What kind of a boiler is that? Any brand name to search on? Is it connected to an accumulator tank or similar? If you only need the pumps to be running, a simple DC/AC-inverter on a 12V battery should be sufficient. Or even better: a small UPS to kick in by itself when needed. My boiler has a flue gas fan that's needed to keep the fire going. It uses a controlled underburn so that the blue flame is sucked downwards through an afterburner. Very efficient, but it also mean that I need an electrical backup if the power is out. But the boiler only need to be run for three hours to fully load the accumulator tanks. If it's not too cold, they keep the house warm and comfy for atleast two days. Plus any hot tap water needed, of course. Once the tanks are full, the circulation to the radiators work good enough by self circulation if necessary, so no problems there. I just need to use the generator for those three hours the boiler burn.
Hi Christer. It's a U.S. company that is no longer around. (It's about 30 years old) No Accumulator tank either (only a simple immersed firebox) I need power to let the pumps work, activate the emergency heat dump when necessary, and run the induction fan with the temp gets low. If things are good, most of the water moves by thermosiphon since the boiler is in the basement. I considered the inverter solution, but wife balked at battery storage for 6 hours. I've done systems like that before, and it can be quite nice. So, a power fail alarm goes off, I get up, and the lights come back on! (My wife says it's automatic, and I suppose it must look that way to her. LOL!)
Norf. Hardwood is fetching £50 a tonne roadside and £90 a cube seasoned up here! You can sometimes steal it cheaper but just about every tree that comes down is well spoken for.
I have 2 wood stoves in my home. they're small stoves and I don't really burn very much wood in either but I do burn both as necessary. I'm into an extensive exterior renovation and am doubling the insulation in the walls as I go but I've added a lot of windows which transfer a good bit of heat. I had a friend sell his Stihl commercial saw to me when he sold his logging company. I'd never had any experience with such a saw. It has a 32" bar with a full skip chain(no rakers). It's amazing how fast it can cut through large logs ! It isn't my only saw but in spite of being a bit awkward I still use it the most. It has a 76cc engine which is larger than my first motorcycle, a 70cc Honda. Heating with wood is quite a chore but it seems natural to me.I grew up with wood heat and have worked with wood all my life in one form or another. I plan to continue as long as I possibly can.
gottadig, that is a fearsome saw :o Watch yourself with that puppy! Insulation is the right place to start. Our house really is quite well insulated. I plan to add some insulation the the brick chimney as it passes through the attic void. That will keep the snow melt on the roof to a minimum, and the warmer interior temperature should reduce the creosote. Just another project for he list next summer!
Al, You're right about being careful !! I've got a shorter bar for the beast but I think the weight of the 32" bar helps reduce kick-back and I'm over 6' tall and can saw wood at ground level without bending over. Saves my back !!! You have to respect a man who uses a saw like this all day, everyday. There may have been a time when I could have done it but not anymore!! Mike
Hi Al, I also burn wood as my primary source of heat. I heat my house and my pole garage with the heat from my Central Boiler Outdoor Woodstove. I consume about 8-9 full cords each winter and it runs from late October/early November until April each year. Depending on the size of the wood, I use either a Stihl 260 professional or a Stihl 460 Pro for all my cutting. Splitting is done on a nice horizontal/vertical 20+ ton woodsplitter. My boiler takes 4' long logs and the door is pretty big, so splitting is a piece of cake as I can leave the chinks pretty big. Here is a older photo of my woodeater . Dan
Interesting... Isn't it a pain to have to trudge outside to stoke up the boiler? Also, I'd have thought it would be better to keep the timber dry. The other thing I'd often wondered, how big is a 'cord' of wood? - is that like a cubic meter or whatever? Obviously, I know Sweet Fanny Adams about wood-burning so these are genuine questions...
Dan has the more common outdoor boiler, and I'm fortunate to have an indoor boiler. There are costs and conveniences associated with either design. A cord of wood is in fact a volume measure. A cord is the amount of wood that, when "ranked and well stowed" (arranged so pieces are aligned, parallel, touching and compact), occupies a volume of 128 cubic feet (3.62 m3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord_(unit) Dry (seasoned) wood is best, but do remember that you can just knock the snow off before pitching the wood into the fire box! I cover my wood as summer ends just to avoid having the break loose any wood that might freeze into the stack. Ash is my wood of choice lately, but it's dying fast ...
