Homegrown water heater

[tkirk22]

I'm thinking about pulling excess heat off of a wood insert to heat a 200sf room in the basement and also a water storage tank. The insert is in a centrally located fireplace and directly above the room I want to heat. There is an ash dump below the insert that leads to the basement so plumbing is easy.

The system I am thinking of would have a copper heat exchanger mounted on either stainless plate or a rock slab near the sides of the insert. It would never get near boiling point. I would run copper lines down the ash dump to a 60,000 btu radiator with a fan. Then the line would run to a 20 or 30 gallon stainless water storage tank.

I would also like a variable speed pump tied to the stoves heat exchanger's temperature (The hotter it gets the faster the pump runs). The fan on the radiator would be tied to the basement room thermostat and the temperature of the radiator. The hot water tank is nearby so I'm considering plumbing that directly into the storage tank.

For safety, I would have an automatic air bleeder and a temp/pressure relief valve. The hearth is designed in such a way that any water leak would run down the ash pit and into the basement which is designed to handle water.

Where can I find a small variable speed pump and temperature controller?

Any comments or opinions?

 

[Willman]

Any comments or opinions?

I saw a heat exchanger like you detailed on Ebay I think. Its made of stainless. Maybe add a small x tank.
Will

 

[Redox]

I don't think you are going to get anywhere near 60K out of it. There might be enough to heat a water heater up over a long period of time, but not much else...

Chris

 

[tkirk22]

I don't think you are going to get anywhere near 60K out of it. There might be enough to heat a water heater up over a long period of time, but not much else...

Chris

Oh, I don't expect to...or need to. I just want to get rid of the electric baseboards and hopefully be able to raise the air temp 10 degrees to 60F. It's the rear heater out of a school bus that I happen to have in my big pile of 'stuff' to keep for some use some day. A nice little unit actually. I also have several stainless tanks that can hold the pressure.

What do you guys think? Good or bad idea?