Hey guys, Some of you may know me from Sawhawgz (same screen name) or Arboristsite (nstueve). Anyhow I needed to replace the old double oil barrel wood stove since it was falling apart from rust and creosote weight. Found this about 1.25 hrs from home. Believe it to be an add on to a LP or NG boiler for radiant home heat. Removed the blower that they were using to force draft since I don't need it in my shop set up. using same inlet outlets to left and right. Put on Taco 009 pump instead of old 3spd Grundfoss. Used what I assume the water inlet for filling is as a vent and ran pex to the roof line of shop so my system wont be pressurized. Blowoff valve remains but wont be used. Also installed a "T" and valve in the highest point of the water supply tubes for venting and filling. You'll see a fill point installed in the vent line on boiler too. I reduced stack from 8" to 6" and it still breathes plenty easy... It was ideling at 105-120*F last night on inlet and outlet. That was enough to heat the shop to 85* instantly but do I need to run it hotter?? Covered the copper to pex connections to keep people from touching hot pipes... You can kinda see the valve and fill tube under red pex line for filling. 25-30gallon capacity. Wood knob on the door is actually hooked to a coiled spring (like stack thermostat) and then chain runs between spring and air damper on front to control air. Think I'd rather have a thermostatic air control on the front (more precise).
Running a Ethylene Glycol mix b/c there will undoubtedly be several weeks this winter that it won't get used. didn't want freezing problems. glycol running to 2x of these. It's nice b/c the fans circulate the air and make a really even heat. Even the cold corners of the shop are no more. And I'm heating a 24x36 shop with 1" R5.0 foam board. Current problems... 1.) too hot. Never thought I'd say that... LOL Need to control the burn and heat better so I get less heat and longer burn times. 2.) fans are freaking loud! 3.) need fluid filter to protect pump. I'm thinking variable speed fan control to keep heat down and dB's down at the same time. Thoughts?
for what it is you are looking great and apparently warm enough! would be best for the boiler if the return water temp was 140-150*. idk what green tubing you have there, but PEX you dont want to push past 200*. you can then vary the fan speed to prevent overheating the shop with the hotter water. the variable controls are nice but can get pricey. might be cheaper to get smaller fans but then you cant fine tune things quite the same. you can also line the firebox with extra firebrick. this will allow you to have a small fire that burns hotter. you will get more BTUs out of less wood and the firebrick will retain heat after the fire goes out. will you be burning most of the time or just when you are in the shop?
