Owb's

[unclejoe]

Hello all,
New to the site and it looks to have alot of helpfull info. I'm purchasing an OWB and I'm thinking of purchasing the wood doctor 8,00 square ft model to heat my home and garage. Wondering if anyone has input on this make. I've looked at the central boiler furnace as well. Also looking for 2 100,00 btu heat exchangers for the house and garage that has radiant heat in the floor.
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

If you have in floor heat in the garage why would you need a heat exchanger? The floor IS the heat exchanger

And what kind of heat does the house have? Might as well heat your hot water too, need a heat exchanger for that

 

[unclejoe]

Thanks for the reply. I have Forced hot water in the house. I plan on heating the hot water as well in both buildings. I didn't know that about the garage. Maybe just a tempering valve to reduce the water temp? Looks like I've come to the right place for advice.

 

[Marklambert61]

Consider a Heatmor

First I like to say I'm not a dealer I just did a lot of research on OWB's

The heatmor stove has a blader system you dont lose water do to evaraporation also it has an open bottom design and firebrick.

Just look very carfuly before you spend your money.

Mark...

 

[HUSKYMAN]

My setup in my pole barn, in floor heat, notice the mixing valve with the green cap

Central Boilers website has good illustrations for the heat exchangers and stuff

 

[tanker]

First I like to say I'm not a dealer I just did a lot of research on OWB's

The heatmor stove has a blader system you dont lose water do to evaraporation also it has an open bottom design and firebrick.

Just look very carfuly before you spend your money.

Mark...

I've had a Central Boiler for 3 years now and have never had to add water to it.IMOP I'm not sure that a bladder is what you want,just something else to have to mess with eventualy.To me, simple and basic is the way to go.Good Luck with whatever brand you end up with

 

[itn]

i"ve had a cb for 4 years now and i heat my house, domestic hot water and garage. i've never had a problem with water loss. i have a hot water heat boiler(baseboard) in my house. i just tied the two systems together and i haven't had any problems. also, before you buy a heat exchanger for the garage i would think about an old radiator with a squirrel cage fan. save yourself a few bucks that way.

 

[unclejoe]

After more research Huskys method will work for the garage. Thanks.I do have an old coil and a fan from a warm air furnace for a make shift Modine to back up the radiant when the garage door is opened. The big thing is to keep the water temp low as not to crack the cement floor I guess. Does the wood doctor boiler have problems with loosing water? In my area the only two dealers for boilers are the wood doctor and central boiler. The wood doctor is more affordable to me right now and so far I've gotten no bad feedback on them. Thanks all for your help. Keep it coming I'm sure to have many questions as the project goes forward.

 

[Sawmill]

I know someone who has a wood Dr Outdoor furnace and it works the same as the other ones the only drawback is the door is smaller the the newer ones like CB or woodmaster. Nothing will make your day better that hitting you hands between the wood and the side of the furnace. In your garage do you have more than one zone it the floor. If you do you can make different zones at different temps so you don't have to warm up the whole building to use a 1/3 of it. I wish that I would of put lines in my floor wen it was poured, but 20 years ago this was never a thought.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

After more research Huskys method will work for the garage. Thanks.I do have an old coil and a fan from a warm air furnace for a make shift Modine to back up the radiant when the garage door is opened. The big thing is to keep the water temp low as not to crack the cement floor I guess. Does the wood doctor boiler have problems with loosing water? In my area the only two dealers for boilers are the wood doctor and central boiler. The wood doctor is more affordable to me right now and so far I've gotten no bad feedback on them. Thanks all for your help. Keep it coming I'm sure to have many questions as the project goes forward.

You will not need a backup heater for the garage if you do it right. I can leave both 12x12 doors on my barn wide open in 20 degree weather for an hour, and immediately after the doors are closed the barn is tolerable. A mixing valve will keep your water temp in the floor cool, mine goes as low as 70 degrees, which makes the temp in my barn about 60-62 degrees. When I had very little insulation in the barn I had my floor heat turned up to 95 degrees.
I would not heat one zone of the floor and leave the others off, as this may cause cracking do to different expansion rates. I have 6 zones in my floor, and I leave them all on all the time.

As far as the door size on the boiler goes, I have a 24x24 door and I would not want it to be any smaller. I have whacked my hands a few time, lucky my neighbors are far away so they dont hear :censored: :censored: :censored:

 

[unclejoe]

I have 9 116 ft. loops in the floor. It's good to know that it works so well. I've been working on this garage for 3 years now and I can't wait to get the radiant floor working and see all the money I put into it go to work. Not to mention heating my home and hot water without using any fuel oils.

 

[Keevan]

Wood Doctor

I have a Wood Doctor 8000 I never had a prblem with it, and i have not yet smashed my fingers on the door. Also I don't have to add water to it. I burn 40" logs some weigh aproxx. 200lbs Above 30 degrees it will go 24 hrs or better.

 

[unclejoe]

That's what I'm looking to hear Keevan. Lakes region huh? I spend alot of time up that neck of the woods in Tuftonborough I have a few friends that live there. If I wanted to use glycol in the garage would that change anything? I if i didn't use an exchanger in the garage it would then flow through the house loop as well.

 

[zsteinmetz]

I also have a Wood Doctor 8000 sq ft model. Had it a year now and love it.

 

[unclejoe]

I think someone here may be able to answer this question. I plan on using 1 inch aqua pex for my supply and return from the the OWB. It's an open air system so I don't need to use the heat pex with oxygen barrier. I was told today that pex is not rated to handle 190 degree water and it will expand and burst. I was told to use the orange x pex instead. Is this true? I can see huskymans set up has the orange pipe. Have I been wrong in thinking the aqua pex would work? The machine is coming in a week and the pipe is getting ordered monday. I may need to change things around. Thanks in advance for your ideas.

 

[ant]

PEX tubing can be used up to 200° Fahrenheit for heating applications. For plumbing, PEX is limited to 180° F. Temperature limitations are always noted on the print line of the PEX tubing.. PEX systems are tested to and can be used with standard T and P relief valves that operate at 210” F and 150 psi.

 

[doubletodd]

is 1" standard for supply lines, I'm trying to build an owb and was looking at the piping today but didn't know what size is generally used.

 

[HUSKYMAN]

yup

 

[unclejoe]

Thanks Ant, I'm going over to a couple of people that have them installed to check it out today. Bringing my note pad of questions and checking all of them out. Thanks again. DoubleTodd,1" seems to be the norm from what I've looked at.

 

[ant]

Hello all,
Also looking for 2 100,00 btu heat exchangers for the house and garage that has radiant heat in the floor.
Thanks in advance for your help.

http://cgi.ebay.com/100K-BTU-Water-...42134QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262