Roxul Smell

[brant2000]

Maybe it's a mistake entirely, but I thought I'd try partially wrapping my boiler with roxul insulation to cut down on the radiant heat. Besides firebrick, the unit is almost entirely uninsulated, so the exterior surfaces get HOT. I just stood a few pieces up against the sides and front of the unit last night and after about 10 minutes could smell things beginning to bake out of the insulation. After about an hour the entire house was filled with a very strong, noxious smell throughout. I ended up removing the insulation and having to air the house out for about an hour.

So, I know a few people have used roxul (including Garn owners) and just wondered, did your insulation smell that bad at first? Will it just take a little while to finish off-gassing and then does the smell go away? At the moment the wife isn't going to let me even bring the insulation back in the house to try again.

 

[TCaldwell]

Yes there is a definite smell to roxul, the front and parts of the back of my garn are insulated with it. Covering the roxul with sheet metal skin to encapsulate the temporary smell will help.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

The B100 is not designed to be covered.
only 30% of the heat will get into the water, the balance is radiant heat.
If you insulate it your stack temp will go up.
You can play a little bit with the flow rate of the pump/circulator.
The max will be between 35,000 and 40,000 BTU/hr you will get into the water

 

[brant2000]

The B100 is not designed to be covered.
only 30% of the heat will get into the water, the balance is radiant heat.
If you insulate it your stack temp will go up.
You can play a little bit with the flow rate of the pump/circulator.
The max will be between 35,000 and 40,000 BTU/hr you will get into the water

Thanks Marc, I figured that would be the case, but am always looking to tweak things. I expected that the heat input to the water would be the same, but was hoping I could try to prolong the burn time.