20 Homemade Outdoor Wood Boiler SECRETS Revealed
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ต.ค. 2019
- Unbelievable tour of my Homemade Outdoor Wood Boiler and telling you all the SECRETS! Make sure to check out our other videos and like, subscribe, and ring the bell. th-cam.com/users/MrBriansAma...
Just visited my mother's new place in Maine. They have a new e central boiler to heat their entire home and all their hot water with wood. I live in lower NH. I cannot believe how efficient this system was. You are a goddamn genius to invent one of these systems.
I really lucked out. One of the best things I've built. Saved/made me a bunch of $. Thanks for your great comments!
You just gave me the motivation I needed. amazing work.
Awesome! Thank you! Hope your build is ready for this winter!
Getting ready to build a boiler.. Great job and thanks for the tips.
That's really great to hear.. Awesome project and super rewarding for many years to come! Hopefully you get a nice new welder and Plasma cutter out of building it. Let me know how you make out with it. Glad my video helped you.
its my fathers and I's project this winter.. He just bought a big new hobart for the job!.. Guess the money we save giving to the big dogs gets us some new toys instead lol!
@@michaelhalter9452 That is a perfect project for you both to build great memories so do it right. If you see yourself building anything out of metal in the future then try to buy a plasma cutter to share with your dad so you can use his welder. Great investments!
Omg your storytelling is awesome.
I'm glad you like it
Pretty sweet! 👍
great video I love your presentation and spending some time with you from here in Oregon
Thanks Glad you liked it. Pretty neat that you found me here. Hope all is good out there.
I'm impressed. And that ain't easy to do. Very good.
Thank you. Hope I helped you.
I'm from Massachusetts and I'll tell you one thing you know your stuff God bless you and your family man I hope these people learn something
It's a popular video. Lots of useful info in it.
Hey Brian! This is crazy that you built this! Thanks for coming over to my channel I figured Id come over and spread some love too! Its amazing how creative people can be! Good skills to have!
Thank you. Never actually thought the boiler would work as well as it has over the years. Saves me a fortune!
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld Yes people complain about the work but it keeps you strong, keep you creative as far as developing efficient methods, and overall makes you independent of the oil man! I know you share the same mindset!
@@HomesteadJay Sure does. I have a sawmill so the scrap wood heats my house. Every year I make it a point to make one minor improvement to boost the efficiency of the boiler. Every little bit helps as far as less wood to burn and less work to get the wood. Keep your videos about your boiler coming.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld Ill be releasing one soon! Stay tuned! Make sure you hit that bell button (I did for your channel) to keep tabs! I try every year as well to do/make/improve some method of my home to be more efficient/independent.
Thanks for your knowledge
Truly amazing !!! 😃👍
Glad you liked it.
Mr. Brian's Amazing World Definitely 👍
Love it!
Brian, very nice video! I wish I could build my own boiler from scratch! I have been using outdoor wood burners for the past 18 years. You learn a lot over time after using them and I am still learning more. It is a LOT of work, as you pointed out. I have had 4 OWBs in the past 18 years: The first 3 were from Sequoyah Paradise, who are now out of business. The first two OWBs were defective and replaced by the company. The third one was super, but the welds gave out and it began to leak. For the past 3 years I switched over to Wood Master (who were bought out recently by Central Boiler). I have modified all of my OWBs. I heat 3200 sq/ft home and hot water for 5 people. My OWB has a fan that goes on based on an aquastat setting. When the temperature is below 30F outside I set the aquastat to shut off the fan when the water temp is at 200F. This delivers water to my heat exchanger at 103F (which is about 100 ft away). There is a lot of engineering that goes into these OWBs. They are not for everyone. I burn at least 6 cords of firewood each year, but I only load once each day (or twice when it is very cold). You need a source for a LOT of free wood. If you have to buy firewood, it is not worth it, in my opinion. Thanks again!
I had a pressurized steam engine that I used to play with and used to hook it up to different things and just a toy. I don’t think you realize the amount of pressure that can be built up in a pressurized close system to the point that if it ever exploded, you could be so badly hurt. It’s it’s I don’t even wanna say it.
I would love to hear more about your gasifier idea. I've seen lots of folks make videos of stand-alone gasifiers, but pretty much noone has adapted one to a wood boiler. I'd like to connect up a gasifier to my wood boiler, but not quite sure how to go about it (just connect to the chimney exhaust and add the necessary filter/condenser, or is there more to it than that?)
Great video. I learned a lot.
Glad to hear it! Thank you!
Just some upgrade / improvement ideas:
Automatic throttle control of fresh air intake (done electronically) to minimize waste burn of wood fuel - increase efficiency.
