Thinking about Buying a Boiler...

[JA600L]

Hello guys,
I am currently running a wood stove in my 2000 sq ft rancher. I have only been here 4 years. The house originally had some sort of boiler in it. All of the baseboard boiler lines are there. Somewhere along the line the furnace was removed and an attic air handler heat pump was installed.

Using a wood stove is working fine, i just thought why not utilize the boiler lines? Anyway, I don't know where to start or what to look for. Obviously, I don't need a large unit. Does anybody have suggestions on what brand, model, size to look for? I had also thought of getting a multi fuel unit. I appreciate any help, Thanks!

 

[huffdawg]

I would cap all the baseboard lines up and pressurize with air first to make sure they are all sound. Where are you planning on installing boiler. Indoor or in an out building. Get a heat load calculation done so you can size the boiler. Are you planning to have storage tanks also?

Lots of good brands out there , choose one that fits your budget and needs. Some have more sophisticated control then others ,some have to have storage. Some need a lot less space then others etc.

Start stock piling wood .. Gassers need DRY WOOD...

Huff

 

[infinitymike]

Good Luck to ya,

There are a lot of choices and options as Huff said.

Alternate Heating Systems is right near Lancaster. (broken link removed to http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/default.aspx)
Go do a drive by and get a hands on look at one.

I'm happy with my Wood Gun E100 that is heating my 2800 sq ft 2 story house that was built in 1951 and had NO insulation until the 70's when a feeble attempt was made to insulate. I am slowly chipping away at that problem.

Storage is always preferred, but a system can operate without it.
And from I understand storage with baseboard heat emitters isn't all that effective. But thats what I have gathered here.
I have baseboard and storage is still on my wish list.

With that said the Wood Gun works real well without it and doesn't need real dry wood.
It likes big 6x6-8x8 pieces with 25-30% mc.

Take your time and do your research.

 

[maple1]

I have baseboards, and storage, and it is very effective.

It might be less so if you have marginal baseboard coverage for your heating load - i.e., if they skimped on baseboard when they designed & installed it.

 

[ewdudley]

Keystoker has multi-fuel boilers, rice and pea coal. DHW coil, and a direct vent option.

"Honey, are you going to build a fire in the wood stove tonight? No, darling, I'll be stopping off to see Joe, just go ahead and turn up the thermostat."

 

[infinitymike]

I have baseboards, and storage, and it is very effective.

It might be less so if you have marginal baseboard coverage for your heating load - i.e., if they skimped on baseboard when they designed & installed it.

Like I said it's something that I've read here something about Delta T not beinh Great enough to be effective on baseboard. I'm not a plumbing engineer and obviously no experience with storage.

But back to the topic any boiler will do fine in his house

 

[Vizsla]

Baseboard isn't that expensive, and simple add ons sometimes in the same cover can increase BTU output. There are also baseboard models that are specific for low water temp applications as low as 110 degrees. Just adding a simple 8' section of fin tube into an existing slant fin fine line 30 doubles output for under $100. Just saying, I love recycling or making use of what's already there instead of scrapping.

Good luck. Power is in BTU control

 

[JA600L]

This is what I have to work with. These are in every room in the house. The pipes are all there.

 

[Vizsla]

Where do you start, well with a budget. A general plan, testing your current radiation, heat loss calc, sizing or changes to meet calcs. And then check out the most expensive boiler and correct install and cry at the price and ROI math. Maybe you get lucky, never know. You can do anything with the current baseboard you have. Add fin tube if your short on btu footage, or do a parallel or series run for low temp apps.

Good luck

 

[Bob Rohr]

Hello guys,
I am currently running a wood stove in my 2000 sq ft rancher. I have only been here 4 years. The house originally had some sort of boiler in it. All of the baseboard boiler lines are there. Somewhere along the line the furnace was removed and an attic air handler heat pump was installed.

Using a wood stove is working fine, i just thought why not utilize the boiler lines? Anyway, I don't know where to start or what to look for. Obviously, I don't need a large unit. Does anybody have suggestions on what brand, model, size to look for? I had also thought of getting a multi fuel unit. I appreciate any help, Thanks!

Start with a heat load calculation. If the home has been upgraded regarding insulation, windows, infiltration leaks, you need to know the load before selecting the heater.

If improvements have, or will be made it's possible you could run a much lower temperature to the baseboards, a more efficient distribution.

For a small efficient home I like some of the Euro combined parlor boilers. The beauty of a wood fire and a small hydronic or DHW component.

Some examples here.

http://www.hydro-to-heat-convertor.com/

 

[DZL_Damon]

If you are buying wood already, I would seriously look into a pellet boiler. You will find more used wood boilers vs use pellet boilers, but most are less efficient older models. If you buy new, it's surprising how similarly priced pellet boilers are to good wood boilers (gassifiers). No storage needed for pellets, fully modulating firing rate and less space required to store a few tons of pellets vs a few cords of wood. Starts/stops on it's own automatically for most models. You do have to keep pellets dry, but I keep mine outside in the shrink wrapped pallets with an extra tarp over them and they are fine. When I open one up, the whole ton comes in. I stacked 3.5 tons in my old wood crib that used to hold about 1.75 -2 cords downstairs... with NO BUGS!

If you have your own wood to cut for "free" (no money out of pocket, only time), wood boilers are real nice. Like most boilers, they are far more efficient at high fire hence one of the reasons why folks like storage along with better flexibility. Storage takes up space and is expensive to source/install unless you are resourceful and handy. Wood boilers creosote up more when they idle and I think the efficiency drops off sharply on an idling boiler. If I move to a place that has a few acres of my own wood I will go to a wood boiler without second thought.... but I really do enjoy my current pellet boiler and how little I have to mess with it.

I would certainly pressurize the lines just to be sure.... house might have froze at one time and littered it with pinhole leaks. I've been helping a lot of folks recently with these cold snaps fix their pipes and sometimes you don't see how bad it is until you press the lines up.