Jeff, the amount of ash a modern wood boiler (fan controlled, reverse burn, and designed to on full power for a short time load a large volume of water in accumulator tanks) produces is in reality almost neglectible. It's really no discomfort! I clean (sweep?) my boiler (which is in the basement, which I find most convenient.) once every second week or more, and the amount of ash I rake out from it then is not much. I pour that fine grey powder in a metal bucket of 15 litres that I keep next to the boiler, and I only have to go out and empty that bucket a couple of times during a winter. It's a good fertilizer for some of the bushes in the garden, by the way. I don't think people who never really have seen a good boiler system in action realizes how little work it demands, and how bloody effective it is! It's not like those open fireplaces you in reality just keep for coziness and let most of the heat just disappear out through the chimney. And of course, above all... It's a cheap way to heat your house and water...
The beauty of a boiler below the house is that it promotes a natural circulation of the heating water through the registers. Our pump rarely run until the weather gets well below freezing. (20F or so) We have a scuttle from the garage to the basement, so the wood "falls" downstairs and is located close to the boiler. My only wish is that I didn't have to depend on the generator, but the freeze and water do to, so it's not such a big deal. Winter storm arriving tomorrow afernoon, so I brought in another load of wood. I'll run my errands in the a.m., and the make my self cozy in the barn working on the shop.
8-9 cords per winter is a frightful amount of wood !!! Al, I assume the ash borer is why you say they are dying fast. They haven't reached me yet in central ky but am worried they soon will. I'm only about 200 miles from quarantined areas.A lot of what I'm burning is ash.
The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is the culprit for sure. One of the collateral casualties is that we have a baseball bat mill here that supplies the Louisville Slugger people, and those bats are made from ash. I hear that they are looking at different woods since ash is not going to be an option much longer... 200 miles is not far enough away, so I harvest what you can while you can. Especially timber sales.
Yes, 8-9 cords of wood is alot of wood and its alot of work to process, but keep in mind that it heats my 2000+ square foot home and my 24x36 pole barn for roughly 5-6 months out of the year. I've had various inside woodburners over the years and though they are efficient and provide great warmth, they also require much more maintenance/work than an outdoor boiler like mine. I do not worry about keeping the wood super dry because I have no issues with creosote buildup in the chimney. If I get a chimney fire, I just watch it and it will burn itself out in the stainless steel triple wall pipe so its extremely safe. Second thing I like is that all the mess, bugs, ash, and wood stays outside. Third thing I love is that if it fits through the door, it will burn meaning that it takes up to and just over a 4' long log and my splitting of large diameter logs is very limited. It definitely has advantages and disadvantages, buts suits my needs quite well. Only capability I wish it had is to burn soft coal. My next outdoor boiler will be one that will burn either soft coal or wood since soft coal is available within an hour or two from me for around $55 per ton (2000 pounds). Dan
I can appreciate the convenience of an outdoor boiler. I just stoked the boiler in the basement, and thought to myself that I'm going to have to schlep the ash bin up the stairs soon. I don't think that 4-foot logs would be my preference since I'm not a big guy, and I have enough trouble handling the 22" wood that I use. I just sharpened six chains in the garage. I'm "shortening" two cords of wood for a neighbor so that they fit into her stove more easily. I'll be back in the woods again soon if the weather warms up a bit.
Anybody got any opinions about Firefox stoves? - although Chinese, they seem to have good reviews. I'm thinking about a small one for my new 'log cabin'/shed/summerhouse/man-cave...
I've been thinking about one for a while too ! For the last 26 years, I've had an open fire (with a back boiler integrated into the main gas central heating system) which, as previously mentioned, is grossly inefficient and sends all that glorious heat straight up the chimney I'd be interested in your progress David, and anything info you wish to share Paul
Top handles were for use by tree surgeons whilst aloft. They gave the ability to be easily handled in tight and awkward positions. On the ground, and in the hands of untrained personnel, misuse can lead to accidents. Huskies are pretty much tops, though many swear by Stihl. Got a niece who's husband had a 360 and used it solid for twenty years on forestry work in the Highlands. Used, abused and lubricated with old engine oil, it still kept going. Ooops! Started reading the thread and only got to the talk on chain saws! Must keep up . . . .
Derek, Saws are good, and still an open topic. I sharpened chains the other day (I have a chain sharpener since my eyes aren't up to filing). Put a fresh chain on and proceeded to start cutting some 18" wood in half for a neighbor. The sharp teeth caught and I'd have been bludgeoned by the wood if I hadn't had a kickback guard on my cutting cradle. The teeth grabbed the wood and tried to pull it out of the cradle into my face (I wear a helmet with a face guard). I'm now of the opinion that a sharp chain is fine for felling and large wood, but a dull chain gives you a fighting chance when cutting small and light pieces!
Chisel. Truthfully, it's just how I like it for felling or limbing, but too aggressive for the unique task of halving wood that's already been cut, split, and seasoned.
Great article! The book is being translated into English by a London publisher for possible release this spring. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/world/europe/in-norway-tv-program-on-firewood-elicits-passions.html?_r=0 Did anyone on the forum see the program on TV?
