you can keep your OWB but mine is going!!!

[bowtechmadman]

Sorry bassman but the OWB isn't your problem. Obviously it isn't for you...not sure why that constitutes bashing OWB's. Nothing is for free and I can imagine you do go through that much wood if your using birch and trying to heat that greenhouse.
Not for you doesn't mean it isn't for others. Quit your whining and get your checkbook out your gonna need it.

 

[Scootermsp]

$$$

:agree2: you WILL need your checkbook.

 

[Mike Van]

Does the greenhouse make money? Enough to offset the wood/propane bills?

 

[AKDoug]

The greenhouse is what's killing you. Wait until you see your gas bill when you try and heat it with gas.

I heat a 10,000 sqft building in S.C. Alaska. It has an average ceiling height of 16'. Essentially it's like heating TEN 2,000 sqft homes as far as cubic feet go. I heat with my OWB from October 1st through May 1st (might be April 15 this year). You are talking 210 days of having to put wood in the boiler. If I keep my current pace I will have burned 26 to 27 cords of birch by May 1st. That's a HUGE difference between you and I. My stratagy to not have to fill the boiler every 6 hours is simple. I heat the place up to 72F during the day when I'm awake to fill it, then I allow the interior temp to drop to 65F at night which stretches out the time I need between filling it. In the morning the electronic thermostat goes back up to 72F and we starting building to that temp again. I also went up one size on the boiler vs. what was recommended. At -40F I am still able to go 12 hours between loads if I stuff it full.

You could do this too buy adding several barrels (depends on how big the greenhouse is) of water in the greenhouse that you can heat with the OWB. Those barrels will emit heat through the night and allow the OWB to shut down at night if your house can hold heat for that long. It's all about being creative and intelligent. If you are thinking of a wast oil heater I sure hope you have a good source of oil.

OWB's are certainly not for everyone, but I paid for my entire system in one year. It works for me.

 

[woodguy105]

AKdoug is thinking what I'm thinking. You need some thermal mass. If you're running a hot air system there's nothing holding the heat. Just like in an uninsulated house the heat keeps going on....

Maybe a cement floor w/ radiant heat?

 

[J.W Younger]

24 cords of wood and 3 times a day to fill it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

going back to gas and not going to worry if the fire is out no more.

I am a little pissed that I spent 15 grand on a pipe dream.

there is more to life than filling a boiler and trying to find a semi truck load of wood to keep warm to save a few bucks at the cost of my back and sleepless nights.

in my best william jefferson clinton voice I feel yer pain

 

[bassman]

Sorry bassman but the OWB isn't your problem. Obviously it isn't for you...not sure why that constitutes bashing OWB's. Nothing is for free and I can imagine you do go through that much wood if your using birch and trying to heat that greenhouse.
Not for you doesn't mean it isn't for others. Quit your whining and get your checkbook out your gonna need it.

WTF!!!!! birch is now a crap wood????

I was told the first 2 years when I was having problems it was popalar that was my problem and birch is the best...

where the he!! do I find any thing other than popular and birch in sask??

whining is what a forum is for buddy!!

 

[windthrown]

Well, put a stick of dynamite in that OWB of yours and light the fuse then. Bend over and pay for gas. No sympathy if all you are gonna do is whine and complain.

Canada is frickin' cold. 24 cords sounds about right. We burned 10 cords a winter here in mild winter OryGun just to heat the house with a classic less-efficient OWB. Never mind trying to heat a greenhouse. Of course we get wood here for free. Good high density Doug fir and oak.

 

[Dalmatian90]

my gas bill was about $2400 a year now they are about $1600 but I paid $2600 for 20 cords of birch delivered and cut into 3 foot pieces.

Was that including the greenhouse?

My quick math...

Birch = 20.8 Million BTUs/Cord
Propane = 91,600 BTUs/Gallon

Let's give the OWB a 45% efficiency, and a propane furnace 90%. (If someone thinks I'm way off, let me know what numbers I should run instead).

