i'm having a wood boiler installed, new yorker wc 90, and was pondering the idea of adding water storage. can i use an electric hot water heater as a storage tank ( i dont have electric hot water was thinking of picking up a used heater and just using it for a tank), is this possible? i was thinking for domestic water, but if anybody has another idea would love to hear, thanks
water storage
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For the effort a standard hot water heater is not enough storage. Something in a minimum 300+ gallon would be better but I think you will find in this forum that most prefer nothing less than 500 gallon. Do a search (upper left hand corner of this page) for storage and you will find a load of information. Don't be overwhelmed. Just read some of the comments and you will start coming up with a course of action.
Go big or go home. Anything less than 500 gallons won't get you 5 positive comments on this site.
That being said, I did exactly what you are talking about. I had a spare hot water tank (60 gallon) when I was installing my Econoburn, and plumbed it in where I will eventually have about 1000 gallons. It had a small leak when I tried to start my system, so I closed my isolating ball valves to/from the tank. I had a few overheats when I was learning how big of a fire to make, and when my house didn't need a lot of heat. My boiler water temp would rise and fall relatively quickly. But when I fixed the leak and put the little 60 gallon tank in line with my heating loop - what a difference! I've only had one overheat since (over 12 months) and it really dampens the water temp rise and fall rates.
I'm looking forward to finding some large tanks that I can squeeze down my basement stairs (maybe four 250 gallon propane tanks?) and making my storage all the more effective. Then I will be able to run fewer fires, with larger loads and with my fan on full speed (better efficiency).
Happy burning with yours!
That being said, I did exactly what you are talking about. I had a spare hot water tank (60 gallon) when I was installing my Econoburn, and plumbed it in where I will eventually have about 1000 gallons. It had a small leak when I tried to start my system, so I closed my isolating ball valves to/from the tank. I had a few overheats when I was learning how big of a fire to make, and when my house didn't need a lot of heat. My boiler water temp would rise and fall relatively quickly. But when I fixed the leak and put the little 60 gallon tank in line with my heating loop - what a difference! I've only had one overheat since (over 12 months) and it really dampens the water temp rise and fall rates.
I'm looking forward to finding some large tanks that I can squeeze down my basement stairs (maybe four 250 gallon propane tanks?) and making my storage all the more effective. Then I will be able to run fewer fires, with larger loads and with my fan on full speed (better efficiency).
Happy burning with yours!
Ok so if am understanding this correctly, you are not going to use the hot water tank for DHW?
If you can find a cheap or even free hot water tank, electric or gas, it would be a great idea to have a "buffer tank". Its not going to provide much storage, per say but it will help to reduce boiler temp fluctuations. More storage up to 10 times your boilers hourly output will add convienence to your total system.
If you can find a cheap or even free hot water tank, electric or gas, it would be a great idea to have a "buffer tank". Its not going to provide much storage, per say but it will help to reduce boiler temp fluctuations. More storage up to 10 times your boilers hourly output will add convienence to your total system.
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