# New gasification system looking for information



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

I am in the process of replacing my Irleh 40 and possibly getting a vedolux 37 for my home. I am looking to get 1000gal of storage as well. My home is about 2500 sq ft and I live in northern PA. I figure the heat loss to be between 25K BTU/hr and 50k BTU/hr. I am looking to have my storage last 12 hours in most cases and no less than 8 hours due to my work schedule. So with the peak load of 50K BTU/hr I NEED it to last minimun of 12 hours. Can I accomplish this with the vedolux 37?. I am tempted to go to the larger natural draft boiler from veribronan but I am concerned that I may not have enought draft and there may be more smoke involved inside the house. I am open to other ideas as well. Any advice that is offer will be much apreciated...I look forward to contributing to this foum as I gain more expirience. So far my expirience with my Irleh 40 has not been favorable.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 15, 2013)

What do you have for a chimney? Mine is 30 feet tall (stainless chimney), give or take a couple of feet. I have the UB 40 natural draft model - I think I'd get by with 25 feet but I'm on an open hilltop so your particular situation might vary. Best way to tell is to get a Dwyer manometer and hook it up while your burning now and see what it says - that's what I did to be sure. I easily get 0.1" of draft minimum, and never did bother sealing up my smoke pipe joints.

You should have no problem getting that long between burns with 1000 gallons of storage and a 37. My house is 2700 sq.ft. in two stories (over a 1500 sq.ft. basement). My typical routine is light a fire around suppertime, re-load it maybe 3.5-4 hours later. That does it until suppertime the next day. During the coldest spells this winter, I lit earlier (around noon) and burned three loads instead of 2. I only have 660 gallons of storage. Even the couple of times I got caught out & didn't get my fire lit as soon as I usually would have, the house was still lots warm - just that the storage got down farther than usual. Those couple of cases called for another partial reload. The 37 is rated a bit higher output than my 40 - so I have no doubt the 37 plus 1000 gallons will do what you need it to do.

On the smoke issue with natural draft - as long as you don't open the fire door with the bypass closed, there will be none. The draft pulling from the chimney ensures it all goes up rather than out. I have lately taken to lighting my fire with the bottom ash hatch out (my idea - not suggested in manual) - it seems to get the fire going quicker by giving a direct path for air to the bottom of the fire and up & out thru the bypass. I will get smoke come out if I forget, and open the fire door before putting the ash hatch back in place. But operating normally I get no smoke out the door - which allowed me to do away with the cobbled up smoke hood I had in place with my old unit.

Good luck!


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

My chimney is 24' tall and it is a regular 8x8 clay lined block chimney. I like the way the 37 operates but I am trying to view all my options. When I first got my Irleh 40 I thought it was going to be great but I have had quite a few issues with it. Mostly ash buildup causing it not to gasify. The design is also very difficult to clean. I would switch back to a coal unit but I have so much wood that needs to be burned on my property. Thanks for the info.


----------



## Coal Reaper (Feb 15, 2013)

same situation as me.  i am 2400sqft with cathedral ceilings in NWNJ.  i will be getting 1000 gallons storage and 37 and hope to be able to run through most of the winter on 2 full reloads of oak/locust in a 24 hour period.  i may have to do a little more when temps are single digits or even teens, but that is not often so its acceptable to me.  the 37 will transfer slightly less than half million btu to storage throughout a full burn and the ub50 slightly more.  if you havent already done so, i suggest go see dean at smokeless heat.  great guy and will show a 37 and a lambda running as well as what he has in the warehouse.  they are all very easy to clean and simply to operate.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

I am working with Dean at smokelessheat.com his custtomer service is OUTSTANDING! I just want to go into this purchase fully informed so I do not regret my decision.


----------



## Nofossil (Feb 15, 2013)

The way I look at it the size of the boiler has nothing to do with your primary question about how long storage can keep your house warm. The main determination of that is the minimum water temperature at which your system can deliver 50k BTU/hr into your living space. at 50k per hour for 12 hours, you'll need 600,000 BTU of usable heat energy in storage. Assuming 1000 gallons of pressurized storage at 180 degrees, 600,000 BTU will take your tank down to 106 degrees. Unless you're heating with low temperature radiant, you're not going to get 50k BTU/hr out of water anywhere near that cool.

