[TheForge] Re: Heating with woodstove OT

Tue May 24 07:15:56 EDT 2005

Up here the boilers they are making are direct firebox surrounds with the
firebox in the middle. The little steel sheds cover the outside of the
boiler and the units are antifreezed just like your heating system has to be
up here.  If the heat in the house is high enough - the unit could freeze up
outside if not running at demand temperatures.

I've seen some modular home set ups with these boilers running 2" stems in
and out for feed/returns, and they go to fan modine like air units on the
wall blowing down.  One place has a boiler and heats three large 100 x 200
buildings with it - all from scrape from their sawmill and production
framing operations.

I'm gonna stay away from block, sand, and the thermal mass - as it would
take to much wood to get that up to temp up here........ we saw 32 below
this winter - so trying to heat mass up at that temp is nuts with the amount
of fuel it would take to do so.  I'm going to run with direct water
transfer - especially that the house furnace is radiant baseboard heat
(besides the wood stove we run 24/7 for five months).    :-(

The shop was a different matter - as I just wanted to break the chill to
work - but when it takes as much time to do the 7 cord of wood - to double
that production and feed two stoves would be nuts - I'm going with one unit
to do both from now on.

Ralph
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chuck Robinson" <robi5515 at bellsouth.net>
To: "Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 11:07 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: Heating with woodstove OT

> Ralph has the right idea, if you have a good supply of free wood.
> Check out the HAHSA style heating units
>
https://www.motherearthnews.com/ecom/router.aspx?PageId=ProDetail&ItemNumber
=1835
> There are commercial models available.
> You use a large outdoor wood furnace, built into a concrete block house
with
> several tons of sand to act as a heat sink.
> The sand transfers the heat to copper coils that pump water into the shop
> for the heat supply.
> The HAHSA can be locater a safe distance away from other structures
> You can make it as complex or simple as your needs and pocket book
dictates.
> Chuck
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Ralph Sproul" <brhlbsmt at mcttelecom.com>
> To: <mspencer at tallships.ca>; "Sponsored by ABANA"
<theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 7:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: Heating with woodstove OT
>
>
> > Hi Mike,  I was very dissappointed this winter.  I locked all the doors,
> > insulated them, went in and out of just one door, covered the windows in
> > plastic, and kept the thermostat at 40 at night and 52-55 during the day
> > ...........and really tried to keep the heat to it all winter to see if
it
> > would make a difference........and I just could NOT afford it and turned
> > it
> > off and dawned my insulated coveralls in March.   I gave it an honest
> > try -
> > but it just ain't gonna happen unless I can get an outside boiler to
heat
> > this place on free wood - but for the time it takes to load the boiler.
> >
> > My shop has 6 inch insulation in all the walls, and a frost wall
> > foundation
> > tight to the walls, and 9 inches of insulation in the ceiling - it's
> > frustrating as hell, as I was really comfortable for $150 to 225 per
month
> > for the past three winters......but this last one when our dollar fell
so
> > bad was killer.  I found heating it full time was way worse than turning
> > it
> > on each time I came in.........even with all the improvements I made.
It
> > was less drafty, nice and workable - but just plain unaffordable with
the
> > high price of propane now.
> >
> > The thing that really scares me with the wood heat in the shop - is four
> > of
> > my friends have lost their shops to fire in the past three years.   All
at
> > night - due to chimney fires.  This is making me head in the outside
> > boiler
> > direction as I just can't afford enough insurance for full replacement
> > value - last time I checked it was $4 per hundred.  Afraid I just don't
> > make
> > that kind of profit - like they do.
> >
> > The house I feel comfortable heating with wood like we always have - as
> > there are nice masonry chimneys and we keep things clean and run hot
fires
> > before closing them down at night.  To run slow burning stoves all night
> > with huge fireboxes thru metal pipe like most shops are set up is too
> > risky
> > to me - and I'm not going to spend 10 grand on a masonry chimney to heat
> > with like the house has.
> >
> > I figure I've worked outside and in cold shops for all but the past four
> > years of my life - so I'm going back to insulated coveralls or the
boiler
> > project - if I can complete it by next Dec.  I'm sure next November's
> > temps
> > will be motivational.   :-(
> >
> > Ralph
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Mike Spencer" <mspencer at tallships.ca>
> > To: <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
> > Sent: Monday, May 23, 2005 4:32 PM
> > Subject: [TheForge] Re: Heating with woodstove OT
> >
> >
> >>
> >> Thanks for the numbers on your heating setup, Ralph.  It'll give me a
> >> starting point to ask questions here.  I expect to do something for
> >> heat in my 1200 sq. ft. shop this year.  Ten ft. ceiling and an upper
> >> story where Peggy has her looms.  We need to heat her 600 sq. ft. more
> >> than mine -- weaving is fiddly finger-work and/or sitting-down work)
> >> but it would be nice to have my space up to 50 (or at least 40)
> >> deg. F.  And I can't afford $400/mo propane bills either.
> >>
> >> Despite heating the house with wood, I don't want to go with an indoor
> >> wood stove in the shop.  Don't want oil.  Mumble.....mutter.
> >>
> >> On the original question, I found that a 50-gal oil drum wood stove
> >> would get my previous shop up to comfy (for all but fiddly little
> >> finger-work) in about four hours, starting with all that iron
> >> heat-sink at ambient -- say, 5 to 20 deg. F.  Interior walls but no
> >> insulation. If I'd had New England/N. Dakota outdoor temps of 20 to 40
> >> below, It would have been totally useless.  Our coldest spells here
> >> are c. -10 F. at night, 0 daytime.  Maybe 15 to 20 deg warmer
> >> than northern NH.
> >>
> >> - Mike
> >>
> >> --
> >> Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~.
> >>                                                            /V\
> >> mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
> >> http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >>
> >>
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