Hardy OWB

[kallaste]

My wife's uncle in Southern Ohio has a Hardy OWB. It is about 25yards from his house. Several weeks ago he broke his arm and cannot split wood or load the boiler. I have been driving from Pataskala 77 miles to help out.Not only does he have a boiler, he also has natural gas and fuel oil. He uses all
three to heat his farm house built in the 20s. The hse is apx 2200 square feet.
This last Sunday I cut and split about 3 cords. Later I asked him how much wood he uses in a typical winter. This guy uses about 16-18 cords per winter plus uses some coal mixed in also. When its really cold he supplements
with his natural gas or fuel oil furnace.
What could possibly be going on!! If this is truly correct, I believe I would cut the boiler up and sell it as scrap steel.
I heat 100% with wood from October until almost May and only use 4-6 cords in my US Stoves 1557 add on furnace. My house is 1800 square feet.
Are all boilers this needy? Think it might be hooked up wrong?

 

[J.Gordon]

Tell him to close the windows?
I would bet several factors are the cause of his heat loss.
No insulation, windows needs replaced probably un-insulated water lines from the furnace.
Craw up in his attic and check out the insulation and check his windows!
I bet the pay-back would be real quick, if he would inslulate the attic.

I use about 1/2 -3/4 cord of seasoned oak every week when its around 20 degrees

 

[HUSKYMAN]

Yeah he must have a 25mph wind blowing through his house at all times. Sounds like he has terrible insulation and a very inefficient setup. His Hardy should heat the whole house by itself

 

[ericjeeper]

something is terribly wrong

Terribly wrong is all I can say. They are good units as well are many others. He has heatloss issues of great proportions.either in his lineset to the house or elsewhere.

 

[highpower]

Tell him to close the windows?
I would bet several factors are the cause of his heat loss.
No insulation, windows needs replaced probably un-insulated water lines from the furnace.
Craw up in his attic and check out the insulation and check his windows!
I bet the pay-back would be real quick, if he would inslulate the attic.

I use about 1/2 -3/4 cord of seasoned oak every week when its around 20 degrees

I agree! I could not be happier with my Hardy. I light it usually in October or early November and let it burn until spring. I am heating well insulated 3000 square foot two story house and burn less than a rick a week in cold weeks.

Measure the temp coming out of his registers it should run around 115Fto 120F. If it's not check the heater &m lines. If the temp is right go buy insulation and windows.

 

[HardyOWB]

I have a Hardy OWB and heat my 1 year old well insulated 2700 sq ft home and domestic hot water. I do have high ceilings, 20ft living room and 9 ft throughout the rest of the house, so it is a large volume to heat. I burn about 25 face cord or riks from mid november to mid March. I keep the themometer at 70-72 24hrs per day. Its a lot of wood, but I buy 15 face cord split and delivered for around $900 and pull the last 10 out of my woods.

To compare, my neighbor with a similar size house is on a budget with the propane company at $250 per month 12 months per year.

 

[iCreek]

Hardy probably not the problem.

We have three Hardy stoves in the family, two H2s and an H4. Three different type homes, a rancher built in the early 70s, a two story farm house build in the 1920s, (remodeled with windows, new sheet rock and insulation), and a five year old rancher. We heat Oct. - April, 72 - 74 temps, three homes, one shop, all our domestic water, and all three combined don't use that much wood. Something must be wrong with the install or like the others said, maybe needs some new windows and insulation. Good luck in finding the problem, let us know what you discover.

I get about 122 - 125 Temps out of my registers.

 

[HardyOWB]

This guy uses about 16-18 cords per winter plus uses some coal mixed in also. When its really cold he supplements
with his natural gas or fuel oil furnace.

Kallaste,

Are you talking 16 to 18 full cords of wood or face cords (riks)? A lot of people in my area use the term cord, but they are actually talking about a face cord (4ft high x 8 ft long x 16 inches wide).

