HOW MUCH IS THE Fröling Turbo 3000? Please let me know what the price is going to be. I have an oil burner and a hot water collector. I want to get this thing attached to my hydronic heating system. What do you think? Just in case my wife doesn't wanna operate it. Please email me. Thanks.
Wife Friendly Wood Gasification Boiler
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Fred61
Minister of Fire
pybyr said:
I don't understand your question. I do get fly ash in the elbow exiting the rear of the EKO. A tee with cleanout is still on the "to do" list. If I remember correctly, they recommend installing the inducer on the top of horizontal runs but I didn't know why.
Nofossil
Moderator Emeritus
Back to the original question - I just saw the Froeling boiler at SunWood Systems here in Vermont. Very impressive, even though they've dumbed it down for the US market. Extremely easy to light fires, nearly full automatic operation, huge firebox, retains coals for a long time between fires, and has built-in smoke extraction.
Why not try out the Econoburn. The controler is just set it and forget it. Flip the lever, add the wood, flip the lever back.
Fred61 said:
And my bet is you reaped the bennies later, after she watched you two guys get all sweaty workin' out for her.
That's truly a win-win thang goin' on . . .
Now that the EKO's are shipping with a draft inducer, there's no fear of smoke out the door when loading. I fully intend for my mom to be able to load this system and run it.......
Tony H
Minister of Fire
The EKO is easy to runonce it's setup the only complaint is the smoke when loading so I will be adding an inducer . My wife has never and will never load or start the boiler she had a flashback with an old furnace some years ago and got burned ever since she stays away from that type of stuff, it works out ok since I am home enough to keep it going and on the rare time I can't we just use the gas.
altheating
New Member
Like someone else in this thread said, using a gasification boiler is no more difficult than loading a traditional wood stove. Explain to whom ever is going to load a gasser, that is important to put wood in so it does not bridge up. Close the door, pull the bypass lever out - that's it! I can't even count how many "better halves" have questioned me about their ability to load the Econoburn. I gladly show them just how simple it really is. I even had one individual make the statement "I'll never touch the thing". Well, oil got to $4.00 plus per gallon, guess what, she now loads it as often as her husband. My daughter was 13 when we first placed our Econoburn in service, she has as well as my wife loaded the boiler when I am away at trade shows. They even take out the ashes every now and then!
It all boils down to educating everyone who is going to load the gassers to the proper loading procedures.
It all boils down to educating everyone who is going to load the gassers to the proper loading procedures.
Nofossil
Moderator Emeritus
My contribution to this discussion is based on hard-won experience:
Don't open the door until the fire has burned down to coals.
It's a REALLY bad idea to open the top door on a gasifier when it's cranking along, and there is no reason to do so other than misguided curiosity. Let it burn down, then reload. A clock or stack thermometer is your friend. With a little experience you'll know when it's time.
Don't open the door until the fire has burned down to coals.
It's a REALLY bad idea to open the top door on a gasifier when it's cranking along, and there is no reason to do so other than misguided curiosity. Let it burn down, then reload. A clock or stack thermometer is your friend. With a little experience you'll know when it's time.
nofossil,
I've been able (so far) to open the top door of my Tarm to reload anytime during the burn, but only when the fan is running. Since I have a tank, the Tarm generally runs full bore all of the time. Am I risking singed arm hair?
DC
I've been able (so far) to open the top door of my Tarm to reload anytime during the burn, but only when the fan is running. Since I have a tank, the Tarm generally runs full bore all of the time. Am I risking singed arm hair?
DC
Nofossil
Moderator Emeritus
DenaliChuck said:
I dunno. With the EKO (and I'd assume any gasifier) the top chamber is full of highly flammable but oxygen starved wood gas when the boiler is running hard. After all, that's the same wood gas that's mixed with fresh air in the nozzle to create secondary combustion.
Opening the door introduces plenty of oxygen rich air. It should explode nicely - don't know why you haven't had that experience.
In order to avoid possibly meeting a ball of combusting gas face-to-face as Nofossil mentions could happen, some of the boilers (such as my Econoburn) even have an interlock of sorts that makes it difficult to open the top chamber unless the bypass from the top chamber to the the flue is open (one _could_ manage to open the door without first opening the bypass, but only by deliberately working around the lock-out with some thought and effort- which hopefully would cause one to realize not to do that) and it's a simple but sturdy design.
flyingcow
Minister of Fire
Solo Innova.......never had a flashback....very seldom any smoke.....open it anytime. Yeah i know, i'm a pain in the azz. But I mean well. :coolsmile:
Nofossil
Moderator Emeritus
So I'm curious about the differences in design. All gasifiers produce a noxious and explosive mixture of gases in the primary chamber when operating. The only way I can imagine being able to open the primary door during gasification is to purge that gas up the flue via the bypass damper. Purging it means introducing fresh air to an explosive mixture.
