Kristen's 60kW Log Batch Boiler and 5,000L Thermal Store

[Kristen]

In case of interest a load of wood (about 18 tonnes) costs me approx GBP 1,000 (USD 1,400 in Jan 2016) which includes both the cost of the wood and the haulage

 

[JohnDolz]

In case of interest a load of wood (about 18 tonnes) costs me approx GBP 1,000 (USD 1,400 in Jan 2016) which includes both the cost of the wood and the haulage

View attachment 173026

For comparison purposes, in the Connecticut area you can get log length wood including delivery for $100 a cord (approximately 2 tons). Usually comes 5 - 7 cords (or 10 - 14 tons) per load. Not sure what it is in the rest of the US or Canada. If you wnt to burn pine you can get it for free including delivery, the tree guys just want to get rid of it and here in the northeast people are convinced you cannot burn softwood (I personally disagree but don't use much of it for other reasons).

 

[Kristen]

Thanks John. Useful to have a rough conversion ratio from Tonnes to Cords I meant to measure the length and height of my stack, and number of rows, to work out approx how many cords I manage to get out of a delivery. Next time I'm in the barn ...

I guess that about 50% of my cost is haulage, and that fuel here is probably a fair bit more than in the USA? (price has fallen a lot recently, but is currently around GBP 0.99 / Litre - I make that about US$ 5.35 per US Gallon)

 

[JohnDolz]

Thanks John. Useful to have a rough conversion ratio from Tonnes to Cords I meant to measure the length and height of my stack, and number of rows, to work out approx how many cords I manage to get out of a delivery. Next time I'm in the barn ...

I guess that about 50% of my cost is haulage, and that fuel here is probably a fair bit more than in the USA? (price has fallen a lot recently, but is currently around GBP 0.99 / Litre - I make that about US$ 5.35 per US Gallon)

I hate to do this to you, we are about $1.95 a gallon here in CT

 

[Kristen]

I hate to do this to you, we are about $1.95 a gallon here in CT

Hehehe ... yeah, I knew it would be something like that. Can't say I understand it though ... whole world has to get weaned off oil and the sooner you guys start raising prices the faster the whole replace-oil industry / process will run. I don't want to pay any more for fuel than the next person, but I know that we have to reduce oil usage. Mind you, there are lots of things you folk over there have different views on and do different ways to us ... "You think that 200 years is a long time, and we think that 200 miles is a long way"

 

[JohnDolz]

Hehehe ... yeah, I knew it would be something like that. Can't say I understand it though ... whole world has to get weaned off oil and the sooner you guys start raising prices the faster the whole replace-oil industry / process will run. I don't want to pay any more for fuel than the next person, but I know that we have to reduce oil usage. Mind you, there are lots of things you folk over there have different views on and do different ways to us ... "You think that 200 years is a long time, and we think that 200 miles is a long way"

People here have a strange way of thinking, they are excited when gas is cheap and houses are high. For some reason paying $50 a month less for gas is much better than paying $200,000 less for a house - but we will save that discussion for a different forum.

 

[Jataylor]

Oh ... forgot to mention in my earlier post. I bought a couple of handfuls of 1-Wire temperature sensors and hooked them up using a BUS wiring structure, and used them to monitor temperatures up and down the thermal stores, and at various flow & return points on pipes. Found them invaluable in the early stages (and cheap), locating things like within-one-pipe thermal siphoning, valves coming on in the middle of the night for no good reason, and so on. They've gone into retirement at the moment (a bit too "boy's own" for longer term usage), but I could really do with a new, better, system that allows monitoring of lots of temperature points (around the house and greenhouse, let alone around the boiler) so I'm on the lookout for something suitable, and cheap-ish.

I use the Vesta system for monitoring and control... I dont know what cheap is to you
after checking all those pics of your expensive system.. check it out (broken link removed)

I just Installed a X300 8 port temperature data logger from Control By Web http://www.controlbyweb.com/ You can access locally through your in-house network or on a smart phone thought he internet. Took a little bit to get through but in the long run it was worth it. I added digital sensors from Amazon at a fraction of the cost.

 

[velvetfoot]

I just Installed a X300 8 port temperature data logger from Control By Web http://www.controlbyweb.com/ You can access locally through your in-house network or on a smart phone thought he internet. Took a little bit to get through but in the long run it was worth it. I added digital sensors from Amazon at a fraction of the cost.

The website doesn't talk much about data logging. Have you done that?

 

[dogwood]

Kristen, you might as well move over here. Were paying $1.49 a gallon for gas and last truckload of oak cost $225.00 for not quite as much as your tandem load pictured. Savings alone would cover your moving costs. Stay away from Connecticut though. Way to cold and pricey up there.