anybody BUILT an OWB??

[fireman31]

Has anybody built their own OWB?

Did you use plans if so which ones?

I bought the plans from deb desigins. I've already made a few changes in my mind.They seem simple enough but I wonder how the finished product works!!

Has anyone seen the hahsa plans offered in the mother earth news book section? I ordered them but they were backordered.

I'm ready to start cutting and welding so any thoughs are appreciated!!!

 

[ericjeeper]

I built my own

Used plans from the back of my head.. I figured build firebox inside of water storage device wahlah.. It works and I have 200 bucks total in it.

 

[yooperman]

Eric did you use any kind of control for the damper? (like the central boilers selenoid for the damper door)I have a couple small boilers I may use for a shop in the future, but would like to have some kind of damper that opens and closes at certain water temps.

 

[mjs97]

search this site should give you some answers. i built my own owb last year. works excellent. i put a love control on it. operates like central boilers. natural draft. 180high point 160 low point. alot of work but saved thousands.

matt

 

[ericjeeper]

No.. I had all the intentions

Eric did you use any kind of control for the damper? (like the central boilers selenoid for the damper door)I have a couple small boilers I may use for a shop in the future, but would like to have some kind of damper that opens and closes at certain water temps.

But they got put off to the side.. I just adjusted the damper door manually.. If I needed a hotter fire I would give more air.. if I knew I did not want to get up in the middle of the night I left it closed down a bit.
I am hoping to have a unit with a larger firebox before winter sets in.Yes I am going to build it as well. The first one was a 1 day job., Just basically cut and weld. and add water

 

[fireman31]

Plans? pictures? what are you heating?

Maybe I wasn't clear in my first post!

Does anyone care to post pictures of their home built boiler?

Perhaps share some specs or measurements?

What would you do differently?

Has anyone built a OWB from purchased plans? If so which ones?

 

[Fish4Brains]

I built my own. I probably overdid it if anything. I will see if I can dig up some photos of the build phase. One thing for sure is I didnt do it in one day and cost me a heck of allot more than 200 bucks. I have 200 bucks in insullation alone, and the list goes on and on. I was concernred about it working well but now having built one and run it for a year I think they are kind of a piece of cake to make work. Where are you from?
Brian

 

[MS-310]

Fireman31,

are you a firefighter? Where at?


ANyways I have made 7 home made units now

Some of them are out of an 500 gal Propane tank and a 24" gas pipe though the middle put some baffles to slow the gases from running out the smoke pipe......

K.I.S.S that is the best way.....



I dont have pics but you can call me if you want to talk about it.....

PM me for my Phone number.

 

[fireman31]

Thanks guys!

Any pics or measurements are greatly appreciated!!
I live near Tappahannock Va 23023.

I currently work for the County of Henrico Fire Dept.

Prior to that I worked for the City of Petersburg.

 

[IndyIan]

Just a thought,
How about using the biggest air tight indoor woodstove you can find and then adding a water jacket to it?
You would be starting with something that burns reasonably well atleast.
Ian

 

[ericjeeper]

basically what I did

Just a thought,
How about using the biggest air tight indoor woodstove you can find and then adding a water jacket to it?
You would be starting with something that burns reasonably well atleast.
Ian

I used the firebox from my Fathers old forced air furnace. I had to modify it considerably. It was a woodeater when dad used it too.. Basically the firebox was not big enough for long burn times.will hold about 7 pieces of average wood.. The thing got me through the winter. But I am hoping to have some big diameter pipe located before the cold sets back in.

 

[Fish4Brains]

Couple of pix of the stove in process. And one of my largest walleye. Sorry I couldnt help but show off a little. its the fisherman in me...

 

[mjs97]

fish4brains-
nice stove and walleye. how did your stove work last year? any problems or anything you would change. how did the powerdraft setup work? did you think of the solenoid on fan design. does fan turn on when solenoid opens or is fan running continuously. i have my solenoid opening draft door on stove and fan blowing in door. i have fan wired seperatly so i can shut it off if i want. mine seemed to use less wood with fan off.

thanks,
matt

 

[ericjeeper]

fish4brains-
. mine seemed to use less wood with fan off.

thanks,
matt

You reckon? LOL Yes a fan will make a hotter fire as it eats through more wood too.. Have to find the happy medium with forced air and wood consumption.

 

[Fish4Brains]

The amount of air going in is adjustable by way of a simple gate. The fan is a no brainer for me. The fire has almost no ramp up time and I have verry little smoke during the cycle. The recovery is pretty fast. I found when I had the fan off and just opened up the draft door the fire would take a while to get going smoked alot and during that time the water temp didnt climb much at all while she was ramping up so I felt like I was giving up some there to.
I think if a guy had alot of time and alot of money he could come up with a draft / firebox /chimney setup to promote good natural draft but I felt it would be eisier and more reliable to go with a forced air. Plus with a forced air system the wood type and moisture contenet does not have near the effect on the fire that it does on a natural draft stove. Bottom line is I love the stove setup. I would do a few things different next time though. Like look into and experiment with a large storage tank in the basement and a simple fire heat exchanger setup outdoors. That would allow me to run a verry hot efficient fire and pull as much of the heat out as possible and I would only run it once a day or whenever it was convienient and the heat mass storage in the basement was in need of some btu's
Good luck and you can contact me with Q's if you would like, just shoot me a pm.
There are some others here that have more expirience and may have some better thoughts. If you can get there attention.

 

[Fish4Brains]

The amount of air going in is adjustable by way of a simple gate. The fan is a no brainer for me. The fire has almost no ramp up time and I have verry little smoke during the cycle. The recovery is pretty fast. I found when I had the fan off and just opened up the draft door the fire would take a while to get going smoked alot and during that time the water temp didnt climb much at all while she was ramping up so I felt like I was giving up some there to.
I think if a guy had alot of time and alot of money he could come up with a draft / firebox /chimney setup to promote good natural draft but I felt it would be eisier and more reliable to go with a forced air. Plus with a forced air system the wood type and moisture contenet does not have near the effect on the fire that it does on a natural draft stove. Bottom line is I love the stove setup. I would do a few things different next time though. Like look into and experiment with a large storage tank in the basement and a simple fire heat exchanger setup outdoors. That would allow me to run a verry hot efficient fire and pull as much of the heat out as possible and I would only run it once a day or whenever it was convienient and the heat mass storage in the basement was in need of some btu's
Good luck and you can contact me with Q's if you would like, just shoot me a pm.
There are some others here that have more expirience and may have some better thoughts. If you can get there attention.

 

[ericjeeper]

Mentioning storage

My system is tied in with my buried solar storage tank. 600 gallons. I pump the water out of the tank and through the stove to pick up heat.