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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #450 on: December 17, 2018, 06:35:01 PM »
Don, do you have an infrared heat gun? I checked the air coming out of the ductwork at about 93* and the line coming from the heat pump to the air handler is around 110-115*
No, don't have one
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #451 on: December 26, 2018, 09:55:08 AM »
OK, as the learning continues. I am now over a month into the operation of this thing, and as I learn the results are getting better all the time.

Here's what I have learned so far

The thing does not like to start off with unseasoned wood, but if you ever manage to get that stuff up to operating temp, it will digest it just fine.

So currently I use a blend of dry, seasoned wood and fresh cut from standing, dead, trees.

The wood should not be split into fireplace like (Read: thinner) chunks but left in big chunky pieces. Like taking a 10" X 24" log and just breaking it in half, nothing more. That way it will burn over a longer time than just go up quickly like the dry stuff does.

So I would start burning just the dry stuff but the boiler was eating it faster than I could throw it in. Ate a chord and a half in a week and a half! Then I busted up some logs from an ash tree we dropped in our yard over Thanksgiving. We broke up some sections and started with a 2:1 ratio, of dry to this wet stuff. Just like that, it started to last longer, much longer.

Next we started throwing thicker and literally massive chunks of wood in there and we noticed the temps rising and the house getting warmer.

But the crown jewel was the installation of a thermostat. Once I did that, the boiler temp went right up to 169 from the very low 100's to 110's. And the smoke it was emitting dwindled to very little to not noticable.

Here is the thermostat I had been using to control only the electric heat/AC
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #452 on: December 26, 2018, 09:56:35 AM »
Now rather than being complex the wiring is rather simple and uses an established national code. The green wire is the voltage to the fan only, and the red wire is the power.
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #453 on: December 26, 2018, 09:58:37 AM »
So, I purchased a cheapo $20 two wire thermostat normally used only to turn on baseboard heat strips and mounted it to a piece of thick walnut we had milled earlier. Cost for all of that was still just the $20 odd dollars
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #454 on: December 26, 2018, 10:00:11 AM »
I hollowed out the back, drilled a hole through which to route the wiring, sanded it and coated with linseed oil. After screwing it all together, bingo, I was done!
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #455 on: December 26, 2018, 10:02:10 AM »
I thought I'd mount it to a block of wood and not directly to my wall (Inside a box, of course) because a wood fired heater ought to have a wooden mount! Dummy proof and all that...

So I screwed that to the wall, catching a stud and plugged in my wires
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #456 on: December 26, 2018, 10:08:45 AM »
No shot of my super neat wiring, sorry...

This constitutes a hybrid heating system with three phases

I set the electric unit to 65F. Should the temperature fall to 64, the heat pump will energize to maintain that temp. Should the differential grow to greater than two degrees (62), then electric heating coils will energize and shut down the local coal fired power plant.

But the wooden thermostat is set to "Toasty"

It just makes warm air to my honey's delight and the electric stuff goes on thinking it's still springtime! Over the Christmas holiday the house stayed a really nice 74F-75F and the logs are all lasting much longer. I think we are getting on top of the curve here, starting to find the magic range that this thing likes.

It is like no fuss, Just go out every once in awhile and toss on some unwanted furniture, christmas paper, cardboard boxes, old unwanted furniture, logs and some old unwanted furniture that the wife has had stored for a decade, and that's it!
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #457 on: December 26, 2018, 10:10:23 AM »
It will readily eat, old dressers, old ornamental baby cribs, ugly candle sticks, and semi dry ash with ease!

Being green can be fun and have other benefits as well!
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Offline JR

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #458 on: December 26, 2018, 07:11:40 PM »
Nice work.

Will it destroy evidence?
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #459 on: December 26, 2018, 09:57:19 PM »
Nice work.

Will it destroy evidence?
dunno, watcha got needin' destroyed?
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #460 on: December 26, 2018, 10:00:20 PM »
Hillary emails


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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #461 on: December 27, 2018, 09:59:09 AM »
Hillary emails


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Already done some time ago...
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #462 on: December 27, 2018, 10:01:57 AM »
I woke up this morning and the house had fallen from a toasty 73-74F last night down to 70F this morning

WHAAAAAAATTTTTTT????????

I checked, and the stove was down a bit, but nursing a nice bed of embers, the water temp was down some but still good

Then when walking back into the kitchen I felt a breeze

Someone left the patio (French) door open last night

That darned stove kept the house at 70F with a big door wide open to the outside!
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #463 on: December 27, 2018, 10:07:11 AM »
Sounds like a failure in opsec there, Chief. You slipping?


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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #464 on: December 27, 2018, 10:11:31 AM »
Sounds like a failure in opsec there, Chief. You slipping?


