Hello! Well, like most people the rising cost of oil has me looking into heating alternatives. I have wood-burning experience having grown up during the 70's energy crunch; my dad installed two wood stoves which I obviously took care of as did everyone else in the home. My first home when I first got married in 1988 was a small ranch that was set up for electric heat. I imediately installed a Consolidated Dutchwest Convection heater in the basement and we heated exclusively with wood (6 to 8 cords/year) for 14+ years.
In 2003 I built our current home which has approximately 2,000 square feet of living area and a 364 square foot loft area. I designed the house with an open floor plan (Kitchen, dining and living room open, cathedral ceiling above the living room area and the loft above the kitchen and dining). I have radiant floor heat everywhere ecept the 3 bedrooms (baseboard) and the loft. I also heat 1,400 square feet of my basement with the radiant as well. I have a Buderus boiler and enough plumping and pumps to make a submariner feel right at home! I went through 900 gallons of oil last year (including domestic hot water) and we keep the house around 70 to 72.
I have an unused flue in my chimney in the basement so my thought was leaning towards an indoor boiler tied in with my current system. I am sure I will have a lot of questions as I go along, but this appears to be the community to tap for knowledge. For now, I do have a couple of questions:
1. Most of my research so far has indicated that I will burn considerably less wood with a gasification type boiler than one would expect. Our old house was a small ranch and we went through a lot (in my mind) of wood there. My wife has fears of using even more to heat our new larger home. In our old house we were relying on convection to heat the air, in this case we'd be heating the water which would be a big difference in my mind; comments?
2. I'd be interested to see if any other members here are close to my location (Warren, MA) and would be willing to share their experience in boiler selection, dealer selection & service, and use; maybe even giving me a tour of their set-up?
3. What kind of efficency numbers can I really expect out of a gasification-type boiler?
That's about it for now; I'm sure there will be more to come. Thank you in advance for your help!
In 2003 I built our current home which has approximately 2,000 square feet of living area and a 364 square foot loft area. I designed the house with an open floor plan (Kitchen, dining and living room open, cathedral ceiling above the living room area and the loft above the kitchen and dining). I have radiant floor heat everywhere ecept the 3 bedrooms (baseboard) and the loft. I also heat 1,400 square feet of my basement with the radiant as well. I have a Buderus boiler and enough plumping and pumps to make a submariner feel right at home! I went through 900 gallons of oil last year (including domestic hot water) and we keep the house around 70 to 72.
I have an unused flue in my chimney in the basement so my thought was leaning towards an indoor boiler tied in with my current system. I am sure I will have a lot of questions as I go along, but this appears to be the community to tap for knowledge. For now, I do have a couple of questions:
1. Most of my research so far has indicated that I will burn considerably less wood with a gasification type boiler than one would expect. Our old house was a small ranch and we went through a lot (in my mind) of wood there. My wife has fears of using even more to heat our new larger home. In our old house we were relying on convection to heat the air, in this case we'd be heating the water which would be a big difference in my mind; comments?
2. I'd be interested to see if any other members here are close to my location (Warren, MA) and would be willing to share their experience in boiler selection, dealer selection & service, and use; maybe even giving me a tour of their set-up?
3. What kind of efficency numbers can I really expect out of a gasification-type boiler?
That's about it for now; I'm sure there will be more to come. Thank you in advance for your help!