Anybody need a boiler?

[Bad Wolf]

I don't need one but I saw this...



Wood Boiler - $5000 (East Haddam)

Date: 2012-08-14, 11:11AM EDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]

Wood burning gasification boiler. 100,000 BTU Econoburn Boiler. Used 1 season. First $5,000.00 takes complete set-up "boiler ,controls,exhaust hood with blower motor,primary piping loop. Installation can be provided for addittional cost.

• Location: East Haddam
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PostingID: 3204802643

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[heaterman]

Wonder what the reason is for selling?

 

[ISeeDeadBTUs]

Too hot already in the house, why would anyone need a boiler?

 

[velvetfoot]

Then, there's this CL ad near me:
(broken link removed to http://catskills.craigslist.org/for/3158352763.html)








Vigas Model 40 Wood Gasification Boiler - $4900 (Northeast Ct)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2012-08-14, 7:21AM EDT
Reply to: [email protected] [Errors when replying to ads?]
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For sale .........A brand new crated Model Vigas model 40 (136k btu) wood gasification boiler.I have a forklift available to load on your truck.I also have a model 60 and 80 in stock.

Physical dimensions are
Weight 1,034 lbs
45" depth
29" wide
54" tall

I will remove this ad when the boiler is sold.
Richard 860 576 3593

 

[woodsmaster]

Wonder what the reason is for selling?

Probably have to sell the house for one reason or another and the boiler don't add any value so may as well sell it. That would be my guess. Im going threw a divorce and thought I might have to sell mine, but I think I'll be able to keep the house now hopefully. I have way more in it than markit value right now.

 

[amateur cutter]

What can anyone tell me about the vigas boilers. Would I need storage to be able to heat 2400 sq ft? A C

 

[nrcrash]

It's a black market Vigas boiler and does not have the ul stickers on them that you would need for your insurance company to cover you and for the local inspectors to sign off on. I'm in the process of installing a Vigas 40 with 1000 gallons of storage to heat my 3500 sqft home. The lambada controls are what sold me on the boilers. The dampers self adjust, unlike the biomass or ekos that have to be adjusted manually. When I started looking into getting a gasifier I almost bought a biomass but after seeing thread after thread on this website about people not being able to get there biomass/eko to burn well I decided that it they where not the boilers for me. Its 2012, time to start burning like it is.

 

[nrcrash]

You don't NEED storage for a Vigas. But you might want to upsize the boiler so that you have the btus when you need it. Depending on you insulation, you might want to think about a 60. Give AHONA a call. They are very helpful.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Yes AC for that size in that zone with doors opening & closing storage would be a must if you value sleep that is. Plenty of threads about members doing a DIY storage with propane tanks. At least that's a place to start. 1000 gal is likely a bare minimum for your shop/house loads. Prob much more comfort/break from firing with 2000.

 

[amateur cutter]

Yes AC for that size in that zone with doors opening & closing storage would be a must if you value sleep that is. Plenty of threads about members doing a DIY storage with propane tanks. At least that's a place to start. 1000 gal is likely a bare minimum for your shop/house loads. Prob much more comfort/break from firing with 2000.

Thanks F C, I'd kinda guessed as much due to the high heat load the shop puts on any type of heating system. I may still go with an owb for space sake, but I think I'm pretty much sold on a gasser for the efficiency/enviro factor. Time & the checkbook will tell the tale as we go along here. Thanks for all the help. A C

 

[Frozen Canuck]

I hear ya AC, for what it's worth I own an OWB & I could not in good conscience recommend one to another person, wish I had found this site a long time ago. There would have been no OWB in my yard. My load up here 2500 sq ft living space no shop, garage or big doors to open. My wood consumption 22 - 25 chords per year. You may get very lucky & just get by with 25 chords with those doors but I am inclinded to think more would be needed. Bogy Dave IIRC was burning 50 chord in his owb in alaska, you will see his thread in here about installing a gasser. (Yep all that wood gets tiring after awhile). Not to mention costly.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

It's a black market Vigas boiler and does not have the ul stickers on them that you would need for your insurance company to cover you and for the local inspectors to sign off on. I'm in the process of installing a Vigas 40 with 1000 gallons of storage to heat my 3500 sqft home. The lambada controls are what sold me on the boilers. The dampers self adjust, unlike the biomass or ekos that have to be adjusted manually. When I started looking into getting a gasifier I almost bought a biomass but after seeing thread after thread on this website about people not being able to get there biomass/eko to burn well I decided that it they where not the boilers for me. Its 2012, time to start burning like it is.

What is a black market boiler?
Looks like the guy on CL has 3 black maket boilers ....

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

You don't NEED storage for a Vigas. But you might want to upsize the boiler so that you have the btus when you need it. Depending on you insulation, you might want to think about a 60. Give AHONA a call. They are very helpful.

ALWAYS storage for any type of cord wood boiler!
ALWAYS return water temperature protection for a cord wood boiler! Do a good heat loss calculation, within 10%, and try to undersize the boiler output slightly.
ALWAYS burn wood that is below 20%, or better 18% in moisture content.
Succes guaranteed.
Did I miss something?

 

[BoilerMan]

I think you hit the nail on the head Marc. Oversize is the worst thing one can do Especially w/o storage, boiler idleing is to be avoided. With storage, boiler output just needs to charge the tanks, the faster the better in most cases from a convienence standpoint.

TS

 

[amateur cutter]

I hear ya AC, for what it's worth I own an OWB & I could not in good conscience recommend one to another person, wish I had found this site a long time ago. There would have been no OWB in my yard. My load up here 2500 sq ft living space no shop, garage or big doors to open. My wood consumption 22 - 25 chords per year. You may get very lucky & just get by with 25 chords with those doors but I am inclinded to think more would be needed. Bogy Dave IIRC was burning 50 chord in his owb in alaska, you will see his thread in here about installing a gasser. (Yep all that wood gets tiring after awhile). Not to mention costly.