Placement of a corrosion control "anode" in heated water piping. This device attracts corrosive materials in the water and consumes the anode neutralizing any further corrosion on the rest of your system. The anode is consumable and will eventually need replacing (usually last several years if system properly maintained). It is a cheap way of staving off corrosion. I've managed a manufacturing plant that had processes using 1,000's gallons of water. Use of antifreeze (glycol) decreases heat transfer efficiency by slight margin BTW. We did away with use of expensive glycol once we had corrosion under control (big savings). We also included use of small amounts of anti-corrosive additives (minor cost) in the water. (The anode isn't a "catch all" device.) The anode is easy to access affording simple exchanging / maintenance. Learning how to measure corrosive content in your water is easy and simple too.
You have a real nice system there - just wanted to share some knowledge I learned over the years.👍
Thank you! Iv'e been lucky with corrosion. Much less than I figured I would have. Might throw an anode in anyway. Good idea. I also never used anitfreeze. I didn't want to deal with draining it or buying it. So far so good.
The corrosive element in the water is the absorbed oxygene. That is only small amount. That will be much less after heating up the water for couple of times. Then the water become non-corrosive. So the anode has not much benefit. It has much more benefits in boilers which uses fresh water constantly.
This guy could sell anything!
I try to. Always selling something.
Brilliant! Thanks.
Glad you liked it.
Thanks for the info
Any time! Glad I could help
Good video good info and straight to the point. I have a similar setup but it's all inside with a central blower. Looking to switch over to outside as well
It is nice to have all the mess outside. Less dust and damage from bringing wood inside. Not always fun to have to go outside to load it though.
nice homemade boiler bro... keep it up
Thanks man ! Really saves a bunch of money!
Really dig your show amigo.
Thank you! More to come!
Thanks for sharing ,I love this kind of stuff .you saved on propane but also you saved the original $10k on purchase of factory boiler
Almost forgot about that. Also was able to justify buying a new welder for this project. Fifteen years later and I've been able to weld everything. Glad you liked the video.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld Were you a competent welder before you started?
Killer job! Hats off to ya man! You should be very proud of your self that your able to fabricate something like this.
Thanks! Was super proud when it worked. My mind is blown that it still works and as well as it does. Probably helped keep me in shape all these years too.
truely a work of art and something to be proud of not to mention saving thousands and thousands on propane, saving 💰💰👍 more for big boy toys like u said
It blows my mind how well this works and the opportunities that have come from having it. Looks like it's going to keep working for years. Thanks for watching.
I pipe boilers for a living, love these home made jobs. cheers!
Thanks! I'm still impressed by it every day. Keeping us warm.
I Impressive how many’s people have watched your video so pleased
Quite a few people seem to get a kick out of the boiler. Rather impressed myself how well it works.
I really enjoyed this video. Straight to the point and informative. Loved every minute of it. I have a couple of questions. Do you have a drawing of the basic design concept ? This is the first time I've seen your channel. I like the idea very much. I like the practicality of it with regard to the insulations, losing the insulation around the door, and allowing it to be a shelter for the cat. I'd like to see if I could make a standby source of hot water for something like a cabin if I had the basic design. Very Nice Job. I'm going to check out the rest of your channel right now.
Glad you liked it. Seams like everyone is trying to sell you boilers and miss the key points when talking about them. I'm so torn on putting metal on the front because it is just going to get black smoke damage anyway. I have no drawings that I went by just winged it. Basically a box in a box. Hope you liked the rest of the channel.
nice video! I spent 8K on an earth outdoors boiler Mountain Man 505 all I can say IT IS AWESOME!!! its a simple design and that's a good thing. The 1 inch pex running through my 4000 square foot house heats the house to 71 degrees with out running the fan on the HVAC unit. I only stoke the fire 2 times a day. 430pm before I leave for work and then 8 to 830 when I get home from work. temp is still 160 to 170 degrees after almost 17 hours. so happy with my purchase but I did consider building my own, its a lot of work and I already spent 2 years building our home. I will give you credit for sure, its awesome to use your skills to build stuff and make it work. great job and stay warm
They sure are great. Was a lot to take on after building my house so I see your point. Still can't believe how well it works!
12 hr days & 5hr commute? How long do you think you can keep that up? I tried it w/2 hr commute, it's a family killer.