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Slipped

as in a generation past the active verb!
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #465 on: December 27, 2018, 10:12:57 AM »
Hmmm, just found out the boiler will consume Christmas gifts and a 3/4 eaten turkey carcass!

Wow, more free heat!
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Offline Nate

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #466 on: December 27, 2018, 01:59:27 PM »
just cause its free does not mean that its good for the inside of that thing.
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Offline Bigdave_185

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #467 on: December 27, 2018, 02:05:03 PM »
Don will be out there cooking pizza in a few weeks


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Offline JR

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #468 on: December 27, 2018, 04:00:14 PM »
Sounds like it will consume a "carcass" ok.
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #469 on: December 27, 2018, 10:53:24 PM »
Sounds like it will consume a "carcass" ok.
It did!

Youngest pre-ranger told me, he has to open his window each night and turn a fan on low to dray outside air inside. Keep in mind I have completely shutdown the upstairs HVAC. We are running totally on the main system only and have been for over a month now. I just came upstairs from my woodshop to find the house sitting at 75F. So I turned it down again!
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Offline JR

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #470 on: December 27, 2018, 11:03:09 PM »
 :likebutton:
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Offline stlaser

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #471 on: December 30, 2018, 10:21:27 AM »
Ok, so other than dead eats remnants how is the collection of fuel going as we know this beast can consume large quantities of the stuff....
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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #472 on: December 30, 2018, 01:15:21 PM »
Is that where the green beast ended up,  vaporized, keeping Don's toes all warm and fuzzy?
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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #473 on: December 30, 2018, 04:11:54 PM »
Ok, so other than dead eats remnants how is the collection of fuel going as we know this beast can consume large quantities of the stuff....
S- It does have a healthy appetite!

But on the flip side of that equation is a toasty house and a warm garage.

So It ate all of the first load of Duane's logs, had to clean him out with a second load.

That and we have been beating ourselves half to death swinging a busting maul breaking up a couple of Ash trees. That stove has eaten maybe 1/4 of those two trees. If I could possibly break the rest of those logs up, I'd be good through Feb.

If it burns down to gray ash, I throw in camshaft box, two dry logs, several smaller Ash branch pieces, and one-two big wet Ash logs and she is happy with that for 8 hours at least. Throw in three big logs and as the new yorkers say, -Fa-get-ah-bout-it
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #474 on: December 30, 2018, 04:12:22 PM »
Is that where the green beast ended up,  vaporized, keeping Don's toes all warm and fuzzy?
Soon to begin dismantling...partial dismantling...
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Offline stlaser

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #475 on: December 30, 2018, 06:42:31 PM »
Ok, so other than dead eats remnants how is the collection of fuel going as we know this beast can consume large quantities of the stuff....
S- It does have a healthy appetite!

But on the flip side of that equation is a toasty house and a warm garage.

So It ate all of the first load of Duane's logs, had to clean him out with a second load.

That and we have been beating ourselves half to death swinging a busting maul breaking up a couple of Ash trees. That stove has eaten maybe 1/4 of those two trees. If I could possibly break the rest of those logs up, I'd be good through Feb.

If it burns down to gray ash, I throw in camshaft box, two dry logs, several smaller Ash branch pieces, and one-two big wet Ash logs and she is happy with that for 8 hours at least. Throw in three big logs and as the new yorkers say, -Fa-get-ah-bout-it

Get those pre rangers together and rent a hydraulic splitter for a day. Worth the money and a good one will take 3 people to keep it fed.
Living in the remote north hoping Ken doesn’t bring H up here any time soon…..

Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #476 on: December 30, 2018, 10:09:09 PM »
Ok, so other than dead eats remnants how is the collection of fuel going as we know this beast can consume large quantities of the stuff....
S- It does have a healthy appetite!

But on the flip side of that equation is a toasty house and a warm garage.

So It ate all of the first load of Duane's logs, had to clean him out with a second load.

That and we have been beating ourselves half to death swinging a busting maul breaking up a couple of Ash trees. That stove has eaten maybe 1/4 of those two trees. If I could possibly break the rest of those logs up, I'd be good through Feb.

If it burns down to gray ash, I throw in camshaft box, two dry logs, several smaller Ash branch pieces, and one-two big wet Ash logs and she is happy with that for 8 hours at least. Throw in three big logs and as the new yorkers say, -Fa-get-ah-bout-it

Get those pre rangers together and rent a hydraulic splitter for a day. Worth the money and a good one will take 3 people to keep it fed.
I think when my rich uncle dies in the poor house, I might buy that log splitter attachment for the front of spud. have the prerangers cut down the tree, then saw it up into chunks, then I'll turn down the tunes, set my sweet tea down next to the AC vent, drive over and bust them up
« Last Edit: December 30, 2018, 10:11:42 PM by Flyin6 »
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #477 on: December 31, 2018, 06:54:19 AM »
I was kinda hoping you’d go for this.

https://youtu.be/KdXzaGFkWfU


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Offline BobbyB

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #478 on: December 31, 2018, 08:16:07 AM »
Get those pre rangers together and rent a hydraulic splitter for a day. Worth the money and a good one will take 3 people to keep it fed.

