Hydro farmer. I admire you man. Don't give up. You have come to the right place to work out this part of your operation. ( the wood burning boiler part and making the greenhouse more efficient part). The rest of the stuff will settle itself out with time. hang in there. Just remember: "when your up to azz in alligators, it is hard to remember your original intention was to clean out the swamp." don't give up.
Because the double barrel didn't do a dang thing. Remember I am heating a 7713 cu. Ft. Space with an r value of 1.5 at best. It was an experiment to help supplement propane costs. But I hardly noticed it was there.
Supply and return from boiler to manifold 70' long, are insulated with black foam you put in your basement on hot water pipes and then inside a 4 corrugated pipe with spray foam sprayed into 1/4" holes drilled every foot until it came out and sealed the hole. I made this myself for 3.50 a ft. It isn't buried as I installed this boiler January so the ground was frozen. From manifold the furthest exchanger is 70' away and closer one is 30' away. All of this inside greenhouse. The pex from manifold to exchangers is exposed but not resting on concrete. It is supported a few inches off the floor. The boiler sits about 5' higher than the greenhouse so no major elevation changes between anything. All temps were by laser. When I temp exchangers I see anywhere from 10 to 25 degree difference from supply to return lines depending on the ambient air being pushed through the exchangers. the boiler temps reflect very similar numbers. Maybe 5 degrees cooler than the return out of the exchanger by the time the water gets back to the boiler. Reverse return plumbing configuration. All 1" lines. Manifold is one supply and one return with a recirculation loop but that is usually turned off when in operation. Stiebel eltron (spelling?) Cp3s26-110. And it's 40gpm / 33ft head not 44, sorry my fault on that.
Thanks Marty. It means a lot. Not only for my business but for my little girls future. So I need this to work. She is counting on me.
Screw this wind lol. Besides what I said about the double barrel not working for my application It got ashy and messy in a hurry in the greenhouse. It has to be as close to a clean room as possible.
That's how I am feeding my beast as well. Best way to do it. Only difference is that I keep my pile off the back wall just under the lowest "v" in the back of the box. I keep anywhere from 6" to a foot of gap from ceiling just for ease of loading. I have tried smaller loads. This wood socks lol. I have a makeshift kiln going in an old trailer right now before I get the room set up. Moisture meter will be here Thursday. But I am seeing cracking in logs after 2 hours. I will be interested to cut one in half and meter the middle vs the ends
your exchangers and fan should be fine. so, if i am reading it right, 5* through your homemade insulated pipe from greenhouse to boiler loop... 5* over 70' at 40gpm is a lot of lost BTUs! like 100,000 BTUs/hr... now do that twice for supply and return! AND you said you have two pumps? idc about heat loss through PEX inside the greenhouse because that is going to the area you are trying to heat anyway. good that its not resting on concrete tho. do us a favor and double check your temp readings supply/return at boiler and where it enters the greenhouse. if using laser be sure at each point you are reading on the same material type (PEX vs. fittings) and a shot of flat black spray paint will give more accurate numbers. better yet is the temp probe on a fluke meter or something wraped with a towel or insulation.
stupid question. your propane system had 650,000BTU of output. your new heat excahngers total only 480,000. you thought you would be able to get away with this because? and dare i ask what the CB-6048 is rated for BTU wise? google did not return an answer for me...
Also, insulate the lines that are running inside the greenhouse. Yes, it is a conditioned space, so any heat lost by these lines on the way to the exchanger and on the way back to the OWB would be "lost" exactly where you would need it, BUT it will be distributed much more efficiently through the doubled up exchangers. (which I think is not a good idea, either) The home-made supply and return line laid on top of the snow/ground is also a large source of heat loss...both reasons apply here...home-made and the inability to bury it. Perhaps some type of enclosure could be made for it just to help temporarily? Another thing, with the return line going back at such a low temp, it is only taking heat away from the supply line. Yes, both lines are somewhat insulated inside the corrugated pipe, but the greater the temp difference between the two, the greater the heat transfer. Once the water returns to the OWB at it's current temp (with so much heat removed/lost), you are essentially doing a cold startup on the OWB again and again. And then there is the fact of no building insulation.... There are just too many things that need to be fixed with this whole scenario, it would be interesting to learn who in the world thought it would work?? I find it hard to believe that the dealer was approached with this scenario and "approved" it. The OWB provides more than enough heat, just ask some of the owners on this site; as evidenced by what they do heat with theirs. This may sound harsh and even risks offending you, but there are some things that you just can't cut corners or costs unless you're willing to operate at substantially reduced efficiencies. I don't suppose you would have a "heating" tech show up and critique the whole set-up? As long as it isn't some joe-blow and someone who knows his stuff, it would be well invested/advised. Get things set up right!! And, good luck!
I honestly think it's a wood problem. When the thing is at 190 degrees it heats up fine but I am burning such green terrible wood the boiler cannot keep up. I have done as much research as possible on this with greenhouses and many have done it this way with success. I have removed double stack exchangers and am going to build 2 more boxes for the 2 extras I have so I have more points of heat for better distribution. I am going to order a couple cords of good wood and start there.....if I can find any under an arm and a leg for price. Sht at this point I would give my left arm just to see if it works lol. Couldn't bring in expert.... budget. Next winter I will be able to have propane furnaces as backup as well. Right now tanks are empty because of $. I have a 20x20 greenhouse I started with and a large metal shed sitting empty. They both get scorching hot in the summer. I am filling those up and cracking the vents for a nice solar style kiln. I really feel the problem is the green wood after hearing everyone's opinions. And no offense is taken whatsoever! I am grateful for the input.
got it. that is supplying 180* water. you are going to need to do slightly better than 180 to all four exchangers to get that output. i hope the heat is adequate when running on propane?
Yes it can keep a temp of 75 at 40 below outside and one of them runs 24/7 while the other cycles off and on depending on temp fluctuations. They are both on a control panel with different set points. So one is set to 75 and the other 72
Lol so do I. I was going through 600 gallons of propane every 10 days last year when Minnesota had that super cold spell for like 55 days
you aint foolin, thats cold! well at least you know that 650kBTU works. 480 shouldnt be too far off that mark. so any idea what the CB is capable of producing for a heat number?
