OK... so...any gasifiers not getting smoke in their face..... what models..?

[hottubbrad]

markpee and others are not liking the EKO without 20' of chimney draft......

Please comment on your experiences - other owners.......

THANKS

 

[Nofossil]

I have an EKO 25 connected to a conventional chimney lined with 8" square ceramic tiles. The chimney is about 30' from basement floor to the top.

Once I got over the idea of opening the EKO when it's running a full tilt, I never get smoke at all.

 

[Jim K in PA]

GARN - with the draft fan on - should not smoke you. I look forward to confirming this in about a week.

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

I assume you mean smoke out the load door, not smoke out the stack.

If loaded appropriatly, the GW will only smoke moderatly out the load door. Very easy fix:

1) only open the door 3 times a day, when there is no solid fuel left in the box.

2) Leave the door of the 'boiler room' open so that the wind simply carries the smoke out the back of the 'boiler room'

3)Tell the coyotes and bear that, if they don't like the smoke, "Tough SHeeT!"

But I can't load my GW in my undies like NoFo can though . . . hh:

 

[Nofossil]

But I can't load my GW in my undies like NoFo can though . . . hh:

Let me be PERFECTLY CLEAR about this: I have NEVER loaded your GW in your undies. I've never BEEN in your undies.

 

[Hansson]

No smoke here ;-)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jS07SjsUTw0

 

[MrEd]

I have a tarm solo 60, 8" SS chimney with a total chimney height from the top of the tarm to the raincap is just under 15 feet. Never a puff of smoke comes out the door. Draft fan on or draft fan off.

As I said just today in another thread, I suspect its not as simple as absolute chimney height. My chimney is inside the heated structure and then thru the unheated attic, I have no large trees around my house, and lots of fields. I am also at the highest nearby spot, i.e. not wedged into a valley or between two bigger houses. I also have plenty of outside air available for combustion - all these things seem to come into play. I suspect if other conditions were not favorable for me, I would need a taller chimney to compensate.

 

[SnaykeByte]

But I can't load my GW in my undies like NoFo can though . . . hh:

Let me be PERFECTLY CLEAR about this: I have NEVER loaded your GW in your undies. I've never BEEN in your undies.

THAT'S FUNNY RIGHT THERE!!

 

[markpee]

To update you all, I too have almost eliminated the smoke when I open the door, and hence I'm not smelling so much like a smoked sausage. When I open the door, I crack it first about 1 inch, and watch the smoke roll back into the chamber. I will say though that since I added 3 more feet on top of the chimney this is now happening, where before with only 6 feet of chimney I was getting a face full. I will be adding another section to make a total of 12 feet of outside chimney, plus about 5 feet of inside pipe. That should do the trick. As I've learned in the short week I've been burning, you need to work all of this out - its a learning process. The problems I have today will seem silly weeks from now. I do not regret getting the stove however, my house has never been warmer - and the wife is very happy! Life is good when the wife is happy!

 

[sweetheat]

no smoke if you turn off the draft fan and your chimney is 32 ft. I've burned all weekend bringing the radiant slab up to temp, now heat is going into the storage tank. When I reload most wood is burned with only a few hot coals. ceramic chamber is still hot. If you have kindled a new fire and are loading larger splits, open your loading door slow and allow smoke to exit up the chimney. sweetheat :cheese:

 

[rickh1001]

My wife has been complaining of smoke smells in the house since I brought our EKO 60 online. I am still trying to figure out a way to open the upper door without smoke pouring out, and heading right upstairs ( I installed the unit in the basement). I am trying the routine of stopping the fan, and opening the bottom door, and giving the unit a chance to establish a draft, before opening the upper door. I gather the wood while I am waiting, then refill the upper chamber as quickly as I can, opening the door a crack beforehand for a minute or so to let the draft get established again. Of course, I don't mind the wood smell, and I think it is much nicer than burnt fuel oil, but I admit, the EKO does smoke with the upper door open. If I had all the time in the world, perhaps I could devise some powervent device over the top of the EKO to vent the smoke - but I just got the third zone dug up and buried today - about 80 feet. What a beast - we put the 4" PEX insulated line inside of a 6" SDR 35 sewer pipe, along with a new 1" water line alongside, over about a 75 foot run. I'll say that this PEX is one ornery beast when cold. The worst was breaking through two foundation walls without collapsing them, both about 4' thick with rubble and laid stone. Anyway, by 5pm the trench was covered, and hopefully, if I can get the primary circulator to quit failing, we should have the entire system in place to heat both of two homes on our farm. I will say on any given day, I feel way over my head on this project, and my wife keeps reminding me (gently of course) of the $15K outlay I convinced her to support, instead of oil. But I just keep picking it apart problem by problem, and I figure eventually I can sort it all out. Or at least I keep telling myself that.

