I was just wondering if anyone has put an add on wood boiler in their uninsulated garage then insulated later on and noticed higher water temps and less wood consumption do to the garage being warmer.
Wood Boiler in garage
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Mine is in my garage and it has always been insulated so I can't compare insulated vs. uninsulated. I don't think it would make much of a difference if the walls were insulated or not. The panels on my boiler are insulated minimally with fiberglass on the inside, and I inuslated the pipes as much as possible. I can tell you though that the bay the boiler is in runs between 70-75 degrees from the stovepipe alone. My wood is nice and dry now!
I was just wondering if insulating the garage would take some of the strain off the boiler. Garage temps are around 45-50. It works pretty hard and has short burn times and eats wood like cazy. Maybe I was crazy to think I would be able to go 6-8 hours on a load.
Do you have a zone that is heating your garage? If not then I don't think the insulation would matter.
My Memco has natural draft, no forced draft like the New Yorkers do, so bear with me...
With my system I control burn time two ways (like most fires):
1. Load as much wood in as I can reasonably fit in the firebox.
2. Cut the air back so the wood doesn't burn up in one big inferno, but rather make it burn a slow, controlled fire.
I maximize the wood load by using only large rounds or half-splits. I've even been trying some large rounds with the 4 sides cut off to make a rectangular cube, and those work really good. I reduce the air by closing my draft completely (it's not air tight so it is still getting plenty of air) and closing my damper about 3/4 of the way. I also put some 1/8" steel plate on the grates (I call them restrictor plates) to cut some of the air back. They added another 1+ hour to my burn time, so I'm up to about 6 hours to have a good bed of coals for the next feeding.
With the forced draft on the New Yorkers you either have fire (when it's on) or a smoldering pile of wood, correct? I know a few guys who have them and they all make creosote. I just inspected my chimney last night for the first time and I had a coating of brown dust from bottom to top and not a spec of creosote anywhere. I could have bought either a Memco or a New Yorker and chose the Memco for this reason.
What size pieces of wood are you burning?
My Memco has natural draft, no forced draft like the New Yorkers do, so bear with me...
With my system I control burn time two ways (like most fires):
1. Load as much wood in as I can reasonably fit in the firebox.
2. Cut the air back so the wood doesn't burn up in one big inferno, but rather make it burn a slow, controlled fire.
I maximize the wood load by using only large rounds or half-splits. I've even been trying some large rounds with the 4 sides cut off to make a rectangular cube, and those work really good. I reduce the air by closing my draft completely (it's not air tight so it is still getting plenty of air) and closing my damper about 3/4 of the way. I also put some 1/8" steel plate on the grates (I call them restrictor plates) to cut some of the air back. They added another 1+ hour to my burn time, so I'm up to about 6 hours to have a good bed of coals for the next feeding.
With the forced draft on the New Yorkers you either have fire (when it's on) or a smoldering pile of wood, correct? I know a few guys who have them and they all make creosote. I just inspected my chimney last night for the first time and I had a coating of brown dust from bottom to top and not a spec of creosote anywhere. I could have bought either a Memco or a New Yorker and chose the Memco for this reason.
What size pieces of wood are you burning?
My splits are pretty small but the wood i have spliting for next winter are around 5 to 7, I have found that the door on the WC90 is pretty small so if the wood is to big I can't load it right up. I don't have a problem with a smoldering fire, I have a problem with short burn times for what ever reason. I've used around six cords from mid October until now. I keep messing with stuff to try to make the wood last but I just can't make it happen.
Hey flyingcow you don't by chance have a trucking outfit called flying cow that runs through Northern Maine.
outofwood said:
My Father had the same problem with his Harmon wood furnace (small door). He started cutting his wood about 12-14 inches long and as big around as would fit through the door. Burn times increased dramatically as I recall. This is also what they recommend for my GW except it handles much larger wood. My point is you don't need a gassifier to burn large rounds. Try loading with a layer of your small splits then top it off with a biggun', then maybe some more small stuff if there's room.
flyingcow said:
Ya, I have seen your truck or trucks around, I work in the hardwood logyard near Portage Wood Products in Portage...anyway, small world I guess! Flying Cow....that cracks me up. Hold the faith, they will be chipping again. By the way you asked what kind of boiler I had....a New Yorker WC90.
My main business is hauling the milk from dairy farms to the plant in Bangor. I haul the chip trailer when there is extra work to be had.
Back on topic, I would think that insulating a room around the furnace would help the boiler heat the house better. But how much is the question. I've got a brother in-law that just put in that same unit. Taking him a while to get it figured out. The furnace really likes the wood, but he says he's it getting to burn a little less. If you make a furnace room, leave room for the chairs and frig.
Back on topic, I would think that insulating a room around the furnace would help the boiler heat the house better. But how much is the question. I've got a brother in-law that just put in that same unit. Taking him a while to get it figured out. The furnace really likes the wood, but he says he's it getting to burn a little less. If you make a furnace room, leave room for the chairs and frig.
I'm finding with mine she pulls a pretty hard draft, if I close the blower shutter almost to nothing it seems to help a bit on burn times.
I was told that a boiler/furnace in the garage needed at least 18" off the floor, like your door into the house to eliminate it igniting fumes I guess. I was going to close in a sort of mud room enclosing my boiler in with the house door but when the smoke escapes during feeding it will just end up inside. At this point I like it leaving thru the overhead door! Plus after the ice storm my boiler vapor locked ($75 circulator later) the garage was a steam room for the afternoon I was glad it was not closed in, what a mess!
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