I stumbled on this video searching for wood burning water boiler/heaters and reading some of the comments I'd like to add. I wish I could upload a couple pictures here to show as I also built my own wood fired water heater. I do love you list of tips and I gotta say i really agree with your water Inlet/Outlet setups. I've found the same as you have. I have my outlet on the bottom and the return inlet on the top. One thing I would like to point out for those reading is you do NOT need a lot of water voulume to heat with. 50 gallons is sufficient to easily heat a 5,000 square foot home. As you may not have mentioned but others have you do NOT want nor need fire brick... In a conventional wood stove yes but not in a water heater. The brick acts as an insulator and will take longer to heat up and pass the heat to the water. I heated a 1840s 4800sq ft home with ours and had no trouble keeping it 78-80 degrees in the winter with 160 degree water temps. My boiler is 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide and 3 feet deep. There is 4 inches of water space on the sides and bottom and 8 inches on the top. Now, I also made mine 2 levels. I welded heavy fence post half way across and used an upper and lower door. Bigger logs on top and smaller on the bottom but I would also burn some green wood on top if needed. The fire below dries it. The reason for only 50 gallon is very quick start up and recovery time. I ran 4 zones off the boiler. The house had 2 big furnaces and I ran water coils to both plenums and to the cold air returns just before the fans. First I used Truck Air Conditioning evaporators as they are high pressure and aluminum. This worked great. At 160 degree water temp i could maintain 140 degree air temps coming out the vents with both furnaces running. I used an electric water heater thermostat to trigger the furnace fans that was also tied to a thermostat to trigger for heat. I also ran an Open system. I welded a 12 inch x 12 inch box offset off the top of the boiler with 2 holes drilled. One for inside the boiler and one outside. I installed a Low Profile toilet valve and plumbed a water line to it. The toilet valve was set to a prefill line in the box and would keep the boiler full. Top that with about 1 inch of oil and that stops steam evaporation. This boiler with 50 gallons of water size is way too big for a 1500 square foot house so I plan on making a much smaller version to hold 25-30 gallon of water. My boiler was 1/4'r plate steel inside and outside layers so it is incredibly heavy.
I should also add that my wood room was only 8 feet x 8 feet by 6 feet tall and that room filled got me through winter easily. I'd go through about a heaping wheelbarrow full of wood a week sometimes less. Zero and below used a little more wood. I estimated about 3 cord a year. Way less than the outdoor boilers they sell that use 13-25 cord a year.
Nice video b. Well done my son
THANK YOU SO MUCH LOVE YOUR CHANNEL WOW AWESOME HUGS,
Glad I could help you out. Thank you!
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld ALWAYS IM READY FOR MY FIEND I WATCHING NOW YOUR VIDEO, LVE IT
Thanks Buddy I’ve been thinking about doing radiant floor heating for a workshop / Storage Barn and doing a outside boiler you answered a lot of my questions and made me realize I was way overthinking the thing yes I will use pen in the concrete you could use a hair dryer on a extension cord if needed to stoke the fire many people use them on forges
Exactly. Less is more when it comes to power consumption. I still would like to add a fan of some type to speed up the temperature when I need it.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld I don't have an OWB yet, but just the other day while burning my brush pile, I grabbed my electric leaf blower to increase the burn, it worked great.
Nice video
Love the idea, but it’s super inefficient in terms of combustion. I’m building one out of my own design. It’ll be similar to a large batch box rocket stove. Thanks for all the info. It’ll really help.
I’ve been using outdoor boilers for 30 years. I’d like to build my own so I can burn 7 ft logs that I would lift up with skid steer to put into the top where a big lid would tip back. Hoping to make it 8 ft high & 8 ft wide & 8 ft long & only bother filling it once per week.
I made by own oil injection system using small pump & wired it to draft fan motor. I burn about 350 gal/year which cut my wood use a lot.
I also built a tube and shell heat exchanger on my flu pipe that heats up water returning from my house. You can hear it make steam sometimes which blows into the bottom of the boiler. That cut my wood use in half but I clog by exchanger up too often & I abandoned this idea.
Keep up the great work!
I want to see pictures of that when it is built! Love the fan idea with the oil injection.
I made my door 18”x18”. Wish I would have went bigger. But 5’ long to the inside was key for #Me.
I wish i went even bigger than 24x24. Still nice to burn big stuff.
There is NOTHING as satisfying like to have done 1 ft³ on some day, when you look at the fruits of your work, and you know: you were sweating a lot, but you breathed in a lot of fresh air and trained your muscles. You don`t get fat due to this, and you know that this job will make you warm a second time: in the Winter!
I couldn't agree more. Gets me outside all year. Some of my favorite cutting is in the snow mid winter. And It justifies having some cool toys to use while doing it. I get to use a backhoe and rarely have to do much heavy lifting. Really fun.
Would like to know more about your add-on gasifier idea. Would like to add a gasifier to a non-gasifier style wood boiler, to extract all possible usable energy from it. Any vids or links that you could recommend to learn more on that topic?
Thumbs up for the maple tree
Was really neat seeing this tree thrive against all odds.
Wow, tnks
Any time. Hope it helped you out!
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld it did alot, i hope i help you some day...
I'd put a sectional grate on the bottom to keep the wood off that pipe and to give airflow under the wood. Gonna check out your other vids and subscribe.
You and I think a lot alike I hate paying utilities! My plumbing, mechanical background and enjoy the fitness aspect of wood heat makes it all work for me. 👍 cheers!
Really does keep you in shape and saves a ton of money!
Great video Brian kept my attention all the way threw! I am trying to get a real out house wood stove from a guy that was leaking the company gave him a new one and said he had to get rid of this one he needs some buildings tore down I am trying to get him to throw in the boiler I have been a welder for 30 years easy fix maybe even build some and sell them!
Hollar
I'm sure you could get one up and going if you are a welder. Too many regulations to get into building them to sell.
Brian, great work on your boiler & message! What kind of pipe did you run in the bottom of the boiler in the ash area?