24 cords of Birch @ 45% efficiency = 2,724 gallons of Propane @ 90%

Propane's running $2.63/gallon in Connecticut right now so that's close to US$7,200...I think Canadian & US dollars are about the same right now.

Something just doesn't add up.

If you only used $2400 in propane before to heat the same stuff, that's only like 1200 gallons or less. You OWB would have to be down below 20% efficiency, i.e. 80% of the heat is going up the stack or being radiated away somewhere other then into your buildings.

I'm not doubting your observations, I'm just saying something doesn't make sense!

 

[windthrown]

Canuk dollar is way down against the USD. Back to 80 cents on the dollar (again). Factoring at $0.80 CDN on the USD, his bills will be $9,000 CDN, rather than $7,200 USD.

 

[LadyToysDream]

cozeburn 250

2800 sq ft home with one room only heated with boiler that is 700 sq ft
kitchen floor 12 x 24 heated with water as well

the rest is heated with gas furnace or woodstove.

the house would get a 16 hour burn on a 3/4 fill

it is the greenhouse that is the pig!!
2 layer inflated poly that will go from plus +20c to 0c in 30 mins when the outside temp is minus -20c

Hi ,
Is your green house a income producer for your household ? How long have you had it ? What was the previous method of heating it, and how much was the cost of that ?

We put in a CB 5036 last summer. It now heats our 1248 sq ft house and all our domestic hot water. I fiqure we are going to be using approximately 18 face cord ( 6 full cord ) a year for our wood. Plan now is to buy one tri axle load of logs in the late winter. This current load just cost us $ 575. Hubby did all the cutting and splitting to the size he wanted. Wood replaces 500 gallons of propane for the year. I don't trust the cost of propane.
All we need to do is to buy some pex pipe and the heater unit for the 24' x 40' garage if we want to heat that. I don't think we want to now as that is not insulated at all. I am sure I would be unhappy also as you are over your greenhouse heating.

 

[Circle B MN]

I am disappointed in my OWB as well. Every evening I go check on it, and it doesn't need but a few more sticks of wood. At this rate, it'll be a long time before I get to play with my chainsaw again. I might just have to start another fire in a barrel and try to heat the backyard....:smoking:

 

[mtfallsmikey]

BTU calculations are bull.

It is all about insulation and outside temp.

example. last night it was 0c with no wind and my last fill was at 12am , this morning my firebox was still half full and that was keeping the greenhouse at +20c all night.

2 weeks ago it was -27c with a 40k wind and my 12am fill was done at 4am and that was setting the greenhouse to 12c ..

the thing with a gas bill is that you pay a bill every month and if 1 month you use 5 times the gas they bill you over a year so its not that bad.

Putting my boiler IN my greenhouse ????? what would that help??

any suggestion other than gas just seems to cost soo much more.

I was looking at a waste oil burner and they are 6 grand for a 150 000 btu model and then I will be hauling cheap to free waste oil home to put into tanks and then housing a boiler and the tanks in a small building that I have to spend more money on......

people on here say my boiler is sized too small so are they saying if I had the biggest wood boiler there is that I would go thriough less wood??? or that I would go longer befor the next fill??

anyway you look at it more money is needed to buy one and that means longer to pay it off!!

the pipe dream of 5 years and it will pay for itself is bull as well.

unless you live in a smaller well insulated house and cut your own wood a boiler will never pay for itself and if you think your time is not worth anything think again.

even in a small well insulated house I would rather pay a small gas or propane bill and to save cash put in a good woodstove and cut my own 3 to 5 cords of wood.

BTU calcs bull????...I've been designing/installing/servicing HVAC systems for almost 40 yrs. now.....that attitude itself is bull!!!

