...ok, just really curious..... As you burn, do you start at the farthest point and work back to the stove... or start close and work away?
The first 2 stacks are dedicated to the Hardy. I replenish those as they get burnt. Just so happens everything along the fence is due to be used based on the 3 year plan.
Yes it's a dent. I bought the unit used with a new tank 5 years ago. The owner before me lowered the bucket when he should have raised it. It is only the outer case and has no effects on its operation.
The underground lines are buried about 2' deep. Mine are only about 25' from the house. They are wrapped with foam insulation. After my install I learned a lot about the different types of pex lines. If I were to do it again all under ground lines would be logstor pex. Once the line are under the house they then hook to a water coil in my HVAC ductwork. Here is the inside of the fire box. Ready to light the first fire.
Thanks! for the pics. How does your thermostat /s work? Is there a separate one for each heat system, OWB and gas?? Does the OWB have a thermostat that controls the water circulation? Does it circulate all the time? only when at a certain temp?
I can't speak to everyone else. I have electric baseboard as backup. My Hardy has it's own thermostat. When it calls for heat it kicks the blower on the forced air handler as well as the circulation pump on (through a relay) at the same time. It doesn't take long to get hot air moving. There is an aquastat on the back of the stove. When water temp drops below 150 the blower kicks in and a damper/intake door opens. It shuts off when water temp hits 172-175°.
That is pretty cool. So, you can load the Hardy up w/wood and not have to worry about a run away because the intake door is controlled by the aquastat. If there is no call for hot water for long enough will the fire die?
The longest our stove went without refueling was 3 days. That was when we were helping out down in Mississippi after Katrina. We turned our thermostat to 55 during the month of Feb 2006 and had friends and family come over every 3rd day to fill and empty ash. Ash didn't need emptied every time, but they at least checked. They never said it went out.
I have mine set up so it uses the same thermostat as my gas furnace. Once there is a call for heat a relay sends a signal to the Hardy to turn on the pump and start the furnace fan. When the temperature is satisfied it shuts down the pump and furnace fan. There is a snap disk that will trigger the gas furnace in the event the water temperature in the Hardy drops below 120°. The forced air fan runs of the aqua state. When the water temp drops below the set point it will trigger a solenoid that opens the fan flapper and start the fan. When the temp reaches the upper set point it shuts off the fan and the flapper closes. I also run my potable water to the Hardy. There is a coil of copper in the tank and water pressure forces cold water through the copper and it is heated and returned to my hot water tank. The fire can go out if there is a low load on the system or the wood in the fire box bridges. It was a learning curve for me the first year running it, but I have a pretty good handle on now. I use a wireless bbq thermometer to help me monitor things from in the house. It has a high and low temp setting so I know if the fire goes out or I have a run away.
I have a 2 channel BBQ thermometer on my wood furnace in the basement, 1 probe monitors supply duct temp, 1 in the flue...saves a lot of running down stairs to check on things once you figure out "normal". Plus the alarm set points help me sleep better knowing there is nothing screwy going on down there unbeknownst to me...the only thing bad about it is every once in a while it will "lose" its signal and start beeping...usually at night
Same capacity as the OP? I was reading a blog about someone having the H2 so looks a lot like the OP's,
It's hard to tell from the pic in the OP. This is the exact same thing I have. The stove pictured is one Hardy donated to the Mississippi Gulf Coast to supply hot water for showers after Katrina. We set up showers using PVC, pallets and tarps. The National guard supplied water and we have a small 110v pressure pump we rigged up. The National Guard supplied me with water too.
