Oil for Wood

[Piker]

I can't say I know exactly what an anhydrous amonia tank is... but if it will withstand 30 psi at 220* I don't see why it wouldn't work.

cheers

 

[leaddog]

Yes those tanks will work as they are the same as propane tanks.
leaddog

 

[Eric Johnson]

The wood length issue is important. When I was making my decision on which boiler to buy (EKO vs. Tarm), one big issue was that I had more than 20 full cords of firewood already stacked in my backyard--all of it 24+ inches in length. The Tarm maxed out at 20 inches, I think, while the EKO 60 takes 30" wood. Kind of had my choice made for me on that one.

Interesting thing about this forum: you never hear anyone say anything bad about EKO, Tarm or Econoburn. Or Garn, for that matter. I'm hoping that we get more WoodGun users here eventually. That's pretty similar technology, but it has some important differences. BioMass is another pretty good downdraft gasifier. I don't know anyone with an Attack DP--yet. Or check out Cozy Heat's Blue Forge. Yougottalottagoodchoices.

 

[RowCropRenegade]

You know it's funny as I sit here and type this, my boiler is cranking over every couple minutes. It loves that diesel. Makes every moment here on the hearth more and more critical.

Spoke with a fine representative from Econoburn this evening. Very helpful, polite and knew his stuff. Hearth.com has a good thing going on.

Involved my pops in my fact finding mission today. Showed him the garn video, econoburn video and orlan eko video on youtube. He was pretty enamored by the garn.

Eric I think is right about instead having parrallel boilers if I should chose to heat the big barn someday. Gonna stick to basics. House heated 24/7, garage kept at 35-40 unless I want to use it. Put in another boiler someday if i decide I need my barn heated 24/7.

I'm going to make a trip to the fertilizer dealer tomorrow and snap some pictures of the anhydrous tanks. I'm probably going to cut some wood this week. Being able to cut 30" logs would be nice, but 21" on the econoburn is still good size.

I should at least talk to an Orlan Eko dealer, doubt any of them are near ohio either....

 

[Piker]

Just a note... the longer the pieces you cut your firewood into, the more time it will take to season it. Firewood dries fastest through the end grain, but if the logs are 30" as opposed to 21", you can be sure it will take longer for the moisture to work it's way to the ends from the center.

Just something to think about.

cheers

 

[pybyr]

Also, regarding log length- I've got less "gasifier running time" under my belt than a lot of you (though I've been burning wood for years) but it does seem to strike me that long logs are more prone to "bridging" in the top chamber than short logs. The Garn design is probably more immune to this since it seems to burn sideways, not via down-draft.

 

[Jim K in PA]

So far in my GARN I have been burning splits that vary from 8" long to 30" long. What I find best for my wood is 20-24" long splits. That leaves enough room for the air nozzles at the front o fthe fire box and proper airflow and mixing at the rear of the fire box before entering the SRC. Blocking the SRC substantially delays gassification startup in the GARN, so keep the above in mind with respect to length of splits.

 

[RowCropRenegade]

For drying and ease of handling I'll cut the wood 20". I'm still torn between the garn and the econoburn. Halfway done mapping out the house and determining my square footage. Also drawing diagrams of current plumbing. Got a contractor coming over next week to do a heat loss calc. I'm on my way...

 

[Piker]

For drying and ease of handling I'll cut the wood 20". I'm still torn between the garn and the econoburn. Halfway done mapping out the house and determining my square footage. Also drawing diagrams of current plumbing. Got a contractor coming over next week to do a heat loss calc. I'm on my way...

The suspense is tearing me up inside!

:ahhh:

 

[Huskurdu]

For drying and ease of handling I'll cut the wood 20". I'm still torn between the garn and the econoburn. Halfway done mapping out the house and determining my square footage. Also drawing diagrams of current plumbing. Got a contractor coming over next week to do a heat loss calc. I'm on my way...

You really can't lose with either unit. Good luck to you.

 

[RowCropRenegade]

lol piker. i feel the same way. maybe like gasification liquifying my brain.

Huskurdu, thanks for the wishes. I enjoyed your signature.

I remembered the flatbed wagon we had stuck away in a barn the other day. it has a hydraulic dumpbed on it, be really handy for moving firewood.

I haven't any closer on my decision but have been thinking about my oil burner. anyone know much about the new oil boilers? how much oil could I save with a new boiler. I was reading on the fueloilnews page about maybe getting 40-50% more efficiency. it was talking about how inefficient the old boilers like I got are. I'm not reconsidering getting a wood boiler. My biggest problem being is from march-november I'm pretty active in farming activities. Wintertime would be my likely install time. I don't know much new oil boiler are, but maybe a new gun would work?

Any oil guys on here wanna help? No disrespect to the wood boys but I know there will be occassions when firing up the wood boiler will be inconvienent. I think my boiler will work as a backup but if I can save 40-50% more fuel I can pay for a new oil boiler too....

 

[pybyr]

I don't know much new oil boiler are, but maybe a new gun would work?

Any oil guys on here wanna help? No disrespect to the wood boys but I know there will be occassions when firing up the wood boiler will be inconvienent. I think my boiler will work as a backup but if I can save 40-50% more fuel I can pay for a new oil boiler too....

I am not an "oil guy" in the professional sense, but several years ago, studied up on their operations and innnards a lot as I was contemplating converting my oil furnace to waste cooking oil- only to then find that all of the local supply of used cooking oil was already spoken for by early adopters (I live in a rural area with few restaurants and lots of people who are into alt-energy and frugality). Then I discovered wood gasifiers, and the rest is infamous history....

