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Old 01-05-2016, 05:23 PM
 
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Hello again
I'm wondering if anyone has converted there wood stove as a water heater. what are the pros and con's if anyone has done the conversion. I was thinking of doing a conversion and running copper all around the house and using the loop to heat the floors to warm the house.
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Old 01-05-2016, 07:03 PM
 
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I used a homemade wood stove to heat water years ago. I had a barrel stove made out of 3/8th rolled steel. Don't think you could do much with a regular stove. I put a coil pipe inside the stove near the top. Some things to be aware of...never put a soldered copper joint inside the firebox and don't use galvanized pipe inside the firebox. The pipe used for the coil should be cast iron threaded pipe. I connected mine to an electric water heater which was the source of hot water when there was no fire. I also put a circulator inline that would circulate the water through a piece of baseboard when the temp got too high. Be sure you have a properly functioning blowoff valve on the tank. It will get a workout. You should have a pressure tank in line..I didn't, which made the blowoff valve release pressure more often then it would had there been an expansion tank. Overall, it worked good, but eventually when the coil needed to be replaced, I didn't think it was worth the effort, so took it out.
Another thing that will happen is the flue gases will be cooler because you are pulling more heat from it. That will cause you to form creosote in the chimney faster than if you don't have the coil pulling heat. Some folks will rap flexible copper around a barrel stove, but you will get no where near the hot water that you will get with a coil in the firebox. It will work, but not as well as you want I bet. Creating more hot water isn't as easy as turning up that dial on the wall. The amount of heat created is hard to control.
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Old 01-05-2016, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,277 posts, read 61,034,194 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ground_pounder View Post
Hello again
I'm wondering if anyone has converted there wood stove as a water heater. what are the pros and con's if anyone has done the conversion. I was thinking of doing a conversion and running copper all around the house and using the loop to heat the floors to warm the house.
My woodstove heats water. That heated water circulates to a Thermal-Bank in our crawlspace. That heated water can then circulate from the Thermal-Bank through our radiant heated floor.