I just used 2 inch black pipe and it works great. Next I will add the same thing but running above the fire.
Fire
nice video
Thank you glad you liked it.
Just wondering I’m in the middle of building mine but I was just wondering what kind of pumps and how much hp the pumps are and size of hosing you used on you
What's your air handler set up like?
What pumps did you use and how do you regulate the temperature
Any chance of a diagram please. Chris from the UK having just visited Kona Hawaii. Love your basic approach.
Made the same smoke machine you have. Found the water jacket was sucking all the heat out and was not getting complete combustion. 2.0 is going to have a fire box lined with refractory to get the box temp above 1100F so the smoke burns and then send the exhaust through a used cast iron boiler exchanger. No creosote, No smoke and an extra kick of energy.
Funny the things we learn as we go along. Luckily my fire box is rather large so I can get the wood up to a good temperature for combustion with minimal smoke. If you run the smoke through a cooled pipe It will sweat, make creosote and cool the flow of the draft slowing the combustion. I could be wrong but its a neat idea.
You are right, efficient combustion temperatures cannot be reached inside a water tank. I made one with the firebox separate from the water tank. The fire box is completely lined with refractory except for the grate. The flue gas goes into a heat exchanger in the water tank. The flue gas temperature needs to be kept below 1200f so the water doesn't boil. The flue gas out condenses water just like a high efficiency gas heater. An induced draft fan has to be used because there is not enough heat left over to create a draft. This would be a good design for a steam generator which is my next plan.
Hey Mr Brian. Did you weld the water pipe in the bottom that picks up coal heat or what did you use to seal the threads of the black pipe?
Luckily I got them tight enough I didn't have to weld them. Several years later and still good. Just go one more turn to make sure it's tight enough.
Just FYI, you can buy a fan and solenoid air valve from a commercial boiler supplier fairly cheaply. If the power goes out, you could run it with your generator with the circulation pumps, or use a stick to prop the air valve open, and you will still get as much air in as your current system.
The second thing I did with mine, I found 2 steel furnace oil tanks, cleaned them out, then set them up in my basement. I then plumbed them into my hot water system from my boiler. The result is I have 2 large steel tanks at 150 degrees radiating off heat into my basement, and secondly, if my power goes out, I have 400 gallons of hot water in my house which takes a long time to cool off. You probably get the same effect from your infloor heating, but my system went into an existing house and infloor heat was going to be difficult.
Who cares? Vote Trump 2024
Does you circulator run constantly?
Decent DIY outdoor “boiler”. Thanks for sharing your years of experience. There are more efficient designs but extremely expensive or tricky to build and operate. Yours allows large pieces of wood which is a upside. And you burn “seasoned” wood which helps clean up the combustion.
Combustion 101 is “TTT” (time, turbulence, and temperature). Someone suggested adding a horizontal baffle plate with secondary air inlet. This would increase the time, turbulence, and temperature slightly with one modification in my opinion. But it might get in the way??
Looking forward to 2.0
Thank you. Still amazes me how well it works. I was only 25 when I designed and built this boiler. The best thing about such a big fire box it that you get a good burn with room for the vapors to combust properly. I figured I might get maybe 8 years out of it and it's just as solid when I built it. So might be a while before 2.0 comes out.
I get a lot of downed trees in the back acre that I have to burn at my current property. Since this in NC it's not really cold enough to install a system like this or even a regular wood stove in the house. I've just been burning it in a pit. It rains a lot too, so I'm always fighting with wet wood. What I'll do is get some dry kindling going in one spot and when you get a few coals going but dies down, I fire up my leaf blower to use as a bellows. Best way I've ever used to get damp wood to burn. It'll take a 24" wet hardwood round I just pulled out of the mud with the tractor and make it burn so hot you can't stand next to it. I've even gotten this to work while it's raining outside. Starts to die down from the rain? Hit it with the blower again and it perks right back up. Careful if you do this with your setup though because it gets real hot real fast.
So your domestic water is tied into the circulating radiant floor water or is it separate?
Looks very interesting good job man!
There is a coil of copper inside the boiler for the domestic water to flow through and heat up.
How did you tranistion from steel to copper for domestic water?❤
I bought 6" pieces of 3/4 black pipe and ran them through the side and welded them in. Then I could bolt up the copper to them.
