Indoor wood boiler tips

[sirbuildalot]

I purchased a Thermo-control wood boiler off CL a couple years ago. This year it is finally all set up. It is set up to heat my baseboard water only. The domestic water will be heated by the Toyotomi Oil Miser. The wood boiler dumps into a 80 gallon storage tank and I have a dump zone set up in the basement with a 75'ish run and two 8' fins. It is controlled with a 3 way zone valve. There is an aquastat that opens the dump zone when the tank water reaches 180 degrees. Another aquastat controls the damper door on the front of the stove.

I just started using it and so far so good (knock on wood). I was wondering if others with a TC unit have any tips or advice to share on what works best.

Thanks

 

[NSMaple1]

I don't have a TC - but a dump zone is used to shed excess heat should the boiler get too hot. And the most common occurance of a boiler getting too hot, is an unexpected power outage that stops pumps from pumping. So if your dump zone is on a 75' run, and isn't controlled by a normally open zone valve - things could get hot in a big hurry when you least expect it - like a power out in the middle of the night with a fire in the box.

So be very careful - I can't tell for sure exactly what your layout is. But a dump zone also usually comes right off the top of the boiler, and not the tank. There can be a big difference in temps between them if the boiler does get too hot.

You also have a blow off valve installed, I hope? That together with a fresh feed connection can help some - but the fresh feed connection will only do so much if hooked to a well pump that also needs power. And it could also make a big hot steamy mess if it does blow off.

 

[sirbuildalot]

All of the safety valves are in place, including the temperature blow off valve. A power outage is a concern. I have a generator capable of running the house utilities, but it doesn't automatically come on. I guess in the event of a power outage, I would have to get the wood out of the stove asap and bring it outside. My folks have a Jensen indoor wood boiler that they purchased new in 1985. It is a little different in that it has a water jacket around the firebox instead of coils like my TC. I remember my father running down stairs on a few occasions. The other things I plan to do are to keep the thermostats on the high side as I can open a window if need be. Id rather it be a little too hot than have excess heat in the piping/ stove and tank. Also I only have been loading it maybe a third full, except for at night. The model I have is a 500/550. It has a very large firebox. I plan to split my future wood on the big side, both length and diameter. It recommends whole rounds, but my wife has to be able to load it, and they don't season very well when unsplit.

 

[06switchback]

I have a thermo control 2500 it has a water jacket that holds about 125 gallons of water but I think it is the same size firebox as yours in the case of a power outage the damper in the door closes and slowly puts out the fire with mine having a big water jacket I would just let it be and it should be able to disapate the heat but with the just the water coil inside I don't know what you should do

However just in the last 3 days mine has been giving me problems twice now once Thursday and again today it pushed a bonch of water out of the pressure relief when I went downstairs there was a big puddle on the floor but the boiler Guage was normal I have no idea what is happening

Not trying to hijack your thread so I'm going to start a new one on that topic

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[06switchback]

If this is your first automatically controlled wood stove keep an eye on your chimney mine replaced an old wood furnace and the chimney never needed to be cleaned so that's what I was used to and ended up having 2 chimney fires neither did any damage but the fire department came for both

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