My guess is that there's some 'wiggle room' in all of this. In your worst-case really cold day, could you load the boiler before you leave the house? The boiler could then keep the house warm for the next few hours while it tops off the storage tank. It's also usually the case that the highest heat load is at night. Unless you work third shift, you're home at night. The heat load during the day is typically much less, especially if you have southern exposure.

 Dean should be able to give you good guidance - he knows his stuff.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 15, 2013)

This might sound biased - but my experience in using mine now since early October, combined with all the research I did in my decision making plus what I've read & seen on here since from others in the use of their boilers, has me convinced that there is no boiler that is easier to clean than the Varms. There are vids of it out there. An easy 10 minutes has my turbulators in and out, and my tubes clean, plus my chambers cleaned of ash. I can & have even pulled my turbs out while burning. Not sure why you'd NEED to do that, but it makes for easier tuning in being able to put in & out while burning (say you didn't realize until after lighting how warmer it was outside since you burned last and you want to quickly pull one out to compensate for resulting lower draft) - plus if for some reason you find the need to get some ash out of the tubes while you've got a fire going, you can simply open the door, hook the turbs with the hook tool, and move/slide them in & out some to get rid of a lot of it from the tubes. I don't think you'd want to try brushing the tubes while burning though - pretty sure you'd end up with a burned out brush by the time you got it pushed down close to the gassing chamber. Not sure you can do that with the 37 and it's fan running. Doesn't matter much anyway, but just kind of shows how service-friendly these things are. I stuck my neck out and bought mine from 1500 miles away sight unseen with not one regret yet.


----------



## Coal Reaper (Feb 15, 2013)

Right on with both these guys. I was figuring on the same thing. If i have to start a fire when i get home from work and reload before bed it aint that big of a deal for the few days of the year its required. Does dean know when he will be getting more 37s in?


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

Glad to hear all the reassuance on the varm! I can see that the maintenence, and lighting proceedures are very easy! I also agree that burning two fires at night is not a big deal. My major concern is that the storage can hold 8 hours on very cold days and 12 hours on most days. I do not however want to be trying to burn 4 loads a day! At most I can burn 2 loads at night and one in the morning before I leave. I am nearly set on the 37 (just have to convince the wife which can be difficult since we have had trouble with our Irleh).


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

So between a Vedolux 37 and Vedolux 50 UB? What are the pros and cons of each?   Maple do you run an draft fan with yours to get your fires started?


----------



## maple1 (Feb 15, 2013)

No - no draft fan at all. It's a bit slower to get started without one as the fire has to build the draft up. I've been refining my firestarting routine since I got it though, and think I almost have it nailed - see my first post. I just lit a half hour ago - very quick now to get up & going. I get my kindling in with some paper underneath, and light that from underneath through the nozzle with a torch & with the ash door out. With the ash door out & the fire door closed, a good draft gets going almost right away as it is a straight clear open shot from the bottom to the top for the air to come in & get going up through the kindling. If it's a sluggish day outside, I'll light a ball of paper first on top of the wood to get the draft started. Then while that's going on I get the rest of my load ready to put in - I usually re-split some stuff smaller with my electric splitter for the first load. Then I put the ash door in, open the fire door, load it up, close the fire door, & close the bypass damper. Away to the races. This thing couldn't be simpler - no controls, no electricity (aside from the circulator).


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

I really like the idea of simple, but by being too simple I am afraid that I will have to "figure the stove out". After seeing Dean light the 37 I almost feel like an expert. LOL Anyway I am scared of going with the natuarl draft since my chimney is near the minimum requirements and it is on the outside of my house. I have never checked it with a manometer so I cannot be certain I even meet the requirements. Since my current stove is inoperable without a door latch I need to make a decision soon and I am unable to check the draft.