I agree with this.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2018, 08:16:44 AM by BobbyB »
So, Bobby...being the calculating trained warrior NCO that you are.  Take the appropriate action, Execute!
your standard grunt level CQB is just putting rounds and rounds on scary stuff till it stops scaring you!

Offline KensAuto

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #479 on: December 31, 2018, 10:07:08 AM »
At one time I would agree with Shawn,  and Bobby,  but today I like Charles' idea the best.
Plus, Don likes to spend money on crazy things.
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #480 on: December 31, 2018, 11:53:46 AM »
I think they are about $35k


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Offline Bob Smith

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #481 on: December 31, 2018, 12:16:18 PM »
I think they are about $35k


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Yes but he has all that free heat mindset.

Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #482 on: December 31, 2018, 12:23:26 PM »
I was kinda hoping you’d go for this.

https://youtu.be/KdXzaGFkWfU


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genius!
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Offline wilsonphil

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #483 on: December 31, 2018, 12:41:05 PM »
Ok, so other than dead eats remnants how is the collection of fuel going as we know this beast can consume large quantities of the stuff....
S- It does have a healthy appetite!

But on the flip side of that equation is a toasty house and a warm garage.

So It ate all of the first load of Duane's logs, had to clean him out with a second load.

That and we have been beating ourselves half to death swinging a busting maul breaking up a couple of Ash trees. That stove has eaten maybe 1/4 of those two trees. If I could possibly break the rest of those logs up, I'd be good through Feb.

If it burns down to gray ash, I throw in camshaft box, two dry logs, several smaller Ash branch pieces, and one-two big wet Ash logs and she is happy with that for 8 hours at least. Throw in three big logs and as the new yorkers say, -Fa-get-ah-bout-it

Get those pre rangers together and rent a hydraulic splitter for a day. Worth the money and a good one will take 3 people to keep it fed.
I think when my rich uncle dies in the poor house, I might buy that log splitter attachment for the front of spud. have the prerangers cut down the tree, then saw it up into chunks, then I'll turn down the tunes, set my sweet tea down next to the AC vent, drive over and bust them up

Those things are pretty whimpy and labor intensive, we had them for the three point on our tractor I think I sent you this link before but here it is again.

Real Man spliter https://www.timberwolfequip.com/tw-10rc-log-splitter/

One My Dad bought AFTER I left home https://www.timberwolfequip.com/tw-5e-log-splitter/  I was home on leave and helped him cut wood, I could barley keep up with it and all I was doing was rolling the log over and picking up split stuff and throwing in the truck.

They are made in the USA I know you and the Chinaperson have a thing going now.

Offline JR

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #484 on: December 31, 2018, 01:36:15 PM »
Looks like a lot of machines to chose from, but is a fully auto needed? For what they really use a good set of saws and a splitter is all he really needs.

He has the labor on site,,,,,,,,,
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #485 on: December 31, 2018, 02:12:15 PM »
Much like millennials and liberals I find it best to go first class when someone else is paying for it.


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Offline wilsonphil

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #486 on: December 31, 2018, 04:08:41 PM »
Looks like a lot of machines to chose from, but is a fully auto needed? For what they really use a good set of saws and a splitter is all he really needs.

He has the labor on site,,,,,,,,,

Yes he might have labor for the short term, after you pickup a few 100lb log sections it starts to become OLD, throw a few smashed fingers in the mix and those "automatic" features become nice!

Offline Bob Smith

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #487 on: December 31, 2018, 04:22:03 PM »
I really think he needs to feed that thing max length and weight he can handle. The smaller the pieces the faster they burn.

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #488 on: December 31, 2018, 05:10:53 PM »
Go to surplus center and build your own. I've built several with 40 ton rams. The one draw back or change I would make if building one from scratch again (currently have a heavy Ibeam in my shop with a ram mounted and a 4 way head already built) is to push with a solid plate into a 4 way splitter at the end and then have a chute built off the end that would push the split chunks up a ramp and drop it into a trailer. This way you could take trailer over and just stack without bending over to pick it all off the ground. I think imo that is the least expensive and best route. If anyone ever needs help building one I can pick apart what not to do pretty quick on a design, don't ask how...…. :facepalm:
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Offline TexasRedNeck

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #489 on: December 31, 2018, 05:24:19 PM »



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Kids today don't know how easy they have it. When I was young, I had to walk 9 feet through shag carpet to change the TV channel.

