Increase OWB water capacity

[maytagman]

Hopefully eveyone doesn't think this is a really dumb idea. I have a friend with a undersized OWB. He heats his old farmhouse and a shed with it. He says he has to fill it full 3 times a day, basically it calls for heat constantly. I have a 2 yr old 50 gal water heater that I am not using. Would it make any sense to hook the water heater in series in the loop to add water capacity? It would only take 15-20 min to cut it in and install it. Would it be worth trying? I think he said his unit only holds 150 gal of water now, and I just thought this may help a bit.

 

[projectsho89]

Adding additional storage capacity can add some time to the usable output of the system as it runs low on fuel and is no longer able to produce enough heat on the fly to meet the demands on the system.

However, an additional 50 gallons probably won't yield a very dramatic difference but it will help.

I'd do it and keep an eye out for another 100 gallons of storage capacity.

Steve

 

[Butch(OH)]

Will increasing the storage capacity help wood usage? No, or at least not in any measurable amounts IMO. It will lengthen the off time in the cycle BUT with a corrasponding longer burn time to heat back up.

Your friend is using a lot of BTUs and consumed BTUs is what determains how much wood he burns. The water in an OWB creates no heat. It does two things and two things only. It is a medium to transfer the heat where you need it and it provides storage of heat ceated by the fire.

 

[Paso One]

I have a 2 yr old 50 gal water heater that I am not using. Would it make any sense to hook the water heater in series in the loop to add water capacity?

Are you planning to have the hot water heater working??? (heating) It also provides extra freeze protection if it could be.

I think any storage is good I'm leaning that way myself I was planning on using a 250 gallon tank and tee my return flow to the boiler. and let thermo siphon work.

 

[November Wolf]

I think it would be worth a try. My boiler holds 393 gallons and that is why I can get 24+ hours burn time. If he doe's this please keep us posted with the results.

 

[irishcountry]

Hey project89 how do you like your Nature Comfort?? Don't want to hijak but was just thinking about it and it came to mind when I seen your post..

 

[trialanderror]

Hopefully eveyone doesn't think this is a really dumb idea. I have a friend with a undersized OWB. He heats his old farmhouse and a shed with it. He says he has to fill it full 3 times a day, basically it calls for heat constantly. I have a 2 yr old 50 gal water heater that I am not using. Would it make any sense to hook the water heater in series in the loop to add water capacity? It would only take 15-20 min to cut it in and install it. Would it be worth trying? I think he said his unit only holds 150 gal of water now, and I just thought this may help a bit.

a friend of mine ended up with a used underground tank for a gas station, 2000gal.

he cleaned it out, insulated it, and put it in his barn.

takes ALOT of wood to get it up to temp. but once it's heated, and insulated so good, his fire can go out for a week and a 1/2 and still be pulling heat from the water as long as the pump is moving it.....

lots of storaged energy you could say. But, if your friend needs more BTU/H then what the furnace can pump out, then it wouldn't do any good. water would chill faster then it can be heated again.


follow my post in OWB - the lowdown. i'm setting mine up with two different temp settings. one at 175-195 to call for the draft to open, and if the draft can't keep up, such as dropping below 175F, then it'll kick on a draft blower....once up to 195, everything shuts down.
maybe switch the draft with a forced air blower? burn more wood, but it'll crank the BTU's higher/faster.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

The gasifier crowd like used LP tanks for storage....projectsho98 is right...shoot for at least 100 gal. or more, or buy a bigger OWB.

 

[Jon E]

I only have one loop coming off my OWB and the unit has three ports available. I'll be building a shop in the summer and I plan on finding a surplus LP tank, probably 500 or 1000 gallons, and putting it in an insulated room in the back of the shop. I will run a single loop with a continuously running pump from the OWB to the tank and back. That will give me another 500 or 1000 gallons of hot water in the system, which will increase my burn time considerably but also allow for cleaner, hotter burns. That probably means less wood use in the long term. It also means I can do a few days between fires.

The side benefit of having 500 gallons of 160-180 degree water in the shop is that I can run a second loop off the tank to a heat exchanger, heat the shop with PEX loops under the floor, and run a small lumber kiln with supplemental heat off the tank. I can either kiln-dry my lumber off my mill or kiln-dry some firewood when there's no lumber to dry.

 

[trialanderror]

I only have one loop coming off my OWB and the unit has three ports available. I'll be building a shop in the summer and I plan on finding a surplus LP tank, probably 500 or 1000 gallons, and putting it in an insulated room in the back of the shop. I will run a single loop with a continuously running pump from the OWB to the tank and back. That will give me another 500 or 1000 gallons of hot water in the system, which will increase my burn time considerably but also allow for cleaner, hotter burns. That probably means less wood use in the long term. It also means I can do a few days between fires.

The side benefit of having 500 gallons of 160-180 degree water in the shop is that I can run a second loop off the tank to a heat exchanger, heat the shop with PEX loops under the floor, and run a small lumber kiln with supplemental heat off the tank. I can either kiln-dry my lumber off my mill or kiln-dry some firewood when there's no lumber to dry.

i got a 20x6 underground drum....~4500 gallon I plan on using that someday...