If the 50 works as well as the 37 and does not need electricity to run it seems like a no brainer! Does anyone see any problem with adding a small draft fan if it turns out that I do not have enough natural draft?


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

Nofossil said:


> The way I look at it the size of the boiler has nothing to do with your primary question about how long storage can keep your house warm. The main determination of that is the minimum water temperature at which your system can deliver 50k BTU/hr into your living space. at 50k per hour for 12 hours, you'll need 600,000 BTU of usable heat energy in storage. Assuming 1000 gallons of pressurized storage at 180 degrees, 600,000 BTU will take your tank down to 106 degrees. Unless you're heating with low temperature radiant, you're not going to get 50k BTU/hr out of water anywhere near that cool.
> 
> My guess is that there's some 'wiggle room' in all of this. In your worst-case really cold day, could you load the boiler before you leave the house? The boiler could then keep the house warm for the next few hours while it tops off the storage tank. It's also usually the case that the highest heat load is at night. Unless you work third shift, you're home at night. The heat load during the day is typically much less, especially if you have southern exposure.
> 
> Dean should be able to give you good guidance - he knows his stuff.


 
Dean is a huge help!

The size of the boiler just determine how many fires I must lite in a day. And since I am going to have the storage to hold it the bigger the better in my mind.

I do think there is a little wiggle room but I would not mind having a little extra capacity in case I decide to add a garage to the heat load in the future. As far as heat distubution I have an air handler with a 150 BTU coil in it. for half the house and the other half I have radient floor heat in which I run at full temp, but I am being told it would be best to temper that down to 150 degrees.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 15, 2013)

I think if I wasn't sure about the draft, I'd go with the 37 to be sure. It does sound like you'd be marginal with a 24' outside chimney. I was told that some put draft inducers on to help with startup, but I didn't and am happy with it. I've also heard some say on here that draft inducers don't work very good.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 15, 2013)

I live nearly ontop of a hill so I may very well have enough but if I don't then I would like a backup plan just in case. The more I think about it the more I think the larger boiler would work better for my application. I just want to be sure. I will be on my way to see Dean at smoklessheat.com in the morning hopefully make a desicion. Any last minute thoughts or advice would be appreciated. I do not hear of anyone that is unhappy with their varm so I feel good about making the purchase one way or another.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 16, 2013)

The only other thing I can think to say is - I don't think he'll steer you wrong, so take his advice. I think he used a 50 for a while at his place, so he should be able to give you an honest assessment. You're in good hands - keep us posted.


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 16, 2013)

Agree, I think Dean will do you right.  Sorry to hear the IRLEH wasnt a good experience for you.  If you are on the fence, I would go with the 37, just to avoid having to tweak (especially if your wife will ever be running the boiler). 

Or you could go with this guy:

http://www.smokelessheat.com/gasification-boilers/vedolux-lambda

It comes in 35kw and 45kw outputs, along with the big guy 65 kw. 

That way you get a higher output boiler, and super ease of use.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 16, 2013)

Clarkbug said:


> Agree, I think Dean will do you right.  Sorry to hear the IRLEH wasnt a good experience for you.  If you are on the fence, I would go with the 37, just to avoid having to tweak (especially if your wife will ever be running the boiler).
> 
> Or you could go with this guy:
> 
> ...




Still on the fence....leaning towards a 50 mostly because he does not have any 37s available today. Dean says the 50 should nit be to much different than the 37 just have to pull the trigger I guess


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 16, 2013)

I wouldnt make your decision based on if you can nab it right this second...  You want to have this boiler for years to come.

I say pick the features you want, and go from there.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 16, 2013)

Maybe he could come check your draft for you before you decide?

(Not sure how far away you are though).

I wouldn't commit to spending all that cabbage on natural draft until I was sure I had enough draft.

(That lambda boiler is a work of art....)

As I was saying, the 40 does me fine with lots to spare - so I'm sure the 50 with 1000 gallons would do what you want with ease (with enough chimney, of course...).