If your area is like here, you _may_ be able to pick up a used, but low-hour, more modern, more efficient oil gun to retrofit into your old boiler as an interim step, perhaps for a lot less than the cost of a new, off-the shelf one. The modern "flame retention" Beckett/ Carlin burners are much more efficient than the old ones like yours, so you'll pick up some improvements. Heck, if you measure the length from the flange to the nose of the gun you have, and if it turns out to be the same as one of the several "used but low mileage" Beckett spare oil gun heads I have kicking around my basement, are willing to pay me a fair (but modest) price plus the shipping, I may have just the part for you.

This fellow has some very informative videos, even though his production and performance will never be nominated for an Academy Award:
http://www.theboilerman.biz/index.php

 

[RowCropRenegade]

I couldn't get any videos to load on his webpage.

I wouldn't be against buying one of your used units, but I'm not planning on taking the old boiler apart til after winter. I'll keep you in mind.

No reason you can't refabricate the flange to make other guns work, right? The critical part is the distance from the flange to the end of the gun, correct?

It looks like I picked a good year to buy a wood boiler with the tax credits working for me.

 

[pybyr]

No reason you can't refabricate the flange to make other guns work, right? The critical part is the distance from the flange to the end of the gun, correct?

right- although on some of the units, the flange is welded to the barrel of the gun, and on others, the flange is attached to the gun's blower casting, and then the barrel is simply 4" steel tube. The latter type are easy to adjust, within limits of the barrel length. I suppose you could adapt the former type, too, if you put in a plain piece of 4" tube and mounted a flange off of the blower casting

If you are going to change the length of the barrel, you need to get into also changing the innards that hold the electrodes and the nozzle), so it is best to work with something that has a barrel length that will get you reasonably close to the right depth of the burner head into the old boiler.

 

[RowCropRenegade]

Well here's where I'm at.

Still haven't decided upon the boiler, but cut up 2 cord of maple for 2 winters from now. Stacked it all on a concrete grain bin pad and tarped it. My Oliver 550 doesn't have rear hydraulic ports so I had to hook my lines into my loader. The lame part is my three point hitch has internal issues. This 1969 tractor was my first buy and I'll never get rid of it. Only 1600 hours on it, that's very low for a tractor.

Anywho I spoke with a Garn representative yesterday on the way to Cinci. Tricky talking about wood boilers while driving an 18 wheeler going in and out of 18 gears. LOL. I bet I sounded dumb to him at times. Um, er, um.

I'm currently have my layout of my house and hydronics done and still waiting on a heat calc. That's why buying a Garn from a dealer in Pennsylvania or an Econoburn from NY doesn't bother me. Heating and cooling people around here sucks. I generally have to drive 50 miles to get parts for my boiler. Now that I have my propane fireplace I can survive it being down in the coldest weather.

What I learned from Garn. They are very pricey. The transfer line shocked me. Almost 30 per foot. If I got the Garn, I'm sure I would put it in the machinery shed. Could park a flatbed wagon full of wood right in front of it. I can visualize this. I could probably get it done for 25,000.

But the Econoburn is not out by any means. I'm making my rounds tomorrow morning to check about the price of an anhydrous tanks. Working on a spreadsheet to compare all my different routes. Less than 30 days I'll be spraying fields so my time is running out....

 

[Jim K in PA]

Well here's where I'm at.

Still haven't decided upon the boiler, but cut up 2 cord of maple for 2 winters from now. Stacked it all on a concrete grain bin pad and tarped it. My Oliver 550 doesn't have rear hydraulic ports so I had to hook my lines into my loader. The lame part is my three point hitch has internal issues. This 1969 tractor was my first buy and I'll never get rid of it. Only 1600 hours on it, that's very low for a tractor.

I love Ollies. There is a '38 for sale near me that I am trying not to go see, because if I do it will come home with me . . .

Anywho I spoke with a Garn representative yesterday on the way to Cinci.

What I learned from Garn. They are very pricey. The transfer line shocked me. Almost 30 per foot. If I got the Garn, I'm sure I would put it in the machinery shed. Could park a flatbed wagon full of wood right in front of it. I can visualize this. I could probably get it done for 25,000.

There are alternatives for the underground pipe insulation. Check my web pages at the link in my sig. I dug my own trench, laid the PEX, and had a local spray foam insulator encase the lines in 6-8" of closed cell polyurethane. It is fantastic, and around $5/foot, perhaps less. NO heat loss in my trench, and I am at only 30" below grade.

But the Econoburn is not out by any means. I'm making my rounds tomorrow morning to check about the price of an anhydrous tanks. Working on a spreadsheet to compare all my different routes. Less than 30 days I'll be spraying fields so my time is running out....

You are doing the right thing. It will pay to stay up a little later and do a head to comparison for each system and then decide which is the best, if not the cheapest, solution.

 

[RowCropRenegade]

my great grandpa went from horses to olivers so i have a fascination with them
parts is the scary thing about them

i mentioned you in speaking with the rep specifically the foam in the trench

think you will ever have to do that again

my keyboard is doing funny things cant capitalize or do question marks or numbers ahhh

i have over a hundred feet to the barn so if i bought their thermal line it would be over three thousand

the heat exchanger looks high price to me almost fifteen hundred for one hundred twenty five thousand btuh output

also the chem kit is two sixty how much does it cost to keep treatments up per year

im due to call piker tomorrow learn more about econoburn too

thanks all