Heat/hot water and electricity from home sized boiler

[zogger]

Perhaps one of ya'all smart guys and builders can run with this idea and incorporate it into an OWB?

http://uk.businessinsider.com/flow-energy-launches-boiler-that-produces-electric-power-2015-1

 

[CTYank]

Good luck getting insurance coverage for a steam boiler in your house. The details in automating a turbo-generator and integrating it with mains power are very important, and were totally ignored in that sales blurb. IMO.

There's a reason why OWBs are outdoors- insurance coverage in case of explosion, for starters.

 

[H-Ranch]

There's a reason why OWBs are outdoors- insurance coverage in case of explosion, for starters.

Please explain the explosion risk of an OWB in detail.

 

[Pcoz88]

They do have steam boilers in homes that run off natural gas,fuel oil,coal and propane.

 

[NSMaple1]

Please explain the explosion risk of an OWB in detail.

I'm curious too.

And when can I expect my IWB to go BOOM?

 

[Pcoz88]

It should not go" boom" if properly maintained.They have relief valves on them . If you have questions on boilers water or steam go to heatinghelp.com

 

[NSMaple1]

It should not go" boom" if properly maintained.They have relief valves on them . If you have questions on boilers water or steam go to heatinghelp.com

Uh, yeah. I'm good, I know all about my boiler.

Point was if OWBs can go boom as suggested in post 2, IWBs could go boom at any time.

 

[svk]

Please explain the explosion risk of an OWB in detail.

Yes I'd be interested as well.

 

[bayard]

my inside boiler never went boom in 40 years.

 

[cantoo]

Oh yes they can, if you try hard enough. Little bigger but you get the idea. And most owb's aren't under pressure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Belle

 

[Poston5]

When my owb explodes I hope it catches fire to keep the water from freezing.

 

[cantoo]

Slim chance of that in an open system. But there are closed ones out there so play safe.

 

[Hddnis]

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of electricity/heat/cooling units installed in commercial buildings all over the world.

So far cost of production has kept them out of the home market, but lots of companies are working to change that.


Mr. HE

 

[ponyexpress976]

If it could be made, I'd be in line to buy one. Especially if the fuel feed system required a hopper and wood chipped to a certain size....I'm running out of places to dump all this mulch!

 

[SS396driver]

Most early home heating was done with steam boilers. Most likely 100's of thousands still in operation. I rented a house in the the early 80's that had a gas steam boiler system, boy was that house house humid . The Rads would hiss all the time releasing pressure from the system.

 

[CTYank]

They do have steam boilers in homes that run off natural gas,fuel oil,coal and propane.

Check the operating pressure and the required safeties. Steam heating and steam driving turbines are very different creatures.

Insurance companies rule here, and they get pretty antsy about any possibility of explosions. Search the archives here for examples.

 

[lmbrman]

There was an outfit in FL some years back that sold basic kits for household electric generation from wood fired units. They had plans or kits available reasonable. My father bought the stuff for his cabin and it worked for his place fine. Not enough power for my tools.

My insurance company was more concerned about an open fire- fireplace than my woodstoves and indoor boiler. That may not apply to others.

 

[zogger]

There was an outfit in FL some years back that sold basic kits for household electric generation from wood fired units. They had plans or kits available reasonable. My father bought the stuff for his cabin and it worked for his place fine. Not enough power for my tools.

My insurance company was more concerned about an open fire- fireplace than my woodstoves and indoor boiler. That may not apply to others.

Hey, that sounds neat! If you can recall the exact name, who knows, they might still be around, or maybe someone posted the plans up online or something.

Was it just a regular steam engine type of thing, or what?

 

[lmbrman]

Hey, that sounds neat! If you can recall the exact name, who knows, they might still be around, or maybe someone posted the plans up online or something.

Was it just a regular steam engine type of thing, or what?

I don't recall much about it, and he sold the place years ago.

I wondered about using a sterling engine for similar purpose. I have a small sterling engine powering a fan on our lopi. Might be a fun experiment some winter.

 

[lmbrman]

google powergen

edit- I can no longer access that site, wth??

electricity from wood waste, etc should work, but remember you are not supposed to be independent from the system