I've been able in some cases to do this with the EKO - opening the bypass damper, then slowly and carefully opening the primary door, allowing enough time to gradually purge the producer gas. However, it's not a guaranteed thing and I'm curious how other brands manage it.
For my part, it's mostly idle curiosity - once I got over my compulsion to mess with it unnecessarily, this ceased to be a problem. The way I use it, there's never a need to add wood until the bulk of the gasifying phase of the fire is over. It's trivial to open the door once secondary combustion has died down - there's not an explosive mixture in the primary chamber any more.
Early in my gasification career I discovered another explosion hazard - opening the damper during gasification with the fan running. Opening the bypass damper allows the fan to suddenly introduce MUCH more fresh air to the primary chamber. Done right, it can create a very impressive explosion which could easily blow the flue pipe off of the boiler and / or out of the chimney. I have retaining straps and riveted joints on my flue pipe to prevent that possibility should anyone ever make that mistake.
I've been able in some cases to do this with the EKO - opening the bypass damper, then slowly and carefully opening the primary door, allowing enough time to gradually purge the producer gas. However, it's not a guaranteed thing and I'm curious how other brands manage it.
For my part, it's mostly idle curiosity - once I got over my compulsion to mess with it unnecessarily, this ceased to be a problem. The way I use it, there's never a need to add wood until the bulk of the gasifying phase of the fire is over. It's trivial to open the door once secondary combustion has died down - there's not an explosive mixture in the primary chamber any more.
Early in my gasification career I discovered another explosion hazard - opening the damper during gasification with the fan running. Opening the bypass damper allows the fan to suddenly introduce MUCH more fresh air to the primary chamber. Done right, it can create a very impressive explosion which could easily blow the flue pipe off of the boiler and / or out of the chimney. I have retaining straps and riveted joints on my flue pipe to prevent that possibility should anyone ever make that mistake.
jebatty
Minister of Fire
Hmmm. Seems I'm making all the mistakes.
I'm burning well seasoned, well split white birch, loading a 1,000 gallon tank for DHW.
The Tarm runs full bore, but I've been able to open the loading door to reload the anytime during the burn. There is a door/damper interlock forcing me to open the damper first, then the door. I've never had a pop, much less an explosion out the door or out the chimney.
Still, it's worth a procedural change to avoid the chance.
I'm burning well seasoned, well split white birch, loading a 1,000 gallon tank for DHW.
The Tarm runs full bore, but I've been able to open the loading door to reload the anytime during the burn. There is a door/damper interlock forcing me to open the damper first, then the door. I've never had a pop, much less an explosion out the door or out the chimney.
Still, it's worth a procedural change to avoid the chance.
My wife runs our Greenwood just fine. Just wired the draft inducer and damper door to a hot tub timer. Just turn the dial wait a few seconds, open door, put wood in, close door.
We made the switch from an old wood stove last year.
Adding to my previous post. We never had the fire go out on us!! 12 hr burns were not uncommon there was always a few coals left. So having the wife build a fire was not an issue.
We made the switch from an old wood stove last year.
Adding to my previous post. We never had the fire go out on us!! 12 hr burns were not uncommon there was always a few coals left. So having the wife build a fire was not an issue.
I don't have a direct answer, as I'm just installling my Econoburn gasification boiler this month.
But I do have some advice - get her some fire starters. Not just kindling, newspaper and matches (but she should learn!), but get her some manufactured fire starters. Hit the side of it with a match and close the door stuff.
I just got a free sample today from Super Cedar. They have a link in the forum and will mail you a couple of free pucks. Search for "Supar Cedar Free Samples" and E-mail Thomas - he got back to me within a business day, and I got my samples about 10 days later.
That will make her fire starting a lot easier, and thereby some of your worries should be put to rest.
Happy burning. Keep us in the loop with your choice, install and operation.
But I do have some advice - get her some fire starters. Not just kindling, newspaper and matches (but she should learn!), but get her some manufactured fire starters. Hit the side of it with a match and close the door stuff.
I just got a free sample today from Super Cedar. They have a link in the forum and will mail you a couple of free pucks. Search for "Supar Cedar Free Samples" and E-mail Thomas - he got back to me within a business day, and I got my samples about 10 days later.
That will make her fire starting a lot easier, and thereby some of your worries should be put to rest.
Happy burning. Keep us in the loop with your choice, install and operation.
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Ok, not the cheapest way, but from what I'm seeing of these babies, they are the cat's meow! Nofossil here has put a ton of effort into these and the possibilities for control are endless.....
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