OWB and forced hot air

[Wood Scrounge]

I heard something the other day that got me thinking. I always believed you needed radiant heating to take advantage of an OWB but I heard some one say they have an OWB with a forced hot air system. Is this true and can it possibly be efficient? If so I got some planning to do

 

[stipton]

An OWB would work with most applications. All you would need would be the correct exchanger to fit with your existing system be it water or hot air.

 

[Farmerjon]

Actually my OWB utilizes both methods. Forced air on the old part of the house, radiant heat in the new part. Basically it looks like a big truck radiator that lays on its side above the furnace in the duct/plenum (sp?). My old furnace is there only to house and utilize the air flow from the blower. I have the same thermostat on the wall but instead of turning on the furnace, it turns on and off the blower. Blower blows air through this radiator thus the air is warmed and comes out your existing duct work. Wood heat with all rooms the same tempature.

 

[Husky137]

All it takes is a heat exchanger. Run air over the hot water coil and voila! I have forced hot air run off of an oil burning boiler. I simply tapped my OWB into the existing boiler. In the event that the OWB water falls below 139, my oil burner kicks on and picks up the slack. Happened twice in two years, only because I forgot to load the OWB.