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SOLAR HEATING VIDEO#6
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Jan 24, 2024
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View Video Transcript
0:00
Since 1991, I've heated part of my home with wood burned in a masonry heater, but rising
0:19
energy costs have prompted me to want to cover all of my heating needs with firewood and
0:23
not just part of them. The chance to heat my 3,000 square foot home, both levels of my workshop, and all the domestic
0:31
hot water that my family of seven uses is what made me install an outdoor wood boiler
0:37
at my place. This video covers how the technology works, why I chose the model that I did, and some
0:45
installation tricks that you might find useful at your place. All outdoor wood boilers look like small metal garden sheds
0:52
A fire inside the unit heats water in an internal tank. That water is then circulated to neighboring buildings where it delivers its heat energy
1:02
for space heating and domestic hot water production. That hot water can be used in radiators, in-floor heating networks, or run through the plenum
1:12
of a forced air furnace to deliver that heat through heating ducts
1:16
In the case of my own house, I've just retrofitted it with hydronic in-floor heating lines and
1:21
antique cast iron rads because I didn't build the place originally with heating ducts of
1:26
any kind. At first glance, you might think that this sort of arrangement loses a lot of heat to
1:31
the surrounding air and soil. But that's not the case if things are installed and designed correctly
1:37
For instance, my own boiler running at 180 degree Fahrenheit water temperature, that's
1:42
about 80 degrees Celsius. When outdoor winter temperatures were minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 25 degrees
1:49
Celsius, the heat lost from the unit was only about half a degree per hour
1:55
This shows that the insulation around the unit is certainly doing its job
2:00
When I first started researching outdoor wood boilers, I wondered why I didn't see more
2:05
of them insulated with spray foam. I eventually discovered that since foam doesn't breathe all that well, it can trap moisture
2:12
against metal parts and encourage corrosion. I also discovered that after long-term exposure to high temperatures, some kinds of foam can
2:21
lose their insulating properties. All of this is why some kind of mineral bat insulation is an excellent option for insulating
2:29
outdoor boilers like this one. I spent about two years researching the options, and in the end, I bought a Portage & Main
2:36
Optimizer 250 model. Different manufacturers call these units different things. My favourite term is outdoor wood boiler
2:45
Some outfits call them outdoor wood furnaces or water furnaces. As much as I like these things, I really have to admit that they're not for everyone
2:54
But if you live in a place where firewood is available, and you don't mind the work
2:58
of preparing firewood and stoking the boiler, then I think they're a great option
3:02
They move the ash and danger of burning wood outdoors, and they also have a large firebox
3:09
so they let you burn big wood, which is easier to prepare than smaller stuff
3:14
I probably would have installed an outdoor wood boiler at my place a long time ago, except
3:19
for the fact that traditional models create a lot of pollution and smoke
3:23
I made a really huge amount of smoke too. That's why some jurisdictions in North America have actually outlawed these traditional models
3:32
What changed my mind was the appearance of gasification outdoor wood boilers
3:38
These are approved by the EPA to put out at least 90% less smoke and pollution than traditional models
3:45
They also extract a lot more heat from a given amount of wood
3:49
I'm going to show you exactly why I like gasification so well and how it works later on in this video
3:56
Another issue to consider as you plan and install your outdoor boiler is the possibility
4:01
of heat loss through the underground pipes that travel from your boiler to your buildings
4:07
This is where a lot of people mess up, using pipes that lose heat in hidden ways
4:13
But it doesn't have to be this way for you. The 150 feet of Eurocon Pexflex pipe that I installed from my boiler to my workshop
4:22
for instance, loses only about half a degree as it travels that distance, as measured with
4:27
this infrared thermometer. I used pipe with a one inch inner diameter, which delivers better flow and more heat than
4:35
the three quarter inch diameter pipe that's sometimes used for residential installations
4:41
I'm a stickler for craftsmanship and details, and that's one big reason why I chose to buy
4:46
a Portage and Main boiler for my place. One of the first things that struck me was the precision of the laser cut parts that
4:53
you see on this unit. Another thing I really liked was the double welded joints inside the boiler itself
5:00
This means that both sides of each joint have a weld bead