20 to 25 full cord of wood? Holy chit! I can be comfortable now with 8-10 cord in my old furnace. People around here tend to burn 5-10 cord in their owb depending on insulation, m c & wood quality. I've got a buddy that runs his 365 days a year for dhw, family of 4 good tight house @ 2500 ft, & he only uses 12 cord a year. Fills the boiler 2X a day in winter, & once every 2-3 days in summer. This is a non gasifier CB 5036 classic I think.

Please understand, I'm not trying to argue or be critical here @ all, just curious as to what I'm missing. I wouldn't spend a nickel on a boiler if I didn't think it would save loading & splitting time, & maybe it wont? A C

 

[hobbyheater]

What can anyone tell me about the vigas boilers.

From a standpoint of refractory, the boiler is simple. The nozzle in the fire box would be easy to change and if necessary could be made by the owner. The lower chamber has a simple arrangement of fire brick.

 

[velvetfoot]

Black market? Wouldn't it be more like 'grey market', like the BMW's of yore. Is the Vigas the BMW of wood boilers?

 

[velvetfoot]

Allan,
You're saying that repairs could be done pretty easily by an owner?
Could replacement parts be purchased, if indeed the unit was 'grey market'?
(Is the possibility that it's grey market even be likely if the unit runs on 120V/60 cycle?)

 

[mikefrommaine]

Black market? Wouldn't it be more like 'grey market', like the BMW's of yore. Is the Vigas the BMW of wood boilers?

No the BioMass Wood boiler is the BMW of boilers.

 

[mikefrommaine]

It's a black market Vigas boiler and does not have the ul stickers on them that you would need for your insurance company to cover you and for the local inspectors to sign off on. I'm in the process of installing a Vigas 40 with 1000 gallons of storage to heat my 3500 sqft home. The lambada controls are what sold me on the boilers. The dampers self adjust, unlike the biomass or ekos that have to be adjusted manually. When I started looking into getting a gasifier I almost bought a biomass but after seeing thread after thread on this website about people not being able to get there biomass/eko to burn well I decided that it they where not the boilers for me. Its 2012, time to start burning like it is.

You don't NEED storage for a Vigas. But you might want to upsize the boiler so that you have the btus when you need it. Depending on you insulation, you might want to think about a 60. Give AHONA a call. They are very helpful.

Nrcrash= undercover vigas salesman?

I personally liked the simplicity of the eko and biomass wood boilers. When adjusted properly, which is easy to do thanks to the the help of the boiler room most seem quite happy with them. I don't recall many threads where people couldn't get them to burn well.

 

[hobbyheater]

20 to 25 full cord of wood? Holy chit! I can be comfortable now with 8-10 cord in my old furnace.

Where I live the climate is very moderate with 5-10 days in January at 5 to 10 degrees F, Mid Oct to end of April on average 35-45 F and this summer only 5 days that have not required heat as we are near the salt water and it is very damp.
Our house is early 70s construction - 3400 sq ft., R12 in the walls and R20 in the ceiling. Our first boiler, like the one pictured below, burned 20 cords a year. Our second one was a cast iron down drafter that burned 16 cords per year which was reduced to 10 cords when storage was added. The Jetstream burns on average 4 1/2 cords per year to supply the same load.
If your old furnace is burning 8-10 cords, a good gasification boiler and storage should burn half of that to supply the same load! A heat loss calculation for the house would be the only true way to determine how much wood you are going to burn.
Have also added a picture of the inside of the chimney after burning 2 cords - gasification burns clean .

 

[hobbyheater]

Allan,
You're saying that repairs could be done pretty easily by an owner?
Could replacement parts be purchased, if indeed the unit was 'grey market'?

The Jetstream boiler that I have has been out of production for some time so I have to make my own refractory components. The nozzle in the Vigas could be made by a good handyman and the fire brick for the lower chamber could be purchased where wood stoves are sold.
http://www.ahona.com/ . No need to purchase parts on the "grey market"!
I have no hands-on experience with the Vigas, but having had to learn how to maintain the refractory on a boiler that is out of production, I like what I see in the simplicity of the Vigas refractory system.

 

[velvetfoot]

Thanks. For my well-insulated 2000 ft2 colonial, I think both subject boilers are too big.
I like what you say about simplicity, but with the lambda, while making some things simple, could be neutralized with one errant voltage spike.

 

[nrcrash]

nope, not a vigas salesman.

I just took a look at the top threads on this forum and one is "fine tuning a eko" the other is ...... wait for it..... "fine tuning a biomass". I didn't notice the "fine tuning a boiler with lambada". I agree, this website is great and everyone if very helpful. But if I can buy a boiler for a little more money the adjusts itself and not have to worry about having to read thread after thread on what worked for people with this height chimney and what work for someone that was burning oak compared to pine, I am going to by spend the extra money.

Don't get me wrong, my set up isn't even running yet. But I haven't seen one person complain about how a vigas burns yet. I like the idea of self adjusting, instead of having to babysit my boiler. Like you said mikefrommaine- "most people seem quite happy with them". I didn't want to chance it.

I had a mini bike when i was growing up, where I had to adjust the carburetor from time to time to get it running correctly. I don't recall that problem in my friends BMW............

I love this website, everyone is very helpful. Everyone also loves to argue and express their different options.

 

[PassionForFire&Water]

nope, not a vigas salesman.

I just took a look at the top threads on this forum and one is "fine tuning a eko" the other is ...... wait for it..... "fine tuning a biomass". I didn't notice the "fine tuning a boiler with lambada". .

Lambada is a Latin dance