 

[deerefanatic]

But I can't load my GW in my undies like NoFo can though . . . hh:

Let me be PERFECTLY CLEAR about this: I have NEVER loaded your GW in your undies. I've never BEEN in your undies.

So the million dollar question still remains: Do you load your EKO in YOUR undies? LOL!

I couldn't help it.

 

[Nofossil]

My wife has been complaining of smoke smells in the house since I brought our EKO 60 online. I am still trying to figure out a way to open the upper door without smoke pouring out, and heading right upstairs ( I installed the unit in the basement). I am trying the routine of stopping the fan, and opening the bottom door, and giving the unit a chance to establish a draft, before opening the upper door. I gather the wood while I am waiting, then refill the upper chamber as quickly as I can, opening the door a crack beforehand for a minute or so to let the draft get established again. Of course, I don't mind the wood smell, and I think it is much nicer than burnt fuel oil, but I admit, the EKO does smoke with the upper door open. If I had all the time in the world, perhaps I could devise some powervent device over the top of the EKO to vent the smoke - but I just got the third zone dug up and buried today - about 80 feet. What a beast - we put the 4" PEX insulated line inside of a 6" SDR 35 sewer pipe, along with a new 1" water line alongside, over about a 75 foot run. I'll say that this PEX is one ornery beast when cold. The worst was breaking through two foundation walls without collapsing them, both about 4' thick with rubble and laid stone. Anyway, by 5pm the trench was covered, and hopefully, if I can get the primary circulator to quit failing, we should have the entire system in place to heat both of two homes on our farm. I will say on any given day, I feel way over my head on this project, and my wife keeps reminding me (gently of course) of the $15K outlay I convinced her to support, instead of oil. But I just keep picking it apart problem by problem, and I figure eventually I can sort it all out. Or at least I keep telling myself that.

Let me distill all the advice down to one simple rule that should solve your problem:

Don't reload the boiler until it has burned down to coals.

It's kind of like cooking a turkey - opening the door all the time and basting it doesn't help - best to put it in, close the door, and don't open it until it's done. Takes a while to get the timing right, an a flue temp gauge helps a lot.

So the million dollar question still remains: Do you load your EKO in YOUR undies?

I'm not sure which answer would call up worse images for the long-suffering readers of this thread, so I think I'll just leave it to your imagination.

 

[rickh1001]

Deerfanatic,

I am working on it. We converted a 70' barn into a house. We did it with no money, using salvaged lumber, auctions, etc. while I was working at a job 150 miles away, commuting and staying in a hovel to save money. It took 10 years or so, and I would have to say, it would have been way easier to just build a new house from scratch. Every time we built a room, the floor would be 2", or 6" off level, nothing square, etc., etc. But, whatever -your question was do I load my EKO in my Undies. Well, I could never find floor space to sacrifice to a stairwell, so for the past 10 years or so, I have always walked around outside to get to basement. However, now that we have our new wood gasification unit downstairs, I have secretly decided to make a magic ladder down to the basement, in a little closet off one of the bedrooms. It wont' be much more than a hayladder, but I found about 2 square feet of space, and it is all mine! So once I finish that, yes, I will load the EKO in my undies all night long, without having to trundle (usually barefoot unless it is below 0 because I am too lazy to put my shoes on) through the snow, to refill the new wood burner. I'll tell you, at -20F and the winds howling, I am looking forward to being totally self-sufficient - no oil and no more frostbitten feet!!

 

[markpee]

I will say on any given day, I feel way over my head on this project, and my wife keeps reminding me (gently of course) of the $15K outlay I convinced her to support, instead of oil. But I just keep picking it apart problem by problem, and I figure eventually I can sort it all out. Or at least I keep telling myself that.

Boilerman - it IS worth it. Every dime of it. Think about it. Burning wood, which most of us can get for free. Not paying for oil. Not sending your oil money to terrorists (God knows what they're doing with your money). Saving the environment through burning a renewable resource, not burning oil, not burning diesel to transport that oil to the barge and to your house, etc... Don't forget free exercise splitting wood, and loading it into your boiler. Need I say more. Your wife will thank you for it in the long run. And how can you be over your head with all of the wonderful people here to give you advice. You can't fail with a resource like this!

 

[sweetheat]

boilerman I too know what it is to have a project dangling over your head. If I'd known how much this whole install was going to cost me in the beginning I probably would have caved and not done it. But I did it and I'm happy and the payback is coming back already. If I load my Stanley naked except a t shirt I know nofo loads his in his undies. sweetheat