5:04
This makes for smoother, stronger construction, but it also eliminates gaps and cracks where
5:10
corrosion might ordinarily start. When I first began researching outdoor boilers, I just assumed that a stainless steel design
5:19
would be superior. But my research kept showing me that stainless steel can crack under certain boiler conditions
5:26
The Portage and Main boiler is made of mild steel. You might think that corrosion would be a problem with a material like this, but that's
5:33
not the case. It's very easy to keep water chemistry in balance, so corrosion is simply not an issue
5:41
I also especially like the heavy duty adjustable door latch mechanism and the steel reinforced
5:47
refractory lining on the inside of some of the doors. There's one other thing that clinched my decision to go with Portage and Main
5:56
Portage and Main boilers are made by a faith based community in rural western Canada, working
6:01
together in their own high tech facility. These people value honesty, hard work, and attention to detail, and this really counts
6:09
for a lot in my book. They're also constantly updating and refining the design of the boilers they build to make
6:16
the most of reliability and performance. I also found the sales people to be mechanically minded and quick to answer any questions I
6:25
had about the boiler, both before and after I bought it. Regardless of the boiler you choose, you're going to have to build a concrete pad to support
6:34
the unit. Here at my place, I dug down 10 inches, laid down some compacted crushed gravel, and then
6:42
a layer of fiberglass rebar to hold the fiber reinforced concrete together and eliminate
6:48
any cracking. Now my pad has a notch at the back, and that's to allow pipes to come up into the furnace
6:56
from down below. This is a lot easier to build than the usual method of putting the pipes through holes
7:02
in the pad, and it also allows me some flexibility. I can add another line leading from the boiler later if I want to
7:09
Now when it came time to set the furnace in place on the pad, I had a friend of mine with
7:14
a big loader tractor do the work. At this stage, the pipes are already set into the notch and buried, ready to make the connection
7:22
to the furnace. Installing an outdoor boiler is a lot of work, there's no question about that
7:28
But having done the job myself, I can tell you that the work is within the capabilities
7:33
of any moderately handy person. Now you can certainly hire a professional to do the job, but one of the advantages of
7:39
doing the work yourself is the satisfaction you get from it. That was certainly the case with me, as you can see here on the first lighting of my boiler
7:49
Well it's a historic moment, in the next little while I'm going to be firing up my outdoor
7:54
wood furnace for the first time. I've spent the last few weeks digging trenches and making a mess of the lawn, and laying
8:02
pipes and hooking those pipes up to panels on the one end, radiant in-floor heating panels
8:08
on the one end, and the furnace on this end, and working with steel pipe and plastic pipe
8:14
and a little bit of electricity, and now we're all ready to bring it together
8:18
I'm just stoking things up here and we'll light this newspaper and cardboard and wood
8:24
on fire in the next few minutes. When the guy who works at the Little Country hardware store, where I buy my stuff, heard
8:44
that I'd bought an outdoor wood boiler, he wondered why. I mean don't those things burn a rainforest worth of wood each year, he asked
8:53
Well the fact is outdoor wood boilers can consume a lot of wood depending on the design
8:59
The difference between an efficient and an inefficient model is the difference between
9:03
burning say 15 face cords of wood a year and 30 to heat the same space
9:08
My research showed that frugal operation boils down to something called a fire tube boiler design
9:16
Multiple hollow steel tubes run through the water tank and exhaust gases travel through
9:21
these on their way out to the chimney. Now this design extracts large amounts of heat from the combustion gases on their way
9:30
out and it's one of the biggest reasons why I chose a Portage and Main unit for my own home
9:36
The fire tube boiler design that's used in my outdoor wood furnace originates from an
9:41
idea that was invented way back in 1804. It was an enduring part of marine and stationary steam engines at the time and it's even used
9:50
in the best and most efficient boilers of today. On the Portage and Main unit there are 20 horizontal tubes which pass through the water
10:00
tank itself. This is for exhaust gases as they leave the fire box and travel towards the chimney
10:08
There are also 6 more vertical tubes leading from the gasification chamber down below
10:14
All in all this adds up to almost 100 feet of heat transfer area for extracting heat
10:21
from the exhaust gases on its way out. Many of the other outdoor boiler brands I investigated before choosing this one use
10:28