----------



## arngnick (Feb 16, 2013)

The trip to SmokelessHeat is about 3-3.5 hours so its not too close. I have just returned after spending nearly an entire day with Dean and my wife deciding on what would be best. Although the fact that I could load up the Vedolux 50 did weigh in on my decision as of right now I think it is the better option since I plan to add more heat load in the future and if I can make more BTU's in one burn that is less fires I will have to start in the long run.  I was not able to get 2 500 gal tanks due to space availible so I am going to add 500 to what I have for right now for a total of 700 gal and see how it works. I still plan to add another 500 gal in the future. I expressed great concern over the fact that I may not have enough draft to run the natural draft boiler but Dean assured me that even though I am on the minimal edge there are a few things I can do in case I lack some draft. First thing that I am going to do is add a draft fan for lighting fires and to keep the smoke and dust down. This will be on a timer so after 5 or 10 min the chimney will be warm and I should have plenty of draft. Worst case senerio I have to fill the bottom of my chimney with sand as they recommend or really worst case add some length to my chimney. I cannot wait to fire it for the first time! I have plans to have it burning by Tuesday at the latest so I have some work cut out for me. Thanks for all the advice and support.


----------



## Coal Reaper (Feb 16, 2013)

Tuesday?  Get to work!  
Congrats. I think you will be very happy. Keep us posted and take pics.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 16, 2013)

Yes a lot of work! I will take pics and post them as soon as I have time.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 16, 2013)

That's moving fast - now I won't be the only natural guy on here. Sounds good.

I thought about the 50 too but was pretty sure the 40 would be good for me.

There are a few little tricks to getting them up to speed - dry firestarter being very important. Mainly just fundamental fire starting techniques though. Looking forward to the pics!


----------



## arngnick (Feb 17, 2013)

What a day! Getting the 500 gal stubby in place was a treat and the boiler was fun moving into place as well. So far I am just getting started on the plumbing. If all goes as planned I will start filling the 500 gal tank tomorrow. I know I will have to take a few trips to town for supplys that I keep forgetting. the next couple days will be long.


----------



## Tennman (Feb 17, 2013)

Wow.  Try to avoid cheap Chinese black iron fittings. About half of the cheap fittings I bought I ultimately had to replace because they were so porous I couldn't get them to seal. You're really blazing along.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 18, 2013)

Tennman said:


> Wow. Try to avoid cheap Chinese black iron fittings. About half of the cheap fittings I bought I ultimately had to replace because they were so porous I couldn't get them to seal. You're really blazing along.


 
Thanks for the advice! I will have to watch what I am buying. I am sure the fittings I got at lowes are made in china. I am going to to plumbing store tomorrow.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 18, 2013)

I was stuck with chinese - it's all my supplier had. I picked one 1-1/4 street up at another place (not a plumbing place), that was also chinese - but it definitely looked of poorer quality than the other stuff I was getting, so I didn't even use it. So I think there are varying qualities of chinese fittings.

Use teflon tape AND pipe dope together, and use big wrenches & come right onto them. My ace in the hole turned out to be a bottle of boiler stop leak - if you get a big mess of fittings together & find a couple of small drips, it might be worthwhile to try the stop leak rather than take a whole bunch of stuff back apart to try to get re-sealed.


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 18, 2013)

We like pictures if you have time while you are wrenching away on things.....  And watch that you dont put your boiler stand on backwards...


----------



## maple1 (Feb 18, 2013)

Uh yeah - what he said....


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 18, 2013)

Sorry man, just had to throw that in there......


