looking to get a boiler

[BoilerMan]

Good info guys on the BTU (Kw) for given square footage. It is about useless IMHO. 3,200 square feet heated here, and my heat loss at -40F is 46,000 btu. There are way to many variables to make square footage asumptions for a given heat output. That being said, if one had lots of storage, the bigger the better, as long as the storage can keep all that hot water from the boiler w/o going into idle.

FWIW, my Attack has a 27" deep firebox 45Kw 153,500 btu/hr. New Horizion lists it for $4,750 on sale.

I would assume the highest output would be if burning coal as it burns much hotter than wood.

TS

 

[evamaxx]

hi everyone wow! thats a lot of infro for thought i think the idea of the 60 bio is close enough for my use if its a little biger than i need then i think its alright it should be here next thursday the 3 or4 i have the gar basebord all togather but not plumed the fan coil units yet if i dont need them wont use think i need a relay to start fan when circ runs ? temp in gar ? i dont know yet maybe 50 wnen not in there maybe 65 when working thanks for all the help ill post some pict soon its harder than crag list to post mark

 

[Gasifier]

Wow. That did not take you long Mark. Remember the golden rule of hearth.com. Pics. Or it didn't happen. We like lots of pics. Pics of it's arrival, pics of the unwrapping. Pics of old boiler coming out, new boiler going in. Pics of ........ Well, you get the idea.

So are you going to heat with it this year? Is your wood supply alreay dry for heating with the boiler for this season? I am curious if you are making the change over from heating with a wood stove to a boiler. That is what I did after about seven years of heating with a wood stove. The posting of pictures is not hard, after you try it and do it a few times it will become a piece of cake.

 

[Gasifier]

Square footage useless? From Mark's original post we got his sq.ft., his 2x6 construction with insulation and sheetrock. I would think he probably has fiberglass insulation. So decent insulation value is my guess. Now obviously we would want him to do a heat loss calculation. What does he have to put into the heat loss calculation? When you guys did your heat loss calculation... Did you put in your sq.ft.? It is part of the equation and is relative to boiler sizing. Insulation value is a biggy, but the size of heating area starts the process of sizing boiler. If boiler manufacturer or seller is stating sizing to house, sq.ft. must be relative to a certain insulation value assumed. Then they would tell you to do a heat calc.

 

[evamaxx]

Wow. That did not take you long Mark. Remember the golden rule of hearth.com. Pics. Or it didn't happen. We like lots of pics. Pics of it's arrival, pics of the unwrapping. Pics of old boiler coming out, new boiler going in. Pics of ........ Well, you get the idea.

So are you going to heat with it this year? Is your wood supply alreay dry for heating with the boiler for this season? I am curious if you are making the change over from heating with a wood stove to a boiler. That is what I did after about seven years of heating with a wood stove. The posting of pictures is not hard, after you try it and do it a few times it will become a piece of cake.

Square footage useless? From Mark's original post we got his sq.ft., his 2x6 construction with insulation and sheetrock. I would think he probably has fiberglass insulation. So decent insulation value is my guess. Now obviously we would want him to do a heat loss calculation. What does he have to put into the heat loss calculation? When you guys did your heat loss calculation... Did you put in your sq.ft.? It is part of the equation and is relative to boiler sizing. Insulation value is a biggy, but the size of heating area starts the process of sizing boiler. If boiler manufacturer or seller is stating sizing to house, sq.ft. must be relative to a certain insulation value assumed. Then they would tell you to do a heat calc.

 

[evamaxx]

Square footage useless? From Mark's original post we got his sq.ft., his 2x6 construction with insulation and sheetrock. I would think he probably has fiberglass insulation. So decent insulation value is my guess. Now obviously we would want him to do a heat loss calculation. What does he have to put into the heat loss calculation? When you guys did your heat loss calculation... Did you put in your sq.ft.? It is part of the equation and is relative to boiler sizing. Insulation value is a biggy, but the size of heating area starts the process of sizing boiler. If boiler manufacturer or seller is stating sizing to house, sq.ft. must be relative to a certain insulation value assumed. Then they would tell you to do a heat calc.