I built my own with round tanks with a 6" water sleeve around the fire box and a flat bottom. The water under the fire box reduced the efficiency so I put fire brick on the bottom big improvement. I also added condensers to recover water lost to steam. 150° is low it worked better for me to hold 180° but mine had 660 gallons which was way too much water it worked great when it was up to temp but miserable to get heat back up if it burned down. I ran two u shaped pipes to the top of the inside of the fire box to let the flames heat the water before leaving the boiler which helped. A solenoid draft door with a sealed door but no draft blower was the way to go for me. I used a big truck radiator for a heat exchanger, but you have to modify it to serpentine flow with diverters for it to work other wise the flow goes directly from the inlet to the outlet and the blower will push cold air. I put it in my crawl space and tied it into the air ducts which worked good but I found base boards are so much better no more dust from forced air and nice even quiet heat, plus they are easy and cheap definitely look at baseboards you won't regret it. Mine has been basically an ten year experiment adjusting everything to get the most heat with the least amount of wood but 40 cord is average for northern Michigan. Also do not run the flue through the water jacket unless you only want to burn good wood otherwise you can get any junk wood usually for free. One other thing them pumps are not a positive displacement pump so if the electricity goes out and you hook up a generator just because the pump is running does not mean the water is flowing the pump can cavitate, so verify you have flow by feeling your tubing. I had 250' of pex freeze because of this and unthawing it was an adventure. I also built a cement block building 8'x8' and poured the cores with insulation pellets the building could be 100° inside and you could feel no heat on the outside just leave the eves open for fresh air. Lots of welding swearing and work but rewarding and I learned a lot doing it.
I was wondering if i would really gain much heat from having a water jacket on the bottom. Heat rises and ashes insulate. I really like the idea of the u shaped pipes. Do they ever clog up with soot? Love the truck radiator. My pumps turn on and off all the time. Have to love getting free wood. Hard to believe anyone would give it away when you burn 40 cords a year. Wow.
it dont mater how big your fire box is, but you water tank should never be bigger then 180 gallons max, any more then that your throwing heat away, and take a ton of wood to get it up to temp, i can leave mine sit all summer and just add stuff to balance out the PH/// IT IS ICE COLD, LIGHT UP THE FIRE BOX AND I AM UP TO 180 DEG IN 40 MIN.
A big firebox is nice. I can fit 5 foot long pieces in it. The big door is even more important to fit big, un-split rounds in it. Once the water is up to temp it acts as a giant heat sink with radiant floor heating and a big concrete floor to store the heat.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld he factory ons have a 24x24 door in then and 60" deep and the door is to dam small, you cant get big stuff into them to fill that big fire box unless you stand there and load peace by peace by hand for half hour
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld you never build a water jaket under the fire box, that is a totaly dead spot were water never moves and all the mud, rust and crap sits and the water never gets hot under there and roots out in 2 years, LKS MADE THERES LIKE THAT AND WENT BROKE ON WARANTIES 4 YEARS AFTER OPENING, THE BOTTOMS BROKE OPEN LIKE RUSTY COFFEE CANS
what insulation do you use around the furnace? need to make sure it doesnt melt or burn
Fiberglass insulation is fireproof. Just don't have any paper vapor barrier on it,
Hey new sub
Highest respects man. You’ll have to visit me on Quadra Island by 2021 after I get set up off grid retired. Learn from each other. 1 difference is that I’m a stainless believer- no metal rot. I’m a dirt rider too. Thanks for video.
I was going to use stainless however I didn't have the skills to weld it and I figured steel would be easy to patch when it rusted out. So far i'm yet to patch anything so I don't think stainless would have been worth the extra expense. However I don't use antifreeze and that stuff is corrosive.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld since when is antifreeze corrosive? you must be sniffing to much glue my friend, for one you dont use automotive antifreeze in an out door wood/coal fired hot water heater, you cant call them a boiler as they are not pressurized and do not meet boiler codes, if you ran you car with just water in it even in warm climits, it would rot out in know time, antifreeze protects from coroting rotting out, if you used automotive antifreeze in an outdoor water heater it would jel up all the in sides and stop any heat transfer, as antifreeze is made to cool, in a out door water heater you use glycol, and mix 50 gallons to 125 gallons of water, it protects the unit from rusting out, and if you want to drain it, just let it go on the ground, it is 100% biodegradable and safe, you can even drink it, it keeps it from freezing as well from rusting out, and i can tell you as a welder who has done repairs on stainless steel units, from a cracked weld, and have cut open steel units, there is no patching a steel unit, once it starts to leak the whole thing it rotten, nothing to weld to, cut the top off and put a light in the fire box, and hammer on the in side of the unit, after a few hammers you will think you are looking up in the sky at all the millions of stars, 2nd them pipes you have in the bottom of the fire box do nothing other then more places for it to leak un less you have a pump, pumping the water around, it will not move on its own, the banging you hear is warmer water hitting cool water and burping back both ways, if i went away and let the fire go out with out any glycal, and depended on my hot water heater to keep the house ffrom freezing up and the unit from freezing up, i would come home in 40 below to find my home and unit frozen solid, i always burn round green wood, load it 2 times a day, never split or dry a peace
I was tempted to go stainless but I have heard of a few people having radial stress cracking that is very difficult to repair. Welding stainless is difficult to say the least not to mention chromium vapors on the inside of a firebox. Wish you well on your stainless unit
@@vonmajor stainless steel is one of the easy-est to weld, yes you use the wrong kind of stainless steel and over heat it will crack, just like mild steel will fld an crack undre ex-stream heat, you have to know your types of metals and witch ones will take a lot of heat, the best outdoor hot water heater on the market is made out a stainless steel and has a life time warranty, but your going to pay for that kind of high heat stainless
Nice job.do u have pipes on the sides.