----------



## arngnick (Feb 19, 2013)

The stand comes already installed on the Vedolux 50 so I am safe. The past 3 days have been long but as of tonight I have the tank and boiler plumbed and filled (I still have to connect my heating zones). I ran into a couple things that required a little extra work during my install...welding bigger ports in my existing tank and several trips to Lowes to get me black iron cut. So since I was at a point where I could safely fire the boiler I did not waste any time before I had to go to work tonight to get a fire started. I adapted the flue box that comes with the boiler to include a draft fan which was a big help in lighting the fire and establishing a strong draft. After a short time with the fan I had a good flame then I let the natural draft take over it did pretty good. I see I have a couple leaks to tend to and need to seal my flue joints but all in all first impression is favorable. I have not wired the loading valve and controls up so I was relying on convection which worked really well. I do not have my heat zones hooked up yet so I am just heating my tanks. By the weekend I should have the heat zones hooked up and everything wired. I am in the process of locating some fin tube for an emergency heat loop but all I can find so far is baseboard heaters so far so I may have to use them. Since I am not fully installed and I do not have all the safeguards in place I will only burn a fire when I am able to babysit it.


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 19, 2013)

You may have to go to a plumbing supply house to get the naked fin tube.  You can buy baseboard and then just try to sell the covers on craigslist to someone who has damaged theirs.....


----------



## arngnick (Feb 19, 2013)

maple1 said:


> I was stuck with chinese - it's all my supplier had. I picked one 1-1/4 street up at another place (not a plumbing place), that was also chinese - but it definitely looked of poorer quality than the other stuff I was getting, so I didn't even use it. So I think there are varying qualities of chinese fittings.
> 
> Use teflon tape AND pipe dope together, and use big wrenches & come right onto them. My ace in the hole turned out to be a bottle of boiler stop leak - if you get a big mess of fittings together & find a couple of small drips, it might be worthwhile to try the stop leak rather than take a whole bunch of stuff back apart to try to get re-sealed.


 
So out of all the fittlings I got most of which were chinese the one that had a leak was the an American made fitting (made less that 15 miles from my house) there was no way I was tearing it apart to fix it and it was a consiterable leak so I got the pressure off and hit it wil my flux core welder...problem solved LOL.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 19, 2013)

Clarkbug said:


> You may have to go to a plumbing supply house to get the naked fin tube. You can buy baseboard and then just try to sell the covers on craigslist to someone who has damaged theirs.....


 
That is probly the route I am going to have to go because no local plubing placed has any...I have not asked if they can order it yet. Time will tell...I am sure there is alod baseboards somewhere that I should be able to find. Time will tell. Thanks


----------



## Fred61 (Feb 20, 2013)

Interesting! Back in the mid sixties I installed a heating system in an A-frame I had at Okemo mountain and I couldn't get baseboard all assembled. I had to purchase the fin tube and the housings separately. I have several feet of fin tube laying around. Where you at?


----------



## arngnick (Feb 20, 2013)

Fred61 said:


> Interesting! Back in the mid sixties I installed a heating system in an A-frame I had at Okemo mountain and I couldn't get baseboard all assembled. I had to purchase the fin tube and the housings separately. I have several feet of fin tube laying around. Where you at?


 
I am in Northern PA


----------



## maple1 (Feb 20, 2013)

It will take a few small fires to dry your ceramics out anyway - so maybe by the time you get those dried out, you'll have the rest of the system ready for a full burn. Don't forget the pics! (Especially of the draft fan setup...). Dean likely also mentioned, you can tune the draft by changing up your turbs. I cut all 3 of mine in half with a chop saw. I've got 3 halves in the 3 longer tubes, and usually one half in the centre upper tube. With the (somewhat) milder weather the past couple of days, I pulled the top one out so right now I'm just running the three half turbs in the long tubes.

Last time I bought Slant Fin, I think I had a choice between buying it already assembled, or in separate pieces. That was a few years ago now.


----------



## Fred61 (Feb 20, 2013)

arngnick said:


> I am in Northern PA


 Too far away!


----------



## arngnick (Feb 20, 2013)

maple1 said:


> It will take a few small fires to dry your ceramics out anyway - so maybe by the time you get those dried out, you'll have the rest of the system ready for a full burn. Don't forget the pics! (Especially of the draft fan setup...). Dean likely also mentioned, you can tune the draft by changing up your turbs. I cut all 3 of mine in half with a chop saw. I've got 3 halves in the 3 longer tubes, and usually one half in the centre upper tube. With the (somewhat) milder weather the past couple of days, I pulled the top one out so right now I'm just running the three half turbs in the long tubes.
> 
> Last time I bought Slant Fin, I think I had a choice between buying it already assembled, or in separate pieces. That was a few years ago now.


