Water storage options

[Billcas]

Hello everyone, what a great site. I have learned alot of information by searching and browsing around. I am looking for what most people are using for btu storage. I have an 1800sq' house, two story ranch. I am figuring on installing a eko 25 type unit in my garage and adding water storage. i will run it inline with my oil fired boiler that supplied baseboard heat and hot water. It seems 1000 gallons or so looks to be a good size, let me know if you agree. Also what type of tanks other than propane are used, if any. I do not want to spend thousands on new, prebuilt, specialized tanks. If propane is really the best choice are you all insulating them and how?
So to recap.
What size tank is good?
Is a propane tank the best ?
Do you insulate your propane tank?

Thanks in advance!
Edit: I am in southern NY

 

[Coal Reaper]

1000g is what most shoot for. larger lets you go longer between fires, too large though and your firing time will be long to bring it all back up to temp. 800-1000 seams right for most.
first descide on pressurized or non.
propane is most econimical, but depends on what you can source in your area.
yes to insulation. if inside it doesnt need to be as tight since any heat loss is to the living area. consideration is if you will be heating DHW in summer the area that your tanks are in will get warm.
thread on storage tanks: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/sending-500-gallon-tanks-verticle.107273/
cleaning them tanks: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/...d-hole-in-bottom-of-tank.106945/#post-1396805
thread on spray foam: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/spray-foam-guys-were-here-some-pics.109080/#post-1461187
welcome and continue to search and browse!

 

[maple1]

I've got two 330 gallon horizontal propane tanks, stacked one on top of the other.

If I had the space, I would rather have two 500's - more is better but it depends on what you have room for.

For me, it was the best - I had many to chose from (for a price of course) an hour away. And cheaper. I think some of the vendors who sell the more expensive pre-fabs also sell re-purposed used propane tanks.

Yes, insulated, that is a must - I just boxed mine in & did a mix of conventional types (fiberglass, roxul, & foam board). I like the box, I can crack one end open a bit to let some heat into the otherwise unheated basement when it gets real cold out - which in turn warms the floor above it. Also allows future tank access if necessary.

 

[peakbagger]

Since you didnt list your state, be aware that in some areas reworked propane tanks without a code stamp are not legal.

I have one of the American Solar Technics Tanks, no need to insulate them as they are made primarily out of isoboard foam. They are square so they take up a bit less room then cylindrical tanks but are unpressurized. I needed to carry mine down a set of stairs so a propane tank wasn't a good option. I have 500 gallons and wouldnt mind more.

 

[Nofossil]

I think the responses above cover most of the major points. If you can go pressurized, you'll get more effective heat storage for any given size of tank - with non-pressurized, the heat exchanger between storage and the system will limit how hot you can get storage and how low a storage temp will still provide usable heat.

Stratification is your friend, and pressurized tanks seem to work a bit better in that respect as well.

I have 880 gallons of non-pressurized, and if it weren't so much work I'd rip it out and replace it with at least 1000 gallons of pressurized storage. If you can get adequate stratification (especially if you plumb multiple tanks in series) the penalty for too much storage becomes pretty minimal.

 

[ewdudley]

Also anhydrous ammonia 'nurse' tanks -- nearly identical to propane tanks -- are available in corn growing regions.

 

[Billcas]

Thanks for the info so far. I visited your website Nofossil, very nice and helpful. Now I just need to keep checking locally for some tanks.