Where to start?

[jvmidwest]

Well I stumbled on this site looking for information on Outdoor Wood Boilers. My situation is this...Two air source heat pumps that are old and not functioning well. Heating 2,600 feet. The reason for two systems is the second unit was placed in a room addition over a crawl space and cost effective at the time. If I could do this again I would have upgraded the original and tied it into the new addition. I have always hated the quality of electric heat unless it is set on emergency strip heat. Also have electric water heater. I have a shop 80' from the house that is storage only so I could be very flexible on a set up. I had know idea an internal system was even an option until now and they sound so much more efficient. So my question is..Can an internal system be set up for the same $$$ as a stand alone outside unit? Thanks for the site. I am enjoying all of the information.

 

[hobbyheater]

The Garn Junior could be installed in your shop. Its clean burning has adequate storage built in , and the company has been around for over 30 years and still stocks parts for its earliest units .

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This is a bigger unit but the principal of operation is the same with all Garn's .

 

[jvmidwest]

thank you for the post!

 

[Coal Reaper]

i did my whole system for the same price as just the OWB itself, although it was one of the more expensive OWBs. read through the stickies and do a heat loss calc. lot of decisions to make. pressurized vs. non. storage or no. lambda or user controls settings. consider how easily you want to be able to clean your boiler as well as sourcing replacemnt parts if needed. you will also need to have proper wood by the time you are ready to start burning so get working on that if you have nothing lined up yet.

 

[jvmidwest]

Thanks, I looked at your threads. May be above my abilities. I will keep trying to educate myself.

 

[Coal Reaper]

Nah. Its nothing most couldnt handle. You have all the resources right here for plumbing, electric, thermodynamics and heat transfer. The welding is the only aspect that requires some experience. Easy enough to hire that out. Before my project i had never sweat pipe >1/2" or operated a backhoe. Its hard not to get overwhelmed but try to just focus on one aspect at a time. Very knowledgable folks here to guide you along the way. Read read read and try to figure out what will work best for YOU.

 

[arbutus]

If you can wire a circuit or two, put together some plumbing, and maybe do some light carpentry work, or you have a few buddies who can, you can successfully install a new system.

The starting point is a heat loss calculation. The builditsolar website has a basic estimator. Do some reading and do a complete calculation.

Then you can go from there and start pricing correctly sized system components. The boiler will be the most costly individual component, but if any others are not sized correctly, performance could be marginal or lacking.

 

[MarkW]

Also consider how you need/want it to operate. Do you have a flexible schedule allowing you to monitor your burn several times per day or do you need something that requires less attention, i.e. storage? Deciding you want storage after the purchase of a boiler sized to just cover the load can be a costly mistake.
And like Coal Reaper said, get going on wood now. Needs plenty of time to season.

 

[jvmidwest]

I work full time so storage looks beneficial. Should mention that the house has a masonry fireplace with a country flame insert. Maybe I should think about try to come up with storage that could be tied to it.

 

[hobbyheater]

I work full time so storage looks beneficial. Should mention that the house has a masonry fireplace with a country flame insert. Maybe I should think about try to come up with storage that could be tied to it.

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

Another idea that you may not be aware of.

 

[Vizsla]

The key to what is cheaper, either at install or over time , " proper installation" . If both are installed and working efficiently the indoor wins almost every time. Yes a cheap OWB can be slapped in with just cheap underground lines, one giant loop feeding everything with no zone or temp control and run, for cheap. But an indoor might still win because it doesn't need underground lines. However if it must be outside an indoor unit can still do that too if sheltered. From direct weather.
If an OWB looses just 4 degrees thru its underground lines @ 5gpm that's 43.68 million btu's lost just to the ground. That's 8736 pounds of wasted wood. If my wood btus are correct. Pumps running 24/7 over a heating season. Some do to prevent freezing. Somebody will double check and add, if I'm off

 

[maple1]

If I was to put in an outdoor unit here, it would be an indoor boiler in an insulated outbuilding. A wood shed/work shop. Not a garage for cars etc.. I would have my whole winters wood in there, where it would be nice & warm & dry all winter. That fact alone (keeping your wood warm & dry all winter) will help efficiency a lot also. I would put it as close to the house as practical & allowed, and I would spare no expense on the underground piping. And I would put pressurized water storage in the house, even if it's just some 110 gallon LP tanks put wherever they would fit.

Costs of doing all that vs. something else will have to be evaluated yourself - so much of that comes down to what you can find & get locally, and what you can do yourself.