OWB hookup help

[goldendog]

I am in the market for an OWB right now and I am looking for some advise on hooking it up.... We have only electric baseboard heat in the house and I want to go with an OWB with hot water baseboard heat.... I would also like to heat the domestic hot water which is an electric tank right now... The problem is after I run the OWB hot water to the water tank heat exchanger I will need 3 different zones for the house baseboard heaters..... How would I go about doing this ???? I cannot find any type of info for this type of setup... Thanks for you help.........................

 

[rowerwet]

simplest answer for info and parts (might not be the best price) look the Central Boiler web site. they have lots of pictures of different ways of doing zones, OWB to house hook up etc. I like CB and think they are a company that will be around for years, they seem to have good product support and design. A dealer could sell you almost any parts you needed, or once you know what you want Ebay etc. can save $$$. My brother-in-law in PA has a CB, and my sister in NY also has a CB, both love them and save $$$ with them. I have the oddball Outdoor pellet boiler from CB, it works great also. I saved $ by buying my HX on Ebay, and all my pex fittings and barrier pex from HD.

 

[goldendog]

Thanks for the reply rowerwet ........ But I thought I would get alittle more help with this than just the one reply from you on here.....

 

[jebatty]

I thought the prior answer was very appropriate. Your question was a bit like "I'm thinking about building a new house; how do I do it?" I don't mean to be harsh, but honestly, some solid homework on your part to learn about wood boilers, including the much more efficient gasification boilers, about hydronic plumbing, heat load calculation, pressurized vs non-pressure, etc. would go a long way to answer your questions. Then come back with the sticky issues, and you will find a wealth of help and interest. This is a great forum; use it well and you will be rewarded well.

 

[stee6043]

In addition to the comments above you may want to search the site for "plumbing diagrams" and the like. Lots of folks here have spent a fair amount of time creating illustrations of their hook-up's. And like the posters above said, do a little more reading and you'll be good to go. Just saying "three zones" doesn't give folks much to go on. Type/size of pipe, length of run, heat loads, size of pump(s) and many other things will all impact the answers to your questions...

 

[heaterman]

I am in the market for an OWB right now and I am looking for some advise on hooking it up.... We have only electric baseboard heat in the house and I want to go with an OWB with hot water baseboard heat.... I would also like to heat the domestic hot water which is an electric tank right now... The problem is after I run the OWB hot water to the water tank heat exchanger I will need 3 different zones for the house baseboard heaters..... How would I go about doing this ???? I cannot find any type of info for this type of setup... Thanks for you help.........................

Before you pull the trigger on a baseboard system do some research on steel panel radiators. Very simple to install and you can use pex tubing to connect them. You can set up every room in your house as it's own "zone" with no electrical controls and a single circ to run the whole place.

 

[flyingcow]

Be patient., You'll get answers here. But you'll need to do heatload calc. I know people have used slant-fin and others.Do this first. before anything else! Big change in your heating system. Just don't throw a big boiler at it and figure "that'll work". Which it will, but..... The OWB guys get a little beat up on this site, but it may be a good fit for you. Tell us about your property. How close is your neighbors? Are they down wind? You may have good neighbors now, but they might move( or get royally pizzed off if you smoke 'em out), and there goes the neighborhood. Also what do you have for outbuildings/garage, etc. Where will you keep your wood? Are you in an area with zoning regs and inspectors? Does the state you're in require EPA complaint OWB's? Keep an open mind when figuring out what type of burner you want.
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Have you any experience in plumbing? Sweating pipes? installing pex and the assoc fittings? Do you have a lot of tools? Do you mind getting lifted when you cut in to walls and floors?( I do :coolsmile , is you building old? Do you know where the stuff is behind the walls? etc. Wouldn't be bad idea to get a couple of quotes from heating contractors. Even if you're a DIY kinda guy. Getting to know a good heating contractor would be nice. But don't waste their time. Good quality heating contractors are not cheap, but they are priceless. If all they know is plumbing, stay away.
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I like heatermans idea, alot.
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Don't rush it, it's going to be a good deal of money, patience will pay off. Some of my questions might be a little gruff, but you asked for help.

 

[stee6043]

Have you any experience in plumbing? Sweating pipes? installing pex and the assoc fittings? Do you have a lot of tools? Do you mind getting lifted when you cut in to walls and floors?( I do :coolsmile , is you building old? Do you know where the stuff is behind the walls? etc. Wouldn't be bad idea to get a couple of quotes from heating contractors. Even if you're a DIY kinda guy. Getting to know a good heating contractor would be nice. But don't waste their time. Good quality heating contractors are not cheap, but they are priceless. If all they know is plumbing, stay away.

I kinda have to chime in on this line....I had very very limited experience with plumbing, had never (and still have never) sweated pipe, never installed Pex and I don't have a $5,000 tool set. But in-spite of this I completed my install of an EKO 40 system with 1,000 gallons of storage with no professional intervention. Pex and piping all done myself. And she runs like a top.

Everything is doable DIY with enough research. You just have to be willing to put the time in....