 

[LadyToysDream]

I am disappointed in my OWB as well. Every evening I go check on it, and it doesn't need but a few more sticks of wood. At this rate, it'll be a long time before I get to play with my chainsaw again. I might just have to start another fire in a barrel and try to heat the backyard....:smoking:

I think my hubby would agree with you 100 %. After he cut the tri axle load for us, we took a second load here for his Dad, and he cut that also. And then he delivered it. Next load goes on Dad's lawn though. Hubby likes being outside and busy

 

[Blazin]

Yeah...I'm a little pissed myself that I did'nt get to pay 4-5 grand on fuel oil to heat 6000sq ft, instead I used 20 full cord of firewood that cost me $1000 for 10 cord and the other 10 was off my land. It also burns my azz that I have'nt gotten to wear a sweatshirt in any of the 3 buildings that goofy dang blasted CB5648 heats. Screw it!!! I'm moving to Florida!!!

And yeah, your stove/boiler/burner is UNDERSIZED! 150gal of water capacity blowing hot air into plastic tents at -20??? Holy Moly!! Thermal mass, storage makes a huge difference. A bigger OWB does'nt mean more wood usage, it means more capacity/storage and more efficientcy heating larger spaces. Of course your mileage will vary with climate, but damn....I would'nt get any sleep either wondering how I was gonna pay the gas bill when it spikes back to $4 or $5 a gallon!

 

[cjcocn]

Seeing as how bassman is in Saskatchewan, then birch is about the best that he can do. His only other viable options are likely poplar and pine. Depending on where he is in Sask, pine might be an expensive option due to scarcity. Of the three options, birch will give him the best heat.

While I have zero experience with OWBs, I still realize that sizing is important (just as it is with wood stoves).

It's like this: I would be driving myself nuts trying to heat my house with a tiny wood stove from an ice fishing shack, but with a nice big stove that was rated for a larger square footage than my house is, I can fill that sucker up and then relax and enjoy the heat.

I believe that the same holds true for OWBs, correct?

bassman

There have been some good suggestions in this thread, particularly about sizing. Give the posters an opportunity to give you some feedback based on real data. Explain your set-up (OWB lines, insulation in your house, etc) and see what they come up with.

Hopefully there is a solution that will fill your heating requirements without breaking the bank.

This forum has some good representation from OWB users, so let them help you figure it out based on their long-term experiences.

If it turns out that the best thing is to abandon your OWB in favor of another heating method, then at least you can go forward with that knowing that you are doing what is best for you.

I believe that the knowledge on this board can really assist you in dealing with your issue, and I'd hate to see that opportunity wasted by us focusing on things that do not add to a possible resolution.

Of course, with zero knowledge I have nothing to contribute so will just be reading to learn, but isn't that what these forums are also for?

 

[Scootermsp]

Bassman

Run radiant heat under your tables!!!! Why heat the whole place when only the plants need it? If you are undersized for an OWB you must use a little Yankee ingenuity. Radiant? Coal? Thermal Mass? Electronic T-Stats? Insert or stove in house? It's all about trial and error. The folks here want to help.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

Your wood usage, considering WHAT type of wood your using and WHAT your heating seems to be reasonable. Greenhouses are energy hogs as they have little insulation and are huge heat suckers so it's the nature of the beast. IF your previous BTU usage isn't adding up one thing to look at is your feed lines. If your heating groundwater around your feedlines you can loose a lot of btu's there. Get in with a tree trimmer and see if the can dump their "waste" at your place.

 

[John D]

Run radiant heat under your tables!!!! Why heat the whole place when only the plants need it? If you are undersized for an OWB you must use a little Yankee ingenuity. Radiant? Coal? Thermal Mass? Electronic T-Stats? Insert or stove in house? It's all about trial and error. The folks here want to help.

This is a great idea! You need warm soil temps,this will give you them possibly without wasting so much heat heating the entire area.i think I would experiment with one section of plants and see what the results are.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Yah...lotsa greenhouse supply places carry the tubing/mats. I know some guys who have done radiant in greenhouses.