OWB...going on vacation What to do?

[Roscoe294]

I live in Michigan and have a 3 week vacation planned for January. I have propane back up on both my indoor furnace and hot water heater.

Has anyone gone on vacation during the winter and let their OWB circulate with only the water heated by the hot water tank and indoor furnace? I plan on keeping my house at 55*

I dont want to drain the OWB and dont want to ask a family member to stop by and tend to the OWB. What to do? If everything goes as plans I dont think there would be a freeze issue with the OWB.

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[headleyj]

I had a neighbor fill it for me for 4-5 days, but 3 weeks is awhile. I wouldn't think circulating water would freeze as long as your OWB is insulated decent.

 

[Scrapiron]

Same issue here

I'm thinking of taking a small vacation in February; however it doesn't get as cold as where you are and I'm only thinking 5 days. I've asked the former owner to swing by and check the OWB and load it if necessary.

3 weeks is a long time- I would think as long as the water is circulating, you *should* be okay but what if the power goes out?

Safest way I think would be to drain it (hate to say it) or ask a trusted neighbor to check on it every few days.

 

[beerman6]

For that amount of time,I would drain it,blow out the lines and enjoy the vacation.

Where in Michigan?If close enough I would feed it for ya...

 

[Scootermsp]

I just came home from 4 days away and had my Dad do mine for me. I kept the house at 55F and did not go through much wood. Your best bet is to find several friends and cycle them so they will no get burned out on you. If you can find one with an OWB that would be best.

 

[gwiley]

Just went away for about 1 week - I turn down the house temp to 60degF and have my Dad fill it for me. It uses very little wood when no one is taking hot showers (I have multiple teenagers that can't see to take less than 30 minutes of hot shower each).

Line up a few folks and have them help you fill it - you might be able to get away with 24hr burns. Offering to exchange some work for this help is a good investment - just think about the money you would spend on propane and you won't sweat giving your labor away for "free".

 

[oneoldbanjo]

In theory.....the interior heating system is supposed to be able to provide enough heat to keep the OWB from freezing.....but I don't know anyone that has tried it. It also probably makes a big difference if the weather is 30 degrees or -18 while you are gone!

Draining the system would not be good unless it is stainless. The normal steel boilers rely on stale water with treatment in the boiler to keep the oxygen from getting to the metal and causing rust and corrosion.

The theory is that the house is supposed to be able to provide enough heat through the furnace and/or water heater to keep the furnace from freezing. If you have a plate exchanger there is little heat transfer that will occur as you will not be running any domestic water while you are gone. If you have a sidearm - I would turn the water heater off as you do not want the water heater and furnace doing strange things - the water heater could be heating the water while the exchanger uses the hot water to heat the house if you leave the furnace blower on. Hopefully your furnace can make heat more efficiently than your water heater.

My suggestion would be to turn the blower control on your furnace to "low" or "on" so that the blower runs all the time and runs air through the exchanger continuously and turn off your water heater. Leave the pump on the OWB to keep the water circulating, cap the flue on the OWB, wrap some extra insulation or a blanket around any exposed water lines, leave the heat on in your house to 60......then go away. It would be nice to have someone stop by occasionally and see what the temperature reading is in the OWB - and if it starts approaching 32 degrees it is time to take some action and get the OWB fired up again.

Let us know how it goes. The longest I have ever been away in the winter is 5 days and I loaded my OWB with very straight wood that was about 8" in diameter and 40" long. I packed the firebox up with this straight wood as tightly packed as I could get it and the house was at 74 when we left and we turned the thermostat back to 55 degrees - and had the back up heat turned to 50 so that the heat pump would come when the OWB could no longer keep up. Our house is very well insulated and when we returned the house was still at 55 and the back up heat was never used, and we still had a fire in the OWB and went another night before adding any wood.

 

[Scootermsp]

I neglected to mention in my last post that my aquastat on my oil burner is at 140F. Should the OWB get down in temp the 30 plate water to water HX will in theory keep the OWB around 130F (10F loss in the exchange) with the oil burner kicking on as a back-up. Once in a while during a cold spell I might let the OWB go a little too long and it will get to about 129F but no lower with the oil burner kicking on. I don't mind it kicking on every once in a while just so it gets used at least a little. Tonight the real cold stuff (for us) is coming in. We are looking for a low tonight of 9F. I am loving the big ole Hickory chunks.....they burn for a very long time. Other than an OWB there really is no reason to like the cold. Stay Warm !!!!

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I neglected to mention in my last post that my aquastat on my oil burner is at 140F. Should the OWB get down in temp the 30 plate water to water HX will in theory keep the OWB around 130F (10F loss in the exchange) with the oil burner kicking on as a back-up. Once in a while during a cold spell I might let the OWB go a little too long and it will get to about 129F but no lower with the oil burner kicking on. I don't mind it kicking on every once in a while just so it gets used at least a little. Tonight the real cold stuff (for us) is coming in. We are looking for a low tonight of 9F. I am loving the big ole Hickory chunks.....they burn for a very long time. Other than an OWB there really is no reason to like the cold. Stay Warm !!!!

Roscoe:

I guess it would help to know if your heating system is forced air or a boiler, and if you have a plate exchanger on your hot water heater or a sidearm.