A full cord would be (4ft high x 8 ft long x 4 ft wide).

 

[kallaste]

This guy uses about 16-18 cords per winter plus uses some coal mixed in also. When its really cold he supplements
with his natural gas or fuel oil furnace.

Kallaste,

Are you talking 16 to 18 full cords of wood or face cords (riks)? A lot of people in my area use the term cord, but they are actually talking about a face cord (4ft high x 8 ft long x 16 inches wide).

A full cord would be (4ft high x 8 ft long x 4 ft wide).

I am talking about full cords. The hse seems to be well built and insulated. It doesnt seem to be drafty. I dont know whats wrong,but I sure wouldnt be a slave to that kind of work every winter.

 

[rx7145]

Sounds like he is heating the ground.

 

[HardyOWB]

Wow! Thats a lot of wood and fuel to heat that house.

I do not have insulated pex lines running from my furnace to my house (150ft away), but they are burried 4ft below the surface in schedule 20 pvc pipe. I just checked last night and my furnace is set at 170-180 degrees. At the house the water is 175 degrees, so only a 5 degree temp drop. After the heat exchanger the water temp is 150 degrees. Air temp coming our of the duct work is 125 degrees.

Check these water and air temperatures at this house. If they match up, then I would say it sounds like you need some insulation and maybe windows. How often is the furnace cycling on?

 

[bassman]

I will tell you first hand that boilers are great and will burn not all that much wood untill a point.
I can heat 2800 sq ft and get 12 to 16 hour burn times in mid winter minus 30c but you add in a small greenhouse 10x12 and I am down to 6 hours!!
this is a result of that one loop in the greenhouse running for 5 minutes every 15 minutes.
looks like you have 3 possible problems.

1 lines in the ground are in water or not insulated well.
2 house has major air leaks and or poor insulation.
3 duct work ect is not getting hot air into house .
a few pics of the setup and a temp gun and we all can help you find the problem.

people on this forum are either real smart or have had alot of expierence or both..

me.... I do it wrong untill I get it right

shayne

 

[TheInstaller]

Hardy not keeping up

The stove could be undersized or just not efficient. I have a cadilac 5600 and i heat 1600 square feet in wisconson on once every two days on a single fill of slabwood. Green or dry it doesnt matter. Longer if it is above 15 or 20 degrees. The heat out of my ducts are above 130 degrees It hurts to hold your foot on the duct. Plus my wife is cold blooded and has the thermostat set at 77.

 

[windthrown]

We have a properly sized CB OWB here and burn about 10 cords of hard and soft wood mixed. We think that is too much... but this house is 6 years old, and has a million windows and sliding glass doors (double glazed, still low R value), no curtains or other window coverings, vaulted ceilings, as well as many skylights (heal loss anyone???). The floors are insulated as well as the walls and attic. Hydronic floor heating as well. We keep the T-set mostly to 69 degrees F, but in cold snaps I up it to 72 F. Windows rob heat.

I can see that if a house were not to have insulation, and old drafty windows and doors, and in the upper midwest, you could burn 20 cords of wood, and need backup coal, gas and whatever else to stay warm. Insulation and weather stripping would be the first thing to install. Then look over the boiler lines, heat exchangers, and heating system inside the house. Then start replacing the windows, from the worst to best. I replaced the windows in my brother's house in Portland last year. It is a 70 year old place that has been remodeled several times. It has old style french windows with panels that were drafty as all heck. Now the house stays nice and warm and he uses about 1/3 less gas to heat it.

However, looking at it from another angle, the house may well be insulated and not be all that drafty. Dry seasoned oak firewood has about 25 million BTU per cord. The average house in the US requires 200 Million BTUs for a heating season. The average OWB has a heating efficiency of about 30%... so 200 / .3 x 25 = 26 cords of oak. So with supplimental gas heating, this may be about all you are going to get out of the OWB.

My 2 cents worth...