Thank you. The only side pipes are the domestic coil that is inside the water jacket.
Awesome video, but, worst case Ontario you go on vacation and the power goes out.. lol, have you ever had it freeze up before?
Never even close to freezing up in 15 years. The thought of the power going out does run in the back of your mind. Luckily where I'm at the power rarely goes out and only for short periods.
Working with a 35 year old wood furnace in my basement. Thermopride is the brand. It's getting to the point I may want to look at a replacement. What do ya think about hooking something up for hot air. This place is 150 year old farmhouse in Maine. Could you do it safely? thanks for the tips and info on your build.
I would hook one up to a heat exchanger and then you could use a forced hot air system. Should be relatively easy.
Thanks for getting back. I'll give it a go.
Glad I could help.
Install a fan coil in the plenum of your furnace. You will need to have the water at 140F or higher to make it work good. If you install a rad valve on it with a remote sensor you can install in the return air duct and it will maintain the air temperature you set it at.
I would used double wall black pipe, and do the same way as you did ,and maybe larger diameter
Going to add more pipes over the summer.
I used to love to clean out my wood burning stove...
You and me both! Couldn't believe it when I would fill the whole backhoe bucket with a years worth of ashes.
Good Idea My friend put 2 55 gallon barrels 1 for fire top barrel with coils to heat water. You can add a metal coil to the box. Or added it if you put a new box. Add a solar panel for power
Originally I was thinking of using 55 gallon barrels. However I wanted thicker metal. Good solution though.
How did you seal the pipes inside the boiler? I would think the threaded pipe would leak and sealant would burn off?
I cranked the hell out of tightening up the pipes no sealant just metal on metal. Then only had to weld the piece to the boiler. No leaks so far many years in.
The gasifier is a must-have for me. with all that space, I would use a huge medium for the Honda 2200. Get those gases as clean as possible. Otherwise, you'll have to rebuild the engine it will get clogged up quick with tar. That's the downside engine maintenance.
Anti freeze corrosive ??? Imagine what your motor looks like🤔🤔🤔
I don't use any antifreeze. I didn't want to have to get rid of several hundred gallons. Just water and it's never frozen up.
Anti freeze we use in cars is corrosive if not mixed to at least a 50/50 mix. If I didn't use anti freeze I would at least use an inhibitor in the water because of the dissimilar metals, our system can have steel, copper, stainless steel, iron brass and aluminum which as you know react with each other, I would say the steel boiler will be the first Vitim and it will be a pin hole as this will be a defect in the steel that will corrode at an accelerated rate due to galvanic corrosion. My point it is important to use the right protection when using water.
You should drain and blow out your coolant system in your vehicle at least once a year or get a pro to do it. Keeps down the corrosion. Nothing we can do that’s not corrosive in some way🤷🏼♂️
Buy a recirculating pump from hot water heater to boiller, just like a solar unit, it continues to heat the water at a higher ra
te. Save the propane !
That's a great idea and I'll have to look into implementing a way to add one.
Nice one ser🙌🙋♀👏🤝
Thanks !
Smoke out an intersection. lol. My neighbor has a wood boiler and every time he fires it up its like a mini volcano. You can literally see the smoke for miles.
Yea there is a local tree service that always smokes out a nearby intersection and I could swear they are the reason for the local ordinance requiring 4 acres to have one. Usuall from burning punky wet wood or garbage.
Hello, I work at a waste disposal site. We sell used oils and grease from grease traps and so on to refinerys. It is not burnt.
I see many auto shops that have waste oil burners around here. That's why I burn it as well only very hot clean fires get oil so it burns off instantly and very cleanly.
Could you put fins inside to take more heat from the flame buy making the boiler surface area bigger, also a water jacket round the flue to take the last of the heat from there too?, other videos I've seen they put in gasifier tubes in there home wood burners to burn the gasses to from the wood, could this be another option as it slows the burn down without heat loss?
First off great ideas! Fins might help however they might be difficult to clean the creosote that builds up. The smooth inside is very easy to clean and burn off any buildup. Iv'e found that the less that the smoke touches a cooled surface in a chimney the better, Causes soot buildup and cools the fire down affecting the burn temperature. Not sure about gasifier tubes. Neat idea to play with.
I'm sure you will/have looked up, the tubes make the burn much cleaner which stops the creosote build up...mine has an air wash which after watching other peoples way they burn wood it does the same thing once you have a good bed of ash and the heat this makes the wood release is gasses without burning with a flame, its almost like making charcoal and seems to increase in heat and the wood last ages... keep posting nice to see how we all keep warm.
Maples are kind of impressive for how hardy they can be. Honestly, I wouldnt let it get much taller before taking it out though, otherwise it's going to ruin the cement pad with its roots.
It has been a very neat tree to see grow. Might let it go and take my chances with the roots. The pad is 8 inches thick. Probably be time to change something if it does move the pad anyway.
rock wool insulation is high temperature resistant, it would work well with this.
