Orlan eko size

[wolfkiller]

I think I have decided I need a eko. My heat demand seems to fall between the 40 and 60. I am going to be heating 1400 sq ft of well insulated house and 1000 sq ft of attached garage. I also will make my hot domestic with the boiler. I have a 50 gallon tryangle tube heat storage for my domestic already and I have access to 2 250 gal heat storage. I do not want to have to run my boiler ever if I am home. Temps get to -60 here and -35 lasts for months some years. What do you all think.

 

[Eric Johnson]

I think a 40 makes the most sense, but it's a tough call without an actual heat loss calculation.

 

[solarguy]

With outdoor temperatures being that low up in God's country you may want to consider an Eko 60. You're looking at a 120 to 130 degree design temperature if you maintain 70 degree indoor space temperature. If it remains -50 for days you may find that an Eko 40 doesn't have the nugget to heat your spaces & load your thermal water storage. Just to maintain a 20 degree differential in 500 gallons of thermal storage will take 83,000 btu's per hr & at -50 that thermal storage won't last long.

 

[solarguy]

PS: The size of your storage tanks reminded me of something
If your planning on using oil tanks as your storage tanks don't do it.
A friend tried this 20 years ago, didn't work out in his favor.....

 

[heaterman]

I'd go with the larger of the two for the simple reason that you have a little reserve capacity if for instance your wood is not quite up to snuff or you want a little faster pickup of water temp. Utilize enough storage to accommodate the bigger unit and all will be well. Many Euro boiler websites recommend over 1000 gallons of storage for a unit the size of a 60 and I agree 100%.

 

[KarlK]

Hi thinking about an eko 40 I have a newer 2 story home in Pa. with an attached garage home is 2700sqft and garage is 670 Ihave oil base board heat with3 zones 2 for house 1 for garage 3370 totol sqft. I use 800 gal of oil per year including domestic hot water. I keep the garage around 50 degrees . I would start out w/o storage but may add it later .If I do add storage I only have room for about 500 gal. My question is should I go with an eko 40 or 60 ? What can I expect for burn times with 40 verses 60 if any? Im also concerned About idling during milder weather.

 

[solarguy]

If you're only using 800 gallons a year based upon the sq footage of your home, an Eko 40 is to big, you should go w/ an Eko 25

 

[Nofossil]

My advice is still the same - do a heat load calculation and get the smallest boiler that's big enough. That way, it can run at full output for a much higher percentage of time than an oversized boiler.

Next, put in as much storage as you can. More is better, though there may be some advantages to several smaller tanks in series rather than one huge tank. At a minimum, you'd want enough to carry you for half a day in cold weather. That way, you build a fire in the evening, fill it up before you go to bed, and you're good until the next evening.

In my case, my peak heating load is about 30,000 BTU/hr. I can store about 350,000 BTU in my tank - good enough for almost a half day in the coldest conditions. It's enough so I can skip days when it's warmer.

 

[KarlK]

If I got an eko 25 with no storage or possibly 500 gal would I get 12 hour burn times ? Im having a hard time understanding the amount of burn times without storage.

 

[KarlK]

Hi nofossil I found a heatloss calculator online If I did it right I come up with suggested totol btu hr 38800 Idont think I have room for more than 600 gal of storage .What do you suggest for getting the longest burn times ? thanks for Your help

 

[Nofossil]

Hi nofossil I found a heatloss calculator online If I did it right I come up with suggested totol btu hr 38800 Idont think I have room for more than 600 gal of storage .What do you suggest for getting the longest burn times ? thanks for Your help

At 39,000 BTU/hr, you're in the same ballpark as I am. With an EKO 25, you can close down the air inlet on the blower which has the effect of reducing the unit to something less than the rated 80,000 BTU/hr. I've done that with mine, though there's a limit to how far down you can go.

I have a peak load of 30,000 BTU/hr and 880 gallons of storage. It's enough, but not any more than I need. If you have a radiant zone, 600 gallons could work.

I average 7 hours of burn time per day. You could stretch that out if you were attentive about reloading only after it was down to coals each time, and not loading it all the way. At full tilt, you won't get much more than four or five hours out of it. My seven hours is the initial load and one refill.

 

[KarlK]

Thanks nofossil Iwent to your site it answered a lot of questions. I have 6- 4'-10' solar panels like yours to heat my pool they work great. I think Im going to order eko monday . Can you tell me if I dont add storage this year will I be able to load it twice a day I know it will idle a lot .I noticed you did that for the first year .

 

[Eric Johnson]

You can load it twice a day, Karl, no problems. Idling an EKO is no big deal. You don't get creosote in the heat exchanger tubes or the chimney. You get a bit of smoke early in the cycle. Other than that, I've been running that way all winter, and it works fine. I try to run it lean and mean whenever I'm around for the sake of efficiency (and to clean it out), but it's really no different than a conventional wood-fired boiler idling.

 

[Kemer]

Hey Eric,I'm Karl's brother Harry.Were both trying to figure the best way to go.I'm leaning towards a eko 60 and he's toward a eko 40.We were both wondering if you had to do it over again would you still get a 60?We both have a lot of forrest land,equipment and have a constuction Co,so getting wood installing these and getting to burn won't be a problem once we decide on the right size.Ive always believed in bigger is better but maybe not in this case.Thanks

 

[Eric Johnson]

I'm really happy with the 60. It gives me room to expand in the future. I could get by with a 40, but I think what I have is probably better in my case.

Obviously, you'll burn wood more wood with a bigger boiler, but that's not an issue for some of us.

 

[KarlK]

Hi eric with the equal heat loads and no storage can you get a longer time between loads because a 60 holds more wood than a 40 ?

 

[KarlK]

Does anyone know the side and rear minimum clearances for eko boiler? There site says 800 ? on sides and 1000 ? at rear I tried to convert but I come up with 31" It doesnt sound right I thought 12" would be more like it.

 

[Nofossil]

I'm really happy with the 60. It gives me room to expand in the future. I could get by with a 40, but I think what I have is probably better in my case.

Obviously, you'll burn wood more wood with a bigger boiler, but that's not an issue for some of us.

Yeah - those of us with 43 cords in the back yard!

My ultimate boiler would be the EKO 25 with a much bigger primary chamber.