Wood Boiler with Oil Backup

[brendonv]

Anyone have an indoor wood boiler with oil backup heating there home? I am in need of a new boiler eventually, and am considering the above.

Was wondering pro's/con's you've experienced...

Are they ridiculously more expensive to purchase...

What brand are you using....?

 

[Cobleskill]

I was looking at the Yukon. The price really didn't seem outrageous. You can get it with oil, gas, or coal backup. The testimonials were quite impressive.

 

[Strikermike]

Wood boilers require some special techniques and knowledge to install. For one, what do you do with all that heat if no zone is calling for heat. You just can't shut off a wood fired boiler as you can with oil. I have 2 good options. The first is to get a water heater with an extra coil in it. Then you can dump the heat in there for some free hot water, Then if you still have excess heat you can dump it to some extra radiation in a garage or just outside. You will need a battery back up on a circulator and a couple of zone valves that fail open instead of closed. This is in case you have a power outage with a fire in the boiler. You will need a specialized switch panel to sort this all out. You may have to get one custom made. But Buderus may have one available now. There is more to it but this is a quick over view. I am sure either Al or Erik could make a switch panel if needed.

 

[Cobleskill]

Is that the brand you are looking at? I get a default for what you put up. Makes sense to have a combo unit.

 

[Cobleskill]

Some sort of water storage would work to dump heat into. I think it is more efficient to run it at full burn than to let it idle while no heat is called for.

Did you ever look at Russian Stoves? They are beautiful and efficient, but you have to have the right kind of floor plan to make them work. I would love one with a Dutch oven built into it.

 

[brendonv]

I originally thought to just put a new oil burner in, they said 2500$ for a Buderus. Suppose to be top of the line right now (what do you think strikermike?).

Then one guy mentioned the wood option, just not sure who makes it as he didn't show up today. Lame.

I still want a wood stove up stairs, so not sure what I'm going to do.

 

[Strikermike]

I have been in the market for a new boiler myself. Buderus is probably at the top of my list. But I don't think they make a combo unit. Buderus has some nice high efficiency oil fired boilers one at 86% efficient and a condensing boiler at 89%. Do you have city sewer or are you on a septic system? The problem I have found with the combo units, is the oil side is terribly inefficient. One advantage, however, is you only need one flue.

 

[brendonv]

Septic

My parents got a new boiler about a year ago. Peerless brand I think.

We have a good sized house, my mom claims she is using half the oil of the one that failed that was 25 years old.

They've come a long way so it seems.

 

[Strikermike]

Stay away from the condensing boilers. The condensate is highly acidic and wreaks havoc on septic systems.

 

[rskybiz]

Out door wood fired furnace? Run the radiant right in the floor joists, that would give you the heat for the shop too!

 

[NeTree]

I am sure either Al or Erik could make a switch panel if needed.

If you go that route, I'd be happy to help. I could program you an SR3 programmable logic controller; I use them a lot in my machine designs. 110v powered and about bulletproof. They're great for process control, which is really what you'd have.

 

[stig]

I've had a set-up like that.
Being a tightwad, I ended up never using the oil burner ( heating oil is $8/gallon here) so it was a waste of money.
I've stuck witk wood burners since.

 

[Sep]

I have a harmon indoor wood boiler with a buderus oil boiler back up. When I built my house 5 years ago oil was cheap so I just had the oil boiler. I put the wood boiler in 3 years ago and love it. My wife keeps the house at 75 or so, and I don't mind because the oil truck isn't coming. It takes a bit of extra effort to do the wood, but in this slow time of year I have the time to do it, and not having to come up with the money to fill the oil tank helps too.

 

[sotc]

We ran oil boilers in AK but that was industrial, like risky said, the outdoor woodfired furnaces rock! They can heat your house with forced air heat exchanger and your hot water, thermostat regulated, stoke a couple times a day, very efficient.

 

[FJR]

I will have one of those one day Willie, but bigger! I want to be able to load a few logs with the mini... and be good for a couple days maybe?

 

[sotc]

Haha, I worked at a mill for a Taylor dealer in the early 90's and have several friends with them, they easely take 2' (possibly 3'!) long by 18" wide and 2' tall! That would require a mini to lift! See if I have a back ground pic of Cade's

 

[No_Bivy]

do they smoke like crazy?

 

[sotc]

No such luck

 

[sotc]

They do when the damper closes for awhile, but they don't have to be right by the house, you trench a line to the house and bury the water recirc lines

 

[Cobleskill]

A lot of places are putting regulations in place for the OWB.

 

[devil dog]

Brendon - Good topic. I was considering the same thing. I have an 80's oil boiler and was going to replace it in the spring with a combo unit. So far, I think Tarm has a good unit that will do the trick with out two separate units and two separate flues. http://www.woodboilers.com/ They are around 10 grand but think that not paying for oil should make it adventageous in the long run.

 

[stig]

Tarm is made right here. I've had one. they are quite good, but IMO not as good as the one I have today.
An Atmos from the tschjeck republic ( or however it is spelled?)

Very clean burning, VERY well designed . It is by far the best we've had, and over the years we must have had some 12 different ones.

 

[NeTree]

Czech, Stig.

 

[stig]

My way was a recreation of how it sounds after a few too many beers

 

[Dave Shepard]

A friend of mine just put a Central Boiler 6048 (60"x48" firebox). He put a water to water exchanger in the basement and a circ pump to run it through his oil boiler, water heater and radiant zones. If the wood fails, the oil will fire up and take over. I don't think that a duel fuel is a good way to go, unless the oil/gas is only for emergencies. The outdoor boilers are big bucks, but with a supply of high quality low cost firewood, an outdoor will be a good choice. If you burn high quality wood, they don't smoke much, and allow you to go more than fifty feet from them before they burn out. My friend is expecting to only have to tend his boiler once per day, with some reserve capacity on that schedule.