little or even no fire tubes at all, relying mostly on the inside of the fire box to transmit
10:36
the heat from the fire itself to the surrounding water. The only drawback with the fire tube design is the need to clean fly ash from the inside
10:45
of the tubes every week or two. This is done by running a round brush on the end of a pole through the tubes, knocking
10:53
the fly ash off. In the case of the Portage and Main design, there's hinged doors at both ends of the
11:00
tube assembly so it's easy to remove that fly ash once you've knocked it loose
11:09
A few people realize how wood gasification works or how impressive it is to see first hand
11:27
In the case of my wood boiler, a fire is lit in the main fire box and then the sealed door
11:33
is closed. Air is admitted to the fire through a small electric fan
11:38
This supports combustion heat itself. But the only place for the smoke and gases to leave is at the bottom of the fire box
11:46
through a thin slot in the refractory material. This action compresses the gases and causes them to burn a second time at high temperature
11:57
in the gasification reaction chamber underneath the fire box. Earlier designs of my boiler had the combustion air admitted near the bottom of the fire box
12:37
But more recent models have that air piped in near the top and the back for cleaner combustion
12:44
Air is admitted through 22 5 eighths inch diameter holes so it reaches all of the combustion
12:50
over the whole area of the fire box. This air is supplied by an air box assembly at the back of the unit
12:58
There's a small electric fan motor in there. It's got ball bearings, not bushings, and those bearings are sealed to protect them
13:06
against dirt to make them as reliable as possible. There's also two air dampeners that close when the fan stops blowing air into the fire box
13:17
A small electric motor that controls these dampers is widely available should you ever
13:22
need to get a replacement. A unique feature of the boiler I have is the use of a lot of refractory material in the
13:30
bottom of the fire box and the reaction chamber. And besides lasting a long time, there's a good reason for this
13:36
There's five inches of refractory material that forms the bottom of the fire box and
13:41
four inches that forms the bottom of the reaction chamber. This retains heat and it means that the gasification process kicks in in a very short time after
13:52
the fan motor starts up as the aquastat calls for more heat
13:57
Most of what you see coming out of the chimney on a cold day isn't smoke but actually white steam
14:03
It's the moisture from in the wood condensing as it makes its way out of the chimney
14:08
Now all outdoor boilers use an aquastat of some kind to control the water temperature
14:14
in the water tank. The aquastat turns the fan on or off depending on whether additional heat is needed in the
14:21
water. They let you set the maximum temperature that the water will be
14:26
Now the Portagen main unit that I have comes with Johnson brand aquastat controls
14:32
These have proven reliable for many years in the industry. They're widely available and economical if you ever have to replace them
14:39
Fitting together threaded steel pipe connections was a part of my boiler installation and I
14:44
originally used Teflon tape and ordinary pipe compound to seal those threads
14:50
Unfortunately a number of those connections leaked and that means I had to take everything
14:54
apart and start all over again in some places. I ended up switching to an automotive thread sealing product and it worked really well
15:01
It was fast and perfectly effective. Now this little bottle cost $40 but I'll tell you it's well worth it
15:09
Don't skimp when it comes to sealing any pipe thread connections in your installation
15:14
Regardless of how you make your pipe connections I strongly recommend that you pressure test
15:19
everything with air before you add water to the system. Just a whole lot easier to make repairs if there are any leaks beforehand
15:27
Now here you can see the gauges and fittings that I put together to allow me to pump compressed
15:33
air into the pipes and then watch the gauge pressure. The slightest leak will cause that gauge to go down so it's easy to spot if there are
15:41
any problems. Now no matter how efficient wood heating equipment is it's still a lot more physical work than
15:48
dialing up a thermostat and keeping warm in the usual sort of modern way
15:52
But if you stop for a minute and you think of all the time and hassle you've got to invest
15:57
earning after tax dollars to pay for heat in the usual way with electricity or propane
16:03
or oil then wood heating starts to look a whole lot more attractive
16:07
And if you're anything like me and you value the chance to exercise in the fresh air cutting
16:13
splitting, stacking wood and stoking an outdoor boiler then maybe this method of heating is
16:18
for you. I know it certainly is a great thing for me
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