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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #490 on: January 12, 2019, 08:15:12 PM »
Update: I am continuing to learn how to run this thing

One thing i learned recently is to load the wood deeper into the burn chamber. Also to cut the wood up to three feet long, although it will eat four foot logs with ease.

Bu doing this and feeding it a diet of just felled two year dead ash, it is staying around 160F for most of the day/night and only after 12+ hours does the temp start to dive. This morning it was holding 135F while it was snowing! Inside the house with OAT in the low 20's it maintained 71-74F which if freakin amazing.

When working in my garage, I throw on the blower and in 20-40 min it is actually getting uncomfortably warm in there.

It appears to be pretty well insulated too!
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #491 on: January 12, 2019, 08:16:01 PM »
Suffered some wind damage...Broke a rivet
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Offline JR

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #492 on: January 12, 2019, 08:55:40 PM »
That is pretty cool its working well. How long until it pays for itself?
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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #493 on: January 12, 2019, 09:08:05 PM »
Stack needs some guide wires
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Offline rpar86

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #494 on: January 13, 2019, 01:53:18 AM »
I believe it is actually “guy” wires.


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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #495 on: January 13, 2019, 08:11:02 AM »
I believe it is actually “guy” wires.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I believe you’re right. However, it is located in the tuck so it’s close enough..... :wink:
Living in the remote north hoping Ken doesn’t bring H up here any time soon…..

Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #496 on: January 13, 2019, 11:42:05 AM »
That is pretty cool its working well. How long until it pays for itself?
Well, let me see if I can field that question...

So winter months, my electric bill runs in the $500 range with a high of usually $750 for the coldest month. That amount pays for obviously the heat pump, and the auxiliary heat coils which activate anytime we fall below 30's. Some of the electric cost is for hot water as well. Now the boiler is doing all the heating and maybe 90% of the hot water.

Now if I look at the bill I get in may, which has no heat not AC expense since all of that is not used, I spend around $170. Of that $170 some of that was the hot water heating. I can only venture a guess, but I think maybe 25% might be fair. So factoring that out, I should have a base electric cost of $127.

So if I average three months out I come up with a monthly electricity cost of $583. We know the actual base electricity cost is $127, so I am looking at a theoretical savings of $456 a month or $1368 for those three months being Dec-Jan-Feb. I suspect that I will also see some savings in November and in March, say half as much or another $456. So I'm looking at saving $1824 per year.

The total cost of everything needed to purchase and install was something under $8000, but lets just use that number. $8000/$1824= 4.4 (ish) years. Let's call 2018/19 winter as the 0.4, which means that by the end of 2023 the system will have paid for itself. Looking forward for ten full years and I would have saved $10,944. The thing has a minimum life of 25 years which means that by using my own fuel supply at no cost, I will save over $45,000 in 2018 dollars.

This thing is a game changer. Another way of looking at it, I could purchase 1,025,788 gallons of sweet tea for free! ;-)
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Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #497 on: January 13, 2019, 11:44:08 AM »
Oh and I have a WBTT (Wood burner technique tip)

Save all the paper products you were trashing and use them in the morning to stoke up the flames when reloading the firey mouth. Turn pizza boxes into BTU's, and increase your carbon footprint so that peeps will remember you!
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
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Offline Bob Smith

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #498 on: January 13, 2019, 12:10:29 PM »
Don, don't know if your figures are right but the winter time warmth in the house/garage is priceless. "O" own fuel cost is a bit low isn't it?

Offline Flyin6

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Re: Wood Fired Boiler Install
« Reply #499 on: January 13, 2019, 01:02:09 PM »
Don, don't know if your figures are right but the winter time warmth in the house/garage is priceless. "O" own fuel cost is a bit low isn't it?
Not really...
I get the wood for free, and I go to from the farm anyway hauling a trailer which now comes topped up with wood, so there really isn't any cost of wood to speak of. Maybe you can argue it costs something for the gas that runs my chain saw, or the cost of getting the chains sharpened...But I would have cut those trees anyway, clearing dead or nuisance trees off the farm. So overlapping costs??? Depends on which column you list them in on the accounting ledger I suppose

And you are so right on the heat. In past winters the howse was chilly while I strived to shave off something from my too big heating bill. Now I am as warm as I want to be. I don't get anxiety while people talk to others with the front door open or leave the garage door open, It's just no longer any deal at all. And working out there in the garage in the warmth with no diesel or kerosene fumes is really nice too.
« Last Edit: January 13, 2019, 01:04:27 PM by Flyin6 »
Site owner    Isaiah 6:8, Psalm 91 
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