I'm about to get mine installed and just checking to see if I was all alone or if there were any other Hardy owners in the house...
have you purchased it and about to install OR about to purchase and install? whats your plans for plumbing and insulation to the house?
Yes, I've purchased it and will have it installed in the next 30-45 days. It'll feed my hot water heater, HVAC, and will be run beneath my basement slab. I know it'll have an insulated pipe to the house but am unsure of the brand.
Cool. Congrats! Make sure they use a quality pipe and insulation. The crap with bubble wrap is no good. A lot of heat can be lost to the ground.
Look for info on the web about failed lines. Make your decision based on what you find. I don't want to make the decision for you but owb can be changed and some money recouped, buried lines aren't quite as easy and no getting your time or money back. Even if you lose 10% of your heat to the ground that's 10% more wood you have to come up with. How many truck loads of wood do you plan to haul a year, multiple that 10% and by the life of your owb? Wow big number I'll bet. Spend time reading before you start and before you buy the little things you need, they add up quickly. This is some of the stuff I bought, about $600 in the pic. Notice there is no insulated lines, no water to air exchangers, no plate exchanger, and on and on. Some big ticket items. I bought a used owb, used exchanger and still have about $8500 into my setup. And it was worth every cent, made a few errors but still saved and will continue to save money. I heat 2 houses and will be heating my 2 shops next year.
Coal reaper, when crap breaks you can't have enough valves. I use them to turn circuits on and off for heating and also by passes for summer domestic water heating. Also I like to buy everything in bulk cause we all know it's cheaper by the dozen.
I wish i had valved the circ in my barn to house loop when i had the chance. Wasnt thinking. But i think thats the only valve i missed. Gotta watch kids that like to turn valve handles. I will take handles off soon. 3yo is starting to take little adventures on his own...
my boiler cost was only have of the money i put in to my system. i had to look at my old reciepts this morning, $2300 in plumbing, $2500 in spray foam. at a mere 3gpm, i see 1-1.5*F drop in temp through 150' underground. i agree its worth every cent.
Been using a Hardy H2 to heat 1700 sqf and DHW for the last 2 and a half winters. I used 2 cords of wood this winter and about 2.5 cords winter before. The Hardy is a simple design, not as efficient as some others, but plenty efficient for me. Even on the coldest Arkansas days I get 12+hours burn between loads. Enjoy your Hardy, it should serve you well. Mine does, and I sure like not paying the propane man during heating season.
Thanks for the response. My wife is looking fwd to the hot water and I'm looking forward to low bills in the winter. Glad to hear your Hardy is serving you well.
I've owned a H4 for over 10 years now. Looked into Central Boiler, Taylor, and Heatmor before we chose the Hardy. The decision was based partly on the fact that our next door neighbor had owned one for over 15 years and he hadn't killed his....he was very rough on things. He could heat his house to 80 degrees if he wanted. And almost everyone in this part of SC that had a OSB at that time seemed to have a Hardy. A few notes on my situation: 3000 sq. Ft very old house. 2 story, so split system. Already had split gas furnaces in place. We started off heating our water but eventually took the water heater out of the loop because we had too many issues with the boiler burning out overnight trying to heat water and the house. Long story short, the heat exchanger was somehow clogged with what loomed like red dirt. No idea what happened. ..installers dragging through mud or waterline break. Who knows. After the exchanger was flushed the house heated better. But the wife is much happier with the electric water heater working whether there is wood in the boiler or not. Regardless, the boiler has definitely paid for itself. I still have to use the gas furnace downstairs when it gets below 15 or so but overall it was a good purchase.
That's good to hear. Thought I was going to get mine installed back in the spring but just actually got it set in place yesterday (9/28). Still have to run the pex through the basement to heat exchanger in HVAC and hot water heater but she's in place and looks good. Don't have quite as much wood cut and ready as I expected but it'll come eventually. Weatherman is giving decent weather here for a while longer so I reckon I've got some time. Ran out of funds building this house so the woodshed and building for the heater will have to wait. Welcome to FHC. Lots of good folks and good info in here.
