oil to wood conversion

[fireman31]

I went and removed a boiler the other day to get the circulator pump. Hey the whole works were free (craigslist again) and the guy gave me $50 for doing a nice job.

The boiler was original to the house and weighs a ton. Probably 1940's. I noticed that the area that the oil burner fires into is huge and wide open. The unit has 2 doors on the front. One that the gun mounts on and one above that one.The outside dimensions of this that are close to some of the outside units I've seen and this thing has very little insulation on it.

Any thoughts on putting a blower in place of the burner gun adding some insulation/outer skin and using this monster to burn wood? The open area that the gun fires into is about 18x18x24 so the wood would have to be 18" or so but the box is about 24" high so you could pile it high. The doors are about 12X12.

Got home after dark tonight so I will post pics tomorrow.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Looking forward to seeing pics of the boiler you scored on CL.

Sounds like a nice nice start to a great wood heat source.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Is it an old American-Standard Arcoliner/Severn boiler?....I've wondered about doing a conversion like that too. those were dry base boilers tho...boiler sat on top of a steel bse (firebox).

 

[coog]

I did just that to an old furnace that was in our old house.Originally a coal furnace, converted to oil.I pulled the oil gun and fabbed a door (the original was thrown out with the conversion)with a adjustable air intake.We has been trying to heat the house with a stove and ended up freezing for a couple of Winters before I figured it out.Was not efficient, but warmed the whole house.

 

[fireman31]

Was not efficient, but warmed the whole house.

Did you reseal the doors for a somewhat airtight fit? how large of a fan did you use?


going to have to wait for my neighbor to get home for the pics... DAMN that thing is heavy!!

 

[AOD]

My dad did something similar a long time ago with an old Holland furnace. He removed the burner assembly and fabbed a grate, probably a chunk of storm drain, and opened the bottom ash door a bit. How easily it converts really depends on how much of the original doors and dampers are left from the oil conversion, but you can bet anything that was meant to burn coal should do nicely with wood. Make sure you've got a good pressure relief valve and makeup water.

 

[coog]

Did you reseal the doors for a somewhat airtight fit? how large of a fan did you use?


going to have to wait for my neighbor to get home for the pics... DAMN that thing is heavy!!

I should have made it clear that this was a warm air furnace, not a boiler.Before I fabbed the bottom door I just covered the opening with heavy duty aluminum foil, so that part was airtight...if not entirely up to code! I imagine the fan was 1/2 horse.Stupid thing is that I spent a couple of years thinking(and freezing)about how to add a wood furnace to this thing when the answer was to subtract the oil gun. Next time I get upset with my kid for being a knucklehead I'll try to remember my own dimwitted days.