If you have a boiler and a plate exchanger......it looks like you don't have a problem at all as the indoor boiler and plate exchanger will keep everything toasty while you are away! In theory the same thing should happen if you have a forced air furnace....as long as you keep the blower running 24/7 to allow the air to warm up the water that is being circulated from the OWB (the one without a fire in it).

 

[magnumhntr]

I tested this when I went to North Dakota the first week of Nov. I left my pump going on my Woodmaster, and the sidearm on the hot water heater kept the water at 100 degrees with no problems. I tested this on a cold start with the Woodmaster water at 50 when turned on, and it gained 10 degrees every 12 hours heating in reverse off the sidearm. Once at 100 it remained there with no problem, and everything went fine while I was away. But, I had a wife at home so if the power went out and the temp went below freezing outside, she could get someone over to fire up the generator if needed. I wouldn't leave it full of water unless someone could babysit it if we lost power....

Chris

 

[Storm56]

Why not stick a ceramic electric heater in the firebox. Most have a thermostat, so set it at maybe 55. That along with the heat from the furnace should do it for you.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

I tested this when I went to North Dakota the first week of Nov. I left my pump going on my Woodmaster, and the sidearm on the hot water heater kept the water at 100 degrees with no problems. I tested this on a cold start with the Woodmaster water at 50 when turned on, and it gained 10 degrees every 12 hours heating in reverse off the sidearm. Once at 100 it remained there with no problem, and everything went fine while I was away. But, I had a wife at home so if the power went out and the temp went below freezing outside, she could get someone over to fire up the generator if needed. I wouldn't leave it full of water unless someone could babysit it if we lost power....

Chris

In my system the water from the OWB goes to the sidearm on the water heater first, then into the furnace heat exchanger (I have an electric heat pump). If my OWB was not running the water heater would transfer heat to the water throught the sidearm, then the water would go into the heat exchanger in the furnace. When the furnace comes on the it would either be adding heat to the water or taking some away - it depends on the temperature of the water and the heat of the air coming from the heat pump. Knowing that my heat pump is more efficient than my electric water heater - I will be turning my water heater off and I will let the heat pump keep the OWB water warm. I just turn my furnace blower to the "low" setting so that air is moving through the exchanger 24/7.

 

[AIM]

This is just an opinion but I think you are gonna want a fire built at least once every few days.
Yes your propane furnace will keep your water from freezing, but over 3 weeks I'd say that you are gonna go through ENORMOUS amounts of propane.
Slowly but surely your furnace will lose ground and your water temp will get pretty low. Not freezing but low. Now remember that your exchanger will cool your air just as well as heat it.
So now you have the situation where your furnace is running but the cool water is cooling down the heat that your furnace is making. If the outside temp is in the low 20s and the best your furnace can provide is 60° air at the register. Your furnace will never shut off.

If you can arrange for someone to build a fire once every few days and get the water temp up to a high setting, by the time you get to the (water having a cooling effect) scenario. You'll be back to getting another fire built.
As I said. This is just an opinion.

 

[Scootermsp]

My usual solution in the past when I cannot get a family member to do it is: Become friends with other OWB owners nearby. I have done this with a couple local folks I did not know. Don't be shy, go introduce yourself! You will find in about 10 seconds that you have lots in common. This is best done during the off-season. After you get to know these folks offer to keep an eye on their OWB should they ever need to be gone for a few days or vacation. I've got 5 or 6 CB owners I know that I could call on their cell phones right now and would have my unit raked out and loaded in under an hour. It's all about networking! Having an OWB is almost a brotherhood.

 

[oneoldbanjo]

Become friends with other OWB owners nearby.

Well I do vote for this one. I have 1 neighbor about 1/4 mile and another one about 1 mile away that both have Woodmaster 4400 units like mine. We do help each other out all year when cutting hay, chasing loose cows, etc. We all know we can call each other to tend our OWB's when we are away.

 

[ghitch75]

if you have someone load it for you while your gone.......make sure you show them how to run it and ash removal.....had a guy we put one in for that had friends load it while he was gone for 5 days......they loaded it full and cleaned the ash pan and left the ash pan door open and boiled it dry!!!!.......all the controls where in a pool in the control box and busted the firebox in 20 place's....it got so hot it metaled the solder joints from the copper fitting's!!!


so beware of who you get to load it......it cost him a new boiler + vacation!!!

 

[12vdzl]

I'm in MI as well. I wouldn't mind helping out either. There's 2 of us now.

PM if you're interrested.

BTW i have a hawken OWB that i treat just as good as i do my children.

Scooter has made a great point of networking, and becoming friends that you can count on in a pinch. You never know what can happen at any time, that you may need the ol' OWB stoked. I'm fortunate enough to have family very close by that is very interrested in OWB system and can stoke at a moments notice.

I've heard about rep'ping someone, but don't know how, scooter is a deserving individual of this. Thanks for the help oneoldbanjo, rep sent to scooter!

 

[applefarmer]

Where are you guys at in Michigan? I am about 10 minutes east of South Haven.

 

[Marc]

Other than an OWB there really is no reason to like the cold. Stay Warm !!!!

Pfft. Crazy talk. I love the cold weather, but then, I'm pretty hot blooded.

And there's definitely nothing finer than a fresh blanket of snow over everything

I love winter.

 

[beerman6]

Where are you guys at in Michigan? I am about 10 minutes east of South Haven.

Bancroft is about 20 miles west of Flint off of I-69.