Resources for new boiler owner

[mightylandshark]

Hey everybody - new to the forum, looking forward to learning about wood fired boilers!

My family just moved into a new (to me) home this fall in Manitoba, Canada and have been experiencing the crushing costs of electric heat. The previous owner had installed a wood fired boiler in the detached shop which has been plumbed in to the main house furnace heat exchanger but it's not clear to me how much he was using it. He was apparently using glycol. I'm new to the wood fired boiler world but it looks like it could be an amazing way to supplement our heating and cut down on energy costs. The unit looks like a custom built job and the controls are not very intuititive. I'm not even sure if it's functional at this stage but apparently it was recently WETT certified per the previous owner. My questions are:

1) What are the best resources for learning about using and maintaining a wood fired boiler?

2) If I wanted someone to come look at my setup and tell me if its safe and how to use it how do I figure out who to call?

3) If these questions have already been asked a zillion times I apologize --> is there a stickied thread somewhere I can find? I looked briefly and didn't find anything that addressed my main concern as a complete newbie to this world.

Thanks everyone for considering taking the time to help me out.

Cheers,

Brady

 

[maple1]

1) Right here. Just read as much as you can.

2) I might start with whoever did the WETT inspection. Previous owner, if possible.

3) There are stickies of varying topics in the Boiler Room. Aside from that and 1), typically a good starting point is the boiler manual. Can you post a pic of your boiler? If it's not home made someone might be able to ID it. Most all manuals can be found online.

 

[Rick18]

I would not fire it up till you have done a lot of home work, I learned the hard way when I started dealing with wood boilers. It cost me a lot of money and Im lucky I never got hurt. But after being married to my boilers for a few years I now can sleep and they run like clocks. Dont be discouraged, just read and learn as much as you can. Post some pictures if possible, Im new to this site as well and Im always interested in seeing other systems.