Varmintmist
Platinum Member
Re: Outdoor wood boilers
BTW, mine is a stainless steel firebox, and a dual fuel unit. If you dont go dual fuel then you have to have a backup in the house, or never leave home in the winter.
Ther drier the wood, the less smoke and the longer the burn time. When you first fill it and the damper opens, it will smoke a lot. When the damper shuts, it will choke down to just a wisp because the air is cut off and it goes to a smolder. Once the moisture is out of the wood it will blow a nice blue smoke when the damper opens.
You can burn anything in them, but cured dry wood makes more heat per pound.
In cold weather I mostly have to fill it in the morning and after supper. When it is like it is now, it depends. Once a day when its 60 in the day and 30 at night. If the temp is 70 in the day and high 40's at night, it will go a day and a half 2 days. I mostly cut off the heat exchanger for the upstairs when its warm, because the radient heat in the basement floor holds the upstairs of the house at around 70. That increases my burn time because the heat is not bleeding into the ductwork.
If you do get one, insulate the incoming pipes and the manifolds if you go radient. Keeping the heat in the pipes will increase your burn time, and let your zones work. If you dont insulate the incoming pipes and the manifolds then you will leech heat into wherever the pipe comes in, making it HOT and increasing your wood usage. I posted pics before of the manifold and pipes coming in, I'll see if I can find then, or I'll just post them again.
BTW, mine is a stainless steel firebox, and a dual fuel unit. If you dont go dual fuel then you have to have a backup in the house, or never leave home in the winter.
Ther drier the wood, the less smoke and the longer the burn time. When you first fill it and the damper opens, it will smoke a lot. When the damper shuts, it will choke down to just a wisp because the air is cut off and it goes to a smolder. Once the moisture is out of the wood it will blow a nice blue smoke when the damper opens.
You can burn anything in them, but cured dry wood makes more heat per pound.
In cold weather I mostly have to fill it in the morning and after supper. When it is like it is now, it depends. Once a day when its 60 in the day and 30 at night. If the temp is 70 in the day and high 40's at night, it will go a day and a half 2 days. I mostly cut off the heat exchanger for the upstairs when its warm, because the radient heat in the basement floor holds the upstairs of the house at around 70. That increases my burn time because the heat is not bleeding into the ductwork.
If you do get one, insulate the incoming pipes and the manifolds if you go radient. Keeping the heat in the pipes will increase your burn time, and let your zones work. If you dont insulate the incoming pipes and the manifolds then you will leech heat into wherever the pipe comes in, making it HOT and increasing your wood usage. I posted pics before of the manifold and pipes coming in, I'll see if I can find then, or I'll just post them again.
