I just wanted to update anyone following my pole barn thread on this system as I'm now burning regularly. I've made a few changes to my original design so here's a summary of system.
Boiler - Standard EKO 60(old style w/old controller and flat bottom)
Storage - Four 500 gallon propane tanks standing upright on ends
Expansion Tank - 335 gallon steel tank (salvaged off a field sprayer)
Controller - Siemens RWD62U
Valve - Siemens SKD62 Actuator w/ 1 1/2 2-way valve
Boiler is in pole barn located approximately 70 feet from house. Boiler room is 8 x 12 with the expansion tank and boiler. Wood storage room has enough room for 7 + cords(depending on how high I stack the wood as the walls are 10'). Hot water storage is 8' by 8' by 12' tall. The 4 tanks are standing on semi rims with 16 inches of Styrofoam balls covered by blown cellulose insulation. I used the Stryofoam balls in case I ever get any moisture as they should not absorb and the very bottom of the tanks should not get over 160 degrees. The cellulose has settled down more than anticipated so I'm going to cover it with 2 feet of the Styrofoam balls to bring the top of the insulation to 14 feet (almost 4' over the tanks). I have one heating zone off the tanks going to a air handler in my forced air furnace and then to a air handler in a two stall garage under half of my house. The air handler in the garage is on most of the time so I have to run water 24 hours a day so my original thought was to have my zone return go to the middle of the tanks as this water would be warmer than the bottom of the tanks and I thought this would maintain my stratification better than returning to the bottom. Turns out that all I succeeded in doing was mixing my 4 tanks to a constant temp. I moved the return to the bottom and now I have stratification. It's hard to say how much heat I'm losing from my tanks as it's been so warm out and I just got stratification over the weekend but with the additional 2 feet I'm going to place this week I feel it's minimal.
For boiler protection I'm using the Siemens controller and 2-way valve. The controller's sensor is a immersed sensor located between the 2-way valve and the boiler output. When the water temp is under 177 degrees the valve is closed most of the way and modulates to fully open at 180 degrees. This serves two purposes as I only feed 180 degree water to storage and the house and it regulates how much colder water enters the stove. If the water is under 140 degrees the valve is shut and just a tiny trickle of water is allowed into the boiler. I originally had the valve close completely but discovered that my sensor would not read the increase in boiler temp because of no flow past the sensor. I may at some point move this into the boiler water at the stove but for now I just have it close to 90 percent.
I want to thank everyone who is participating on this forum as this has been a extremely helpful resource.
Boiler - Standard EKO 60(old style w/old controller and flat bottom)
Storage - Four 500 gallon propane tanks standing upright on ends
Expansion Tank - 335 gallon steel tank (salvaged off a field sprayer)
Controller - Siemens RWD62U
Valve - Siemens SKD62 Actuator w/ 1 1/2 2-way valve
Boiler is in pole barn located approximately 70 feet from house. Boiler room is 8 x 12 with the expansion tank and boiler. Wood storage room has enough room for 7 + cords(depending on how high I stack the wood as the walls are 10'). Hot water storage is 8' by 8' by 12' tall. The 4 tanks are standing on semi rims with 16 inches of Styrofoam balls covered by blown cellulose insulation. I used the Stryofoam balls in case I ever get any moisture as they should not absorb and the very bottom of the tanks should not get over 160 degrees. The cellulose has settled down more than anticipated so I'm going to cover it with 2 feet of the Styrofoam balls to bring the top of the insulation to 14 feet (almost 4' over the tanks). I have one heating zone off the tanks going to a air handler in my forced air furnace and then to a air handler in a two stall garage under half of my house. The air handler in the garage is on most of the time so I have to run water 24 hours a day so my original thought was to have my zone return go to the middle of the tanks as this water would be warmer than the bottom of the tanks and I thought this would maintain my stratification better than returning to the bottom. Turns out that all I succeeded in doing was mixing my 4 tanks to a constant temp. I moved the return to the bottom and now I have stratification. It's hard to say how much heat I'm losing from my tanks as it's been so warm out and I just got stratification over the weekend but with the additional 2 feet I'm going to place this week I feel it's minimal.
For boiler protection I'm using the Siemens controller and 2-way valve. The controller's sensor is a immersed sensor located between the 2-way valve and the boiler output. When the water temp is under 177 degrees the valve is closed most of the way and modulates to fully open at 180 degrees. This serves two purposes as I only feed 180 degree water to storage and the house and it regulates how much colder water enters the stove. If the water is under 140 degrees the valve is shut and just a tiny trickle of water is allowed into the boiler. I originally had the valve close completely but discovered that my sensor would not read the increase in boiler temp because of no flow past the sensor. I may at some point move this into the boiler water at the stove but for now I just have it close to 90 percent.
I want to thank everyone who is participating on this forum as this has been a extremely helpful resource.
