/finished? If not then it will be real inefficient to heat...basement walls tend to suck heat right up...unless maybe you have a newer house with basement walls insulated on the outside...those will eventually warm up and not suck up BTU's quite as fast.

 

[Seasoned Oak]

How are pellet prices in your area. That would qualify as thermostatically controlled but not as long term as in going on vacation for a week or 2. I have an oil boiler backup but just seldom use it, something about burning oil for house heat that id rather avoid. Even at todays low oil prices.

 

[Woodspliter]

Basement is very well insulated, yeah I agree about the oil as well. It would be a occasional use maybe not even 100 gals a year our stove works pretty good for our needs but sometimes of the week long deep freezes it can have a difficult time keeping up with demand

 

[Seasoned Oak]

Could be costly for just occasional or backup use . Im rehabbing an old new yorker boiler for my backup now. Probably have a hundred or 2 in the whole thing when done. Being it sets idle most of the time i dont want to lay out new boiler cash. You may be able to find a good used unit. More folks getting out of oil than getting in these days.

 

[Woodspliter]

I agree it's a big nut to crack, but in the long run good boiler will hopefully outlast me. So when we call quits on the wood game will have a system in place. But by then there will probably be some new technology out. So that's what keeps me second guessing things.

 

[salecker]

I got a used oil boiler for a backup to my wood system.I only paid $200 for a Wiel Mclean?? it came with a box of parts that was worth the $200.
I figured that in 20+ years i would probably not be burning wood as much.I also figured in 20 years there will be some incredible boilers out,and maybe other fuel options.So i spent as little as i could for old technology that does the job for now,allowing myself to buy the newest and greatest without having any investment left to worry about with the old boiler.

 

[Highbeam]

I am waiting for the low ambient temp heat pump water heaters. They’re in other countries but not here yet. But how long can we wait? In the meantime, propane equipment seems far less maintenance intensive.

 

[Woodspliter]

I agree would love the floor space of a wall hung lqbut longevity is another story. What ever I choose for the long term I think I'm going to bet on the oil boiler