 

Things have been crazy I will get pics as soon as I have a semi clean area then get them posted. Still alot of work to go.   

The only piece of stovepipe I have on the stove is an elbow so I am actually thinking about getting some large steel pipe and extending the box so it is one solid piece then I will never have to replace stovepipe again.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 21, 2013)

I installed my manometer today to see how much draft I was getting compared to the minimum required value in the manual. It looks like I am still a little low. During the cycle of a burn my draft currently ranges between .05 and .1 inWC compared to the reccomeded minimum of .09. I need to make sure the chimney is clean with no obstructions and my first effort will be to fill the bottom of the chimney with sand. Unless this greatly improves my draft I think I will extend my chimney by 2 ft during the summer.

Plans for today are to plumb the heat zones and wire in the control for the loading valve. then get things cleaned up so I can get you guys some pictures.


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 23, 2013)

You might need to pull out some of your turbs like maple mentioned in order to help tune your draft a bit. 

Have your burns been OK so far?  What were the outdoor temps when you took your readings?


----------



## arngnick (Feb 23, 2013)

Dean told me to start burning without any turbs so thats what I have been doing. The outside temps have been been between 20-35 degrees mostly about 30. I have had consistant draft readings up to .11 inwc. but mostly around .07 inwc. When I get some time I am going to fille the bittom of my chimney to see if that helps.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 23, 2013)




----------



## arngnick (Feb 23, 2013)




----------



## arngnick (Feb 23, 2013)

This is the blower box that I welded to the flue. I need to get some things sealed up...tape was the only thing I could grab when I lit it for the first time.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 23, 2013)

1


----------



## arngnick (Feb 23, 2013)

So I finally got you guys a few pictures. I still have alot of work to do but the system is mostly functional. I have some stuff on order to add my emaergency heat dump and a plate exchanger for domestic water. I also have foam on order to get the tank insulated this should help alot! Everything should be here next week.


----------



## Floydian (Feb 23, 2013)

Looks great, arngnick!

That's one speedy Varm install. My install, not so much... but I am _really _happy with my Varm after two months of consistently easy operation.

Best of luck with that sweet new natural draft gasser,
Noah


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 25, 2013)

Very fast install Nick!

Why the pipe connecting the top and bottom ports in your second pic?  And I would really find some tape other than the blue painters tape, that could get too hot pretty easily and smoke/burst into flames.


----------



## arngnick (Feb 25, 2013)

Clarkbug said:


> Very fast install Nick!
> 
> Why the pipe connecting the top and bottom ports in your second pic? And I would really find some tape other than the blue painters tape, that could get too hot pretty easily and smoke/burst into flames.


 
That pipe is not actually connecting the top and bottom port but it is where I am going to hook the return of my emergency heat dump when I get the materials. I know about the tape ...I am actulally impressed that it is not even discolored. I and going to get the sealed up properly really soon!


----------



## maple1 (Feb 25, 2013)

Pretty impressed with how fast you got up & going. Mine was months in the making - and I'm still not calling it finished.

Keep an eye out for air gathering in places while it works its way out of the system. I had some gather then slip into my piping & airlock a couple of my zones early on - I got lazy about staying on top of my air bleeding out of top of storage.

Good luck!


----------



## arngnick (Feb 25, 2013)

I have an air scoop on one of my highest lines so that should help. It took me 5 trips to lows to have theiron cut to length and the last was because I measured wrong. I still have alot to do but at least it is keeping me warm for now. Thanks again for all the help! I will likely need more advice moving forward. I origionally said there is no way I would consider batch burning but I have really warmed up the the idea given the potential flexibility it can offer.


----------



## maple1 (Feb 25, 2013)

I have more than one air scoop & vent on my system piping at high points, but the very top of storage seems to be a pretty good place for air to accumulate. Of course, if I had an auto-vent there rather than a valve, I wouldn't have had it sneak up on me like it did. But I chose to put a valve there for easier bleeding/draining.

If there is any way you can squeeze in more storage later you'll get even more flexibility out of the batch burning, especially with that bigger boiler. I'm still trying to figure out if I can shoehorn in one or two more 110 gallon tanks to my setup, but haven't quite figured out if I can or not - I think I've pretty well decided to just stay with what I have, unless a revelation hits me.


----------



## Clarkbug (Feb 25, 2013)

Glad its going well Nick!  I hope it gives you less trouble than your old boiler...


----------



## arngnick (Mar 1, 2013)

I know Ihave only had this thing for a couple weeks but this thing is awesome! I am actually hoping for cold weather so I can fireit more often. The other day I was able to coast without a fire for 16 hours on storage. on 30-40 degree weather. Between the boiler working so well and the convienience of the storage it seems to be great! I am looking for ways to expand my storage already just to add more capacity! Thanks to Dean at SmokeLessHeat.com and everyone on here for the advice and reccomending the Varm. I am impressed everytime I light a fire!

Maple: I recomened the draft fan on a timer! When I have periods of low draft I can use it for 5-10 minutes for easy lighting then once the timer shuts the fan off the chimney is warm and drafing well!


----------



## Coal Reaper (Mar 1, 2013)

i picked up my 37 on monday.  my install is not going to be as speedy as yours but i am excited.


----------



## arngnick (Mar 1, 2013)

Coal Reaper said:


> i picked up my 37 on monday. my install is not going to be as speedy as yours but i am excited.


 
Did you get a new one?


----------



## Coal Reaper (Mar 1, 2013)

no, the show model that dean had on the trailer at one point


----------



## maple1 (Mar 1, 2013)

arngnick said:


> Maple: I recomened the draft fan on a timer! When I have periods of low draft I can use it for 5-10 minutes for easy lighting then once the timer shuts the fan off the chimney is warm and drafing well!


 
That was suggested as a possible option when I got mine. I decided to try it without first. I've now got my firestarting & building routine pretty well nailed so by the time I get my firebox full, I've got full draft going & instant gassing when I close the door & the bypass. If I had a shorter chimney, I'd likely look into it further.

Glad you're liking it - more storage would definitely be your tickiet, if you can swing it.


----------



## arngnick (Mar 1, 2013)

Coal Reaper said:


> no, the show model that dean had on the trailer at one point


 

AHH...SO YOUR THE ONE!   I had my eyes on that but the day I showed up he said it was sold. He offered me the one at his brothers house but in the end I really like the Vedolux 50. I was on the fence between the 2.


----------



## Coal Reaper (Mar 1, 2013)

GUILTY.  i reserved it a day or two before you went there.  i was assuming the one he just listed on the website was his brothers.  i am putting mine in the pole barn and wanted shorter chimney so i went with the 37.


----------



## arngnick (Mar 1, 2013)

Yes I am sure that is his brothers. To be honest I probly would have bought the 37 since I was borderline on my chimney, but the extra output of the 50 really appealed to me as I plan to add more heating space in the future it will also allow me to burn less fires in a day. (I think I can get away with 2 on cold days where I would have done 3 with the 37) I hope you enjoy it I think it worked out better for me in the long run...except I had to buy a full priced model.


----------



## arngnick (Mar 1, 2013)

One quick question for you guys...Can I have storage located in 2 seperate buildings? If so what would be the best way to plumb it? I would assume seperately with 2 seperate loading units.


----------



## Floydian (Mar 1, 2013)

arngnick said:


> One quick question for you guys...Can I have storage located in 2 seperate buildings? If so what would be the best way to plumb it? I would assume seperately with 2 seperate loading units.


 
Dean has (or at least had) storage in two locations at his place. 250 gallons next to the boiler and 500 gallons in his house. You might discuss this with him.

I'm sure there are ways to add storage without adding another loading unit. Maybe post some schematics of what you have and what you want to add.

As far as my Varm, couldn't be happier! After the epic, forever install it has been quite simple in operation.

Noah


----------



## Clarkbug (Mar 9, 2013)

Ooooh, the legions of Varmebaronen owners is growing.... 

Glad to hear that you are enjoying your natural draft model so much Nick.  Its great that its working so well.  Welcome to batch burning.

Noah, did you ever get yourself a setup to get the ashes out of the boiler easily since you arent using the stand?


----------



## Coal Reaper (Mar 9, 2013)

Well the varms are gods gift to gasification, version 2.0.  He got it right this time!


----------



## Floydian (Mar 9, 2013)

Clarkbug said:


> Noah, did you ever get yourself a setup to get the ashes out of the boiler easily since you arent using the stand?


 
Yeah, I've got a 1.5 qt SS bowl that lives under the boiler. I slide it out to catch the tiny amount of ash that I get from brushing the tubes, cleaning the combustion tunnel and the scrapings from the top front area of the ceramic. The last part I do before every fire, then I put 1 or 2 pieces of newspaper there, a couple few sticks of kindling(long enough to extent over the nozzle) over the newspaper and load the boiler up with wood.
With the bypass damper closed, the inner ash hatch in and the fan on, I light it with the torch. 10 to 15 seconds with the torch and almost instant secondary combustion. Smoke free in under 2 minutes!

It takes at least a few weeks to fill the 1.5 qt bowl.

Couldn't be happier, though I am still in the honeymoon phase,

Noah


----------



## heaterman (Mar 10, 2013)

_I figure the heat loss to be between 25K BTU/hr and 50k BTU/hr. I am looking to have my storage last 12 hours in most cases and no less than 8 hours due to my work schedule. So with the peak load of 50K BTU/hr I NEED it to last minimun of 12 hours. Can I accomplish this with the vedolux 37?_

I did not take the time to read through this post but your basic question has more to do with your storage capacity than with the size or type of boiler.

A 50K load (assuming design conditions) is not all that much so a boiler with 35-50KW output will leave you with enough horsepower to heat the structure and dump some heat into your storage. The thing to keep in front of you as you make your decision is to have the temperature range you need to operate within firmly nailed down. If your heating system will only work with 160 to 180* water your storage capacity has to be much greater than if you can work from say 130 to 180. You may find it advantageous to increase your systems output while working with lower temps rather than going with 1500 gallons of storage needed if you can only swing 20-30*.


----------



## arngnick (Mar 10, 2013)

heaterman said:


> _I figure the heat loss to be between 25K BTU/hr and 50k BTU/hr. I am looking to have my storage last 12 hours in most cases and no less than 8 hours due to my work schedule. So with the peak load of 50K BTU/hr I NEED it to last minimun of 12 hours. Can I accomplish this with the vedolux 37?_
> 
> I did not take the time to read through this post but your basic question has more to do with your storage capacity than with the size or type of boiler.
> 
> A 50K load (assuming design conditions) is not all that much so a boiler with 35-50KW output will leave you with enough horsepower to heat the structure and dump some heat into your storage. The thing to keep in front of you as you make your decision is to have the temperature range you need to operate within firmly nailed down. If your heating system will only work with 160 to 180* water your storage capacity has to be much greater than if you can work from say 130 to 180. You may find it advantageous to increase your systems output while working with lower temps rather than going with 1500 gallons of storage needed if you can only swing 20-30*.


 
Thanks for the info...I did decide on a 50KW unit and I am currently running over 600 gallons with plans to add a couple hundred more. I have been pretty pleased with the setup I can run the top temp up to 200* and get good usable heat down to 140* although I have still been able to get some heat at 120*. I have had no problem burning only 2 fires a day.


----------



## arngnick (Mar 10, 2013)

Since I am planning on adding some more storage I must ask the question can I just add the tanks in series say one pipe running from one to the other on the top and bottom OR must I setup a manifold style on the top and bottom?


----------

