not worth the effort. he is already not getting the required BTUs where he needs them. even with good wood it will be maxed out. storage is more about convienence. he said he will have workers there to load as needed. edit: adding mass would help. like propping planting tables up on cinder blocks instead of lumber legs. if his operation uses water tanks, they could be in the greenhouse but with plants on top so they arent taking up floor space uneccesarily. mass would help even out the temp swings (idk if that is even desirable) and let you coast longer between loads and worry slightly less if there was a power outtage. better yet would be a heated slab. these ideas are kinda like storage, but without the cost which looks to be the deciding factor. make the best with what yah got!
I was thinking it might allow for higher return temps to the boiler to help it burn more efficiently. You'd have to get a head start on it...but when heat demand is really high at night it could send warmer water back to the boiler and not over cool it. Again...I really don't know...just thinking out loud.
Back up generator, i don't have it yet and we live on a dead end road abd most power outages thus far(thankfully)have only been blips. But if your around too catch the outage you can always open the door every couple hours and let a flame light up for a little bit to warm the water in the boiler. They are very well insulated as well mine had a black top to it and I've seen it on thirty degree sunny days the snow doesn't even melt off of it. That's impressive
Next winter I will have both 1000 gallon propane tanks full. Those two furnaces can run off of the generator hookup I have.
Everything I have read, and it is not everything, says you do not have the heating capacity to keep up with losses. There are only 2 alternatives to fix that. You either get more capacity, which you don't seem to want to do, or you cut your losses. Insulate the heck out of that space to get the addition and loss of heat in line. Until you reach that balance you will keep losing ground. Insulation is a one time expense and more capacity means more fuel forever. I would choose better insulation.
Yes budget was my main problem. This summer if all goes as it should I will be able to put in better / more efficient heat exchangers, better insulate greenhouse but most importantly use seasoned wood. I have a 20x20 metal shed I am not using that I am putting my double barrel wood stove in to make a kiln and will be cooking wood all summer even just supplementing my heat will save me tons on propane costs.
Oh and better insulated pex. Going to up the 1" to 1 1/4" but get the really good insulated stuff. After going through all of this I am starting to see where corners cannot be cut.
So are you saying you can't wait until next winter?!? I know i can't already with new toys and gadgets and new resources!
Well here we are dead of winter and I have to say thanks for all the feedback and brainstorming you guys have helped out with. I have upgrade and changed configurations and am rocking 70 degrees in a 144x30 greenhouse even when we dipped below 0. Dry wood was key as I didn't have any last year. I am actually mixing dry oak and green birch and poplar and my boiler fluctuates between 165 and 195 at all times. Last year sustaining 130 was a struggle. I ended up slowing my pumps down which helped a ton. I also bought 3 large cast iron radiators off a guy with plans on picking up 3 more. They are the huge ones like they had in old churches. Each is 108 inches long. These coupled with my 3 120k btu heat exchangers have no problems keeping up. I also put a layer of poly on top of my trusses. My greenhouse is not a hoop, it is a peaked structure. So I took a out about 7300 cubic feet of ceiling space. I also insulated much more this year. For instance on my 6 shutters (each 56" squares) I used pink 2" foam vs clear window shrink wrap as last year. I went through about 75 cans of spray foam in all the nooks and crannies lol but it was well worth the investment. I now get about 7 hours of burn on 3/4 load of wood which is almost triple the improvement from last year. Next winter I plan on having propane as backup so I don't have to worry but as of now I am heating a 4300 Sq ft building with an r value of about 1 with just a wood boiler. Pretty neat! If I had the money initially I would have pexed the floor but the costs couldn't be covered when I built the structure. If I expand to another greenhouse - in floor heat is a must and I think my boiler woes would be gone. But I am happy that I went from barely keeping 45 to 50 degrees last winter to rocking 70 degree nights this year. I have to give a shout out to my neighbor too. He gave me free reign on his 80 acres of dense woods of mainly oak, 3 miles down the road from my house. I am in a wood hoarders heaven! Happy new years all! Mark Molitor Forever Yours Farm www.fyfarm.com
Mark, I am glad you updated us. I was wondering how things were going for you. It is amazing how much this forum can teach us about wood heating, cutting and handling wood. If your time would permit, I would love to take a drive up to Hinckley, MN to see your operation and the boiler in action. I have always thought that heating a greenhouse with wood would be a superb approach. I also would understand that your time would be to limited. But again thanks for the update.
Glad to hear it is working out for you. Using 1/3 the wood and going from fighting to keep the beer from freezing to maintaining short sleeve temps is pretty impressive.
good deal mark. thanks for the followup! it really is amazing what dry wood can do for you. and slowing down the circs allowed you water to better increase temp when in the boiler. birch, particularly black, is capable of cranking out about the same heat as oak, it just doesnt hold coals like oak. black birch is my favorite wood to burn. i equate 18 month seasoned BB to 3 year oak. love it. just gotta get it split tho as the bark is essentially waterproof and wont let the moisture out of the wood. fwiw, poplar contains mostly water when fresh, mostly air when seasoned 4 months. burn on brother!
This modification alone probably diminished heat loss due to surface area of exterior poly and created a better R value in your ceiling space. Glad you're burning some better wood and combined with the thermal mass of the radiators getting good temps
I am purchasing the central boiler draft inducer kit next week. I have read both positive and negative feedback on the web and I figure for the $150 to 200 price tag, it would be a "cheap" experiment that will either pay dividends or lesson learned. Either way it's going to be another variable tested / knowledge gained... (For a 6048 classic unit). Will keep you all posted.
So I have had the draft inducer for about 5 days or so and I have to say wow. Boiler temps have easily climbed to 195 within a few hours of re loading firebox even if it gets down to 130-150. I go through about the same amount of wood because the draft door is actually closing now rather than just staying open 24 hours a day. When boiler is above 170 my greenhouse stays at 72 without any problems. We are getting some pretty cold days coming up so it will be interesting to see how we do through the coldest nights coming up. We will be seeing wind chills down to -35. But in my case, which is pretty unique I must say I wish I would have gone against the dealers advice when I purchased the boiler and installed the draft inducer right away.
