Buderus

[maple1]

Long burn times are not something to be touted or really sought after with a boiler, generally speaking. That can only be accomplished by extended smoldering which will dramatically increase creosote production. Especially with wet wood. Stoves maybe - but it's a real catch-22 with a water cooled firebox.

That boiler would likely see a big improvement from adding storage to it. You could try using the house as storage by turning up the stats while burning. But that will give you temp swings. My boiler, and most typical gasifiers, also have around a four hour burn time. But the heat gets sent to storage and used later.

 

[skfire]

Before you put the cart before the horse do yourself a favor and work off the following data:

a)heat loss calc
b)requirements of emiters in place or future adds
c)condition of chimney and draft(if no fan on future boiler)
d)schedule of feedings based on lifestyle
e)physical capacity for storage
f) based on the above , boiler sizing
g)price & r.o.i.
h)ability to maintain a steady supply of seasoned fuel

It will be a miserable experience should you embark on a mission without at least the above criteria considered.

I am sure the crew in here will add a few more valuable nuggets and words of wisdom.

let us know if you need any help along the way...we have climbed that hill.

Scott

 

[Mike44]

Wow, that's a lot of data I have no idea about or feel comfortable figuring out on my own. Does any one know any one in th Rhode Island area that is knowledgeable in those areas?

 

[Mike44]

I see some people stating they only load there out door boilers one time a day on average? Do those smolder a lot or are they not telling the whole truth?

 

[maple1]

They smolder a lot. And hold a lot of wood. And waste quite a bit of it.

 

[Mike44]

I would assume that by emitter requirements, I have measure how much baseboard I have? The chimney is good shape its masonry and 15 years old. Feeding schedule 3-4 hours during the day is good but more important is night time feeding I'd like to get 8 hrs..

 

[Mike44]

Wood supply is not much of an issue. My oiler boiler was sized I'm told correctly at 140k btu's. Price is always a concern. Heat loss calc. I will figure that out, I guess I can google how to do that.

 

[skfire]

Mike did not mean to overload you..
as Maple said, storage may just do the trick, but knowing what your system needs to efficiently function is a good idea.
Obviously you have base board, so your operating temps maybe in the 160s at design temps.
If you have any old bills for oil/gas usage over a winter month, you could get a decent idea of your demand. This will then give you an idea of the Btu/hr your system demands and then that makes the solution avenues a bit clearer, ie size of storage to accomodate maybe your current boiler...
If you give us some more data, this can be a lot easier in deciphering and then implementing a range of solutions.
you are in the right place...do some research in this forum and you will pleasantly surprised at the info.
Scott

 

[Mike44]

Thank all of you for help. Don't worry about Over loading me, this is not my area of expertise that's all so it'll take me bit to figure it out. I don't have any old bills we just moved in the end of last year.

 

[Hydronics]

I used to have a Buderus (cast iron sections) updraft boiler without thermal storage. It would easily go 8 hours with well seasoned wood. I had it in an out building with only a 12' stack and no issues with draft. Is the outlet damper fully open? It's on the boiler stack outlet. It's adjustable to reduce excessive draft.
As a side note, those boilers are actually best suited for burning anthracite coal. Give it a try if it's available near you.

 

[Mike44]

When you ran your boiler, that was 8 hrs. Burn time or were you using heated water from storage tank to get 8 hrs.? I have used coal before is it difficult to use? One last question why did you get rid of that boiler?

 

[R Mannino]

I would assume that by emitter requirements, I have measure how much baseboard I have? The chimney is good shape its masonry and 15 years old. Feeding schedule 3-4 hours during the day is good but more important is night time feeding I'd like to get 8 hrs..

Assuming it's regular baseboard, (not cast iron) if you measure the length of all the element (emitters) and multiply by 500 that will give you a pretty good idea (BTU's) of how much heat your boiler will be able to shed to the house assuming all of it is being used. Sorry for the run on sentence. 140K seems high for a heat loss even for 3600 sq ft in RI. I bet the baseboard comes in way less than 140K.

 

[Mike44]

The number I came up with was 115,000 plus a moline heater hanging in the garage. I don't see a btu rating on that.

 

[Mike44]

They are regular baseboard.

 

[Mike44]

I got a load of oak pallets and got a fire going that still smoked up my house! I have chimney sweep coming on the24th. I split some of oak logs and checked the moisture and got reads of 28 -30. Is that to high to burn?

 

[skfire]

I got a load of oak pallets and got a fire going that still smoked up my house! I have chimney sweep coming on the24th. I split some of oak logs and checked the moisture and got reads of 28 -30. Is that to high to burn?

oak pallets? Dry?
28-30 is terrible, at least for me
I burn 10-15

 

[maple1]

I got a load of oak pallets and got a fire going that still smoked up my house! I have chimney sweep coming on the24th. I split some of oak logs and checked the moisture and got reads of 28 -30. Is that to high to burn?

Yes, especially when you also consider that the accuracy of moisture meter readings goes out the window when you get to the 30 range.

You would likely be better off saving that stuff for next year & buying biobricks or similar for this year if you still want to burn in the buderus. Or finding a mountain of pallets to cut up. BTW if you've got creosote buildup bad, a hot pallet fire might light it off then you'll really be in a sticky situation.

 

[Hydronics]

When you ran your boiler, that was 8 hrs. Burn time or were you using heated water from storage tank to get 8 hrs.? I have used coal before is it difficult to use? One last question why did you get rid of that boiler?

I didn't have storage so yes, 8 hr burn time, it only had a 1.5 cu ft firebox as I recall. I sold it to upgrade to a gasifier. Regarding coal, a friend of mine runs it in his and likes it, it will put out more btus on coal.