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Messages - acarter

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16
This is exactly what I'm doing, except I'm putting the boiler in my garage (not a separate building). I've already installed a heat exchanger in my ductwork for the furnace in the house, and ran the 1" insulated PEX lines underground to the garage. Just have to hook up the boiler in the next few weeks. I'll be using a hydronic shop heater to heat the garage itself (the hanging type with fan).

I was going to purchase a used standard oil boiler and convert the burner using the CK kit, however I just picked up a Triad vertical boiler with a Clean Burn burner off of craigslist. So I'll be using that now to save the headache of converting a standard burner.

In the house, I'm adding a second thermostat and will have the fan only wired to it with a "strap on" aqua stat wire in series to the fan. So, when the thermostat "calls for heat" it will just turn the fan on, unless the supply line isn't hot enough, then nothing will happen until it gets cold enough for the regular thermostat to turn on the furnace normally. I also may wire in an alarm to the aquastat to alert me if the boiler gets below temp...

I'll be getting this project finished up in the next few weeks and will be posting some pics of the setup.

Austin

17
Thanks, I'll post back in the next week or two when I get it all hooked up with some pics.

Austin

18
Doug,

Thanks for the info and tips. What is your primary heating system in your house? Do you have a boiler or a forced air furnace with heat exchanger like me? If so, what do you have your water temp set to? Just trying to figure out a good starting point once I get it fired up..

Austin

19
Doug,

How much oil do you burn in the peak of winter (and where are you located)? Trying to figure out how big of a tank I need. Was hoping to use a 55 gallon drum, because I can get them for free, but I'm concerned that 50 gallons won't last a week when I'm gone. I will have a backup furnace, but I don't want the reason the boiler quits to be because it ran out of fuel.

Also, with your boiler being in a shed, do you run the circulation pump 24/7, or do you have it set to kick on when your thermostat calls for heat? I've already buried 1" PEX (the 5 wrap insulated stuff), I'm just wondering how much oil I'm going to use just heating those lines even when my house doesn't need heat.

I just picked up a 6 year old Triad boiler that is set up with a Clean Burn 4000 burner and all the accessories. Hoping to get it going in the next few weeks.

Thanks,
Austin

20
Thanks for the replies, After doing a little more research on local and state code I'm decided to go with a Boiler system as olscout because of the reason mentioned. I will install it in my detached garage, which will enable me to heat the garage as a bonus. There is already a wood stove in the garage so I have the stove pipe already there. I think I may go with a combination wood/ oil boiler that will give me the option to use up some wood scrap from the garage and supplement with wood if I ever loose my oil source.

So I guess now I'll focus on converting a regular burner, since reliability won't be as much of a concern and if it takes a little while to get it perfect it won't matter.

Austin

21
Doug,

Sorry I forgot to mention, yes I do have a source for oil that can provide as much as I need.

Thanks for the link, that seems like a good option. I also found this company that seems to be along the same lines.https://challengerfabrication.com/shop/

Considering that my idea is to use my current furnace to burn the WMO, then leaving the #2 fuel oil in the tank wouldn't do much good because if the WMO system failed I would have to put the old burner back on to use it, which wouldn't be a big deal for me, but if I"m not home then it's about useless. Also, then the heating oil would eventually go bad unless I rotated it out every so many years.

If there isn't a WMO system that is reliable enough to have as a sole heating system then I probably will just stick to paying the fuel man. The few thousand $$$ per year that I would save sure would be nice, but not if I'm constantly stressed about loosing my heating system when I'm not home.

Thanks,
Austin

22
Hi,

My wife and I just recently moved to Maine from Pennsylvania and just bought our first house a few months ago. I'm always looking for ways to save money somehow I came across the idea of burning WMO. I've been doing my best to find answers to my questions online, but I'm hoping this forum will help answer a few more and give me some input from others with experience.

So, everything I read about heating from WMO is for garages/ shops, and it only seems that the people who are burning it to heat their home are doing so with home-made units. So if it is really as clean as these companies claim, why can't it be used to heat your home? I read on one site that the EPA says you can't use WMO to heat your home, but then a few others said it depends on your state. I don't mind being in the "grey area", but don't want to cause legal problems if somebody finds out what we are doing. 

Our home has a 2 year old forced air oil furnace with a Beckett burner. I realize there are several companies that make kits to convert the burners to run off of WMO, but I'm more interested in ready to go bolt on replacement that would let me use my current furnace. I'm looking for something I can buy, install, and not have to mess with (except maintenance and cleaning of course). Does that exist? This company http://www.wasteoilheat.com/waste-oil-burners.shtml seems to be about the only one that I found, but they don't have any contact info and their site leads me to think they aren't legit. I'm away from home for work quite often and I don't want something that is going to quit when I'm gone, I don't mind performing maintenance on a regular basis, but I need to be reliable.

Also, if I was able to find a system that enabled me to use my current furnace, would I be able to use my same tank? I'm read that it will eventually fill up with sludge, is this a real problem? I would love to be able to separate any water, filter it really well, and dump it right in my existing oil tank (which is in the basement).

Thanks in advance,
Austin


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