Square footage useless? From Mark's original post we got his sq.ft., his 2x6 construction with insulation and sheetrock. I would think he probably has fiberglass insulation. So decent insulation value is my guess. Now obviously we would want him to do a heat loss calculation. What does he have to put into the heat loss calculation? When you guys did your heat loss calculation... Did you put in your sq.ft.? It is part of the equation and is relative to boiler sizing. Insulation value is a biggy, but the size of heating area starts the process of sizing boiler. If boiler manufacturer or seller is stating sizing to house, sq.ft. must be relative to a certain insulation value assumed. Then they would tell you to do a heat calc.

im having trouble getting the hang of repley to a post sorry yes my wood suply is good 2010 vintage iv got lots of picts but cant post yes a friend posted pics for me in wood cutting sectoin it took 1hour and still not right thanks mark

 

[BoilerMan]

Square footage useless?

I meant that there are too many variables, like infiltration (one of the biggers factors) and other things. If you look at the numbers I posted of my construction you see that I'd end up with a way oversized boiler and if I didn't have storage it'd be idleing much of the time. This same square footage of an old farm house in the same climate may need a larger boiler to meet demand at design temperature. I guess my point is that a proper heatloss calk must be done, and the general numbers are a general guide thats all. No ill intent.

TS

 

[Gasifier]

I meant that there are too many variables, like infiltration (one of the biggers factors) and other things. If you look at the numbers I posted of my construction you see that I'd end up with a way oversized boiler and if I didn't have storage it'd be idleing much of the time. This same square footage of an old farm house in the same climate may need a larger boiler to meet demand at design temperature. I guess my point is that a proper heatloss calk must be done, and the general numbers are a general guide thats all. No ill intent.

TS

I hear you Taylor. And I know what you meant. No ill intent taken. When I read a couple of you say sq.ft. is useless that just seemed a bit of a stretch. Just trying to communicate what I mean and why I think a seller/distributor might have a chart like the one I posted with btu output and sq.ft. What I think sometimes happens is we forget that the average customer may not know what you in the boiler room at hearth.com knows or does here. When in fact a lot, or most potential customers out there do not even know of hearth.com or what a heat calculation is. Most do not do a heat loss calculation when deciding on a boiler. In fact, I am not saying all, but a hell of a lot of contractors do not do a proper heating calculation. Some do, but many, many don't. Even up here in Northern New York, and probably where you live as well, where things get pretty cold still. The customer generally knows they want a wood boiler, or furnace to save money. They may do the install themselves, but most will hire a heating contractor. But what they do know or can relate to is a simple "general guide" of the sq.ft. of their house. And that unfortunately is what they go with. This is what most go with. Now most of the time if they, or their contractor, recognize some important parts of the home, window and insulation quality, they can end up with the correct size boiler.

There really is no other "general guide" a distributor would give other than sq.ft to go along with btu output of boiler. They can not say, okay your house has 25 windows, so you can use this size boiler. A house that is 2500 sq.ft. could have the same number of windows as one that is 5000 sq.ft. Then there is insulation, etc,etc,etc. To many variables. Like you said. But one thing that is a constant with any potential customer/contractor is sq.ft. Now, if we could just get everyone to first insulate their home better, improve on anything as far as R-value goes from windows to insulation, then do a heat loss calculation, then ......... Just like any other subject. If everyone had a basic education or some type of good, basic experience with how to require less energy to have a comfortable home we would conserve a lot of valuable energy.

 

[BoilerMan]

^
I

Well said sir! You got it, 100%!!

TS

 

[evamaxx]

^
I

Well said sir! You got it, 100%!!

TS

so if i get this right bbiger is better than too small sized? u can always load less wood but cant excede max btu of boiler ?

 

[BoilerMan]

If storage is used, and the boiler is not so big it would overcharge storage from the coolest useable temp to the max temp then yes you are correct. There is no magical number of gallons of storage to match a given size BTU boiler, it is dependant on the lowest and highest temp that the system is able to use/charge.

TS