In loving memory of Kenis D. Keathley 6/4/81 - 3/27/22 Loving father, husband, brother, friend and firewood hoarder Rest in peace, Dexterday

Going out of town?

Discussion in 'OWB's and Gasification Boilers' started by synermead, Dec 28, 2020.

  1. synermead

    synermead

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    I’m going out of town for 10 days. We have a friends 18 year old son going to watch the place/ animals keep the boiler going etc... was just wondering if there are any funny stories you May have about house sitters vs wood boilers. We did have some issues the last time we traveled. Damper stuck open and creosote built up in the fan (g400 gasification) and hence the fan motor blew the fuse. No heat for 4 days -20 C. Had to get all 3 wood stoves in the house going when they stopped in but we’re not able to keep them going full time.


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  2. Horkn

    Horkn

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    Well, houses and animals are expensive and priceless. I'm sure you'll go through all the details with the caretaker. Have them show that they understand the details a day or so in advance.

    Also, cell phones are super handy and you can quickly correct any operator error as long as they ask you right away.
     
  3. Creekin

    Creekin

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    No funny stories, but i would look after a buddies coal stoker when he went on holidays, every single time something would break down in the absolute coldest stretch,
    Two winters ago the gearbox for the feed auger decided to completely go shot and no parts available, managed to find another friend who had a spare, and coal can be messy!!!!
    All this with a windchill of -52

    My g400 just recently did the same thing, fan stuck with creosote and popped a fuse, called heatmaster, 15mins later had a new fan motor (which i returned as i
    cleaned out the fan)

    I hope its going to work out for you, I would make sure to check in here and there
     
  4. Horkn

    Horkn

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    Webcams really help too.
     
  5. In the Pines

    In the Pines

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    to expand on that a bit, every smartphone is capable of making a video call.
    Be it facetime or google duo or some other app. I'd probably have them install one if they don't already so
    if something does go wrong, it's really a simple process to video call and have them show you the issue that way.
    Of course this is assuming you own a smartphone ..
     
  6. amateur cutter

    amateur cutter

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    If you're looking for a comical story, somewhere a member with the name of Felter posted a good story about this a year or two ago.
     
  7. Farmchuck

    Farmchuck

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    Not to derail your thread but:
    I see you & one other fellow mention a g400. Is this a Heatmaster model? If so how big an area are you heating, how long have you had it & how do you like it? Thinking of updating a CB 6048 with something that might use firewood a bit more efficiently. Thanks!
     
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  8. Creekin

    Creekin

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    Heatmaster g400
    Heating 5400ish sq ft
    5th winter with it and i like mine, had afew issues but got fixed up at Heatmaster
     
  9. Farmchuck

    Farmchuck

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    How many cords do burn on average in a winter sir?
     
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  10. Creekin

    Creekin

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    Average of about 10 to 12, but its hard to put an amount on it, some years its been really cold from oct to April, this year i think about 1 cord of actual cord wood (insane amount of dimensional cutoffs instead) as its been above freezing more than below
     
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  11. synermead

    synermead

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    Yes Hearmaster. Mine is an early possible prototype. Bought it used and cheap. Has the old square bypass that didn’t work so well. Otherwise very happy with it. We are up in Canada and gets down to -30c sometimes. We heat 9000 sq ft house 1200 sq ft garage and 2400 sf shop with 16 foot ceilings. Pretty much all with softwood as that’s what’s available here so need to load twice on cold days.


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  12. synermead

    synermead

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    I do have security cameras throughout the property. I have one that monitors the boiler and the shop where it’s located so I can see if there are any issues. Had to text him several times as I watched the first time he was there.


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  13. Farmchuck

    Farmchuck

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    Thank you. We are heating 2 separate houses each about
     
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  14. Farmchuck

    Farmchuck

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    Don’t know what happened to that last post. We are heating 2 homes & a small shop. Houses are around 1200 square feet each.
    Any idea approximately how much wood you burn on average in a winter?
     
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  15. Creekin

    Creekin

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    9000sqft!? Or did you mean 900sqft?
     
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  16. synermead

    synermead

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    9000 sq ft. Don’t ask. My wife did up the plans.


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  17. Creekin

    Creekin

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    I see, ive learned never ask a woman questions, just smile and nod, gets worse if you aren't paying attention!!
     
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