You should think about lining it with firebrick.
that booming is water flashing to steam.
it can be extremely destructive. massive pressure spikes on the boiler and plumbing
3x a day wow!! I only fill mine 2x once every 12 hours and I'm burning green wood, but mine is insulated better and I have a auto draft door.. #woodheatforlife
I can easily fill it every 12 hours. However I find everything works the best if I check it 3 times and add wood if necessary. Minimizes the chance of the wood that is added not lighting, My boiler is very insulated some had been removed to replace and make the video. Maybe one day I'll add an auto draft.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld mine is basically a central boiler shell with all new guts lol I love the central boiler design I've been running it over 16 years.. It gets down to -30°f here and I stur and fill 2x at that temp right now it's in the 20s so it's only stir and fill one time a day. Keep on keepin on brother!! #woodheatforlife
that is all we do as well, load it 2 times a day when it is below 30, warmer then that once a day is good, and once a week in summer so i have all the demestic hot water i need. ,, been using my home built stainless steel unit for 36 year.. i can go over seas in winter for a month and let the fuel oil run the indoor boiler and i have glycal in the out door unit so it will not freeze.. i have a huge water to water heat ex changer at the in side boiler to heat the boiler with the out door unit with out the waters mixing.. and the in side unit is under presser.. . i also only burn round green wood, the auto draft an fan is what makes it last, and hold the 180 deg, water temp, when it not calling for heat the damper closes off air tight, chocking the fire out, when it calls for heat the damper opens and the fan comes on lighting up the coals in seconds, so it is not burning any wood when it dont need heat. that is the hart of the unit
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld or Make auto-draft door using a raspberry pie or arduino.
What keeps the water jacket from rusting?
If it is always wet or always dry it won't rust very much. The water also cooks off all the oxygen that is in it and has even less rusting ability.
Is your underground copper isulated?
Yes I used a 4" pvc pipe and ran 2-1" and 2-3/4" copper lines inside then filled the pvc pipe with spray foam. That was before copper became so expensive though.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld how deep?
@@trikelyfe6090 I put it 42" down to stay below the local frost line. The deeper the better.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld where your pipe comes outside could use a.nice little.box to keep insulation in and pests out
@@trikelyfe6090 yeah it's been on the list. Just replaced the old insulation this year so hopefully soon now that I know where I want the grade to be.
I would put a steel grating on top of the piping to protect it!
It is supported and really strong gas pipe. I want it to sit in hot coals. Not a bad idea however.
Where do I get strong assed pipe?
@@walterkersting1362 Depends what you are doing. A steel supply place will have the best stuff. Otherwise I used black gas pipe for the inside piping. Working just fine.
you should place a regulator/thermostat on your exit hot water pipe & use that to auto the dampener... choose a good range when water dips below 150 degrees dampener opens when it hits 200 degrees dampener closes... simple & self regulating
I've been kicking around the idea for an aquastat for a while now. Maybe one day.
YOU CAN BUY THE RIGHT ELETRTRONIC UNIT ON LINE FOR $120 CND, i have 5 in stock
What about a float lever like the back of a toilet, when water drops a little float drops which opens valve allowing water in, water level goes up float shuts water valve off?
That would be super simple to add to this system and if I ever open the top I'll put something like that in it. Great idea!
I hope you never need to open the top to do that mod.
Be nice if you got so bored one summer day that you did it lol.
I am wondering, couldn't you use that concrete board to build the boiler? It would weigh a lot less?
Hey now, there's a good idea. It may be worth a try, just not sure of how to seal the seams.
What if the chimney was square and you had a convey that dumped it into the chimney as needed.
In sure it would work. Might lose most of the heat going straight up out the chimney though.
Mmm what about adding a secondary burn system into the fire box?
Add a shelf inside like a wood stove and the air tubes right under it? Just thoughts
I plan on building one soon and thinking about that
Pretty good ideas! Good luck building yours and definitely try any ideas you have they just might work great for you.
A second comment. The waste oil burning idea - I built a heater using waste oil...it heated fantastic getting real hot! We thought we had a killer idea..but when we stepped outside there was tons of black ash stuff floating everywhere! Looked like a Pittsburgh steel mill. What really killed this idea was the chimney pipe became totally clogged up with fine fluffy ash stuff. It didn't take long to clog it either! You might want to keep that in mind if you try it. Cleaning the chimney was such a big problem we eventually trashed the heater. ☹
Good to know. Usually I just toss a small cup with some right on the coals and it burns great and clean. Maybe one day I'll make a better system.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld thought a bit more on waste oil burning....have copper tubing inside of stove to dribble feed the oil on fire...(maybe coiled up to preheat)....tubing run outside to container of oil...have a valve to adjust flow rate...tweak it to find "sweet spot" of oil burn rate without problems...just an idea
@@raybin6873 I think this would work perfectly!
Run the fan on a rheostat. That way you can turn it up or down. More air will burn cleaner..
With five daughters and a wife doing these videos is probably the only time you ever get to talk lol
Not quite 5 but I keep them popping.
THIS DUDE IS THE *TRUE * FACE OF AMERICA AND COOL AS HELL....... LOL.. LOVE IT..... THEY ARE THE REAL! PEOPLE OF BALLS, BACKBONE AND PRESENCE OF MIND... I HAVE ALWAYS LOOKED FOR THESE TYPES TO GO TO FOR REAL TIME KNOWLEDGE THROUGHOUT MY LIFE AND THESE ARE THE TYPES THAT HAD MY BACK IN NAM... REMEMBER THAT.. BEST ADVICE YOU CAN HAVE.. TAKE IT TO HEART..
Lots of this is so fucking clever. I have looked at many advanced projects and am a welding inspector.
I have been dying to build something like this but in a future home.
So much of this is useful and the final points of other research I've seen all together it's basically notes.
Your pressurised bomb is nicely understated. One would pucker slightly once the danger becomes apparent but the amount of pop makes a man quietly optimal.
The thought of leaving it unattended was terrifying. Great peace of mind now not having to worry.
It is a great project with awesome rewards. Miles of welding!
20/20 June and our boiler got several cracks in it around the door so we had a welder come out for $175 which is more than reasonable fairly cheap did a great job of it would cost us $1,000 just to weld that one piece, you filled the boiler back up with water after 6 to 7 years of using it each year, to see if there was any more holes and found out there was a whole third the top or we couldn't even get to it to weld it you would have had to taken the whole furnace apart itself just to weld one piece, not worth it if we need to heat our house we're going to go back to our old Log Cabin which we've never had a problem with it will heat are home but it won't heat our pool we're going to look for other solutions to heat our pool, you would think for $5,000 a furnace would last longer than 6 to 7 years wish I had them spent the money or invested in it me it's all a bunch of BS fabricated for someone else to make money off of B boiling machine that cannot stand the Heat wished I would have researched it more before I purchased do anyone thinking about purchasing a wood boiler buyer beware are welder said he well it's a lot of them that crack
I think they are made from thinner steel. This one I built out of 1/4 inch thick steel. Still no holes and only has mild surface rust. Good luck figuring out your solution.
What about using rockwool around the outside and raping it with like 16 or 18 g sheet metal so you don't have to worry about the insulation breaking down over time?
You've never had just water in your car, have you, antifreeze is what keeps the water going though an engine from corroding the cast iron or steel. Very nice stove though! I'd burn a really hot fire once a week, that takes out creosote, burning waste oil like you mentioned should be exactly what you need, I'll do the same when I get my stove built.
I'm still not sold on antifreeze. 15 years without it and still killing it. Once the oxygen is cooked out of the water very little corrosion can take place. Antifreeze in a car keeps it from freezing and also raises the boiling point of water. A good burn does keep the creosote in check. Good luck with your build,
Antifreeze is very corrosive, especially the newer pink and red antifreeze. Steel and iron will corrode a lot faster with antifreeze then it will with just water. Cars have antifreeze so the cooling system does not freeze. A lot of boilers have antifreeze so they won't freeze when not in use. But antifreeze does cause electrolysis which causes corrosion. Humorous studies have been done over the years that have proofed that water is better when used alone , if possible
@@kentbuerk9479 I couldn't have said it any better.
I was gonna say buy yall beat me to it antifreeze must be corrosive because something is eating away the aluminum on these newer car engines
@@kentbuerk9479 I believe that antifreeze gets really corrosive when you add copper into the mix. I can't recall if it was a combination of steel/copper which causes the problem, or if antifreeze is just corrosive to copper, but either way, I believe that copper is to be avoided with antifreeze.
20:01 Awesome video. Glad that you are uploading regularly. Will definitely come back for the next. Thumbs Up 👍
Thanks glad you like it. Much more to come.
😂 the pipes on the floor 😂.. what if in winter the pipe break's and uve got all the burning wood and ash covering it 😂and.u got a snow storm 😂.. hey man.. change the pipe from the floor.. maybe to the ceiling of the burner...build a fireplace inside the house and run plumbing type piping to work as chimney..to go into each room and then to outside...like an industrial air-conditioner connection.. 😂
Yes the pipe is on the floor. You wouldn't believe the pile of red hot coals that pile up on it. And the pipe breaking would be no different than any other leak the boiler might have. Fireplaces in homes are the most inefficient ways to heat a house.. All your heat goes up the chimney!
Here is a different way to make electricity anywhere water boils at 30c in a vacuum and returns to liquid at 29c the expansion rates are the same no matter how the water boils. This means in a closed system you can run a steam engine off heat from the sun and endothermic from water sources you could even run an air conditioner use the heat to boil water and the cold to return it to liquid.
Awesome! I have a Fernel Lens I want to experiment with one day to do what you are talking about.
@@MrBriansAmazingWorld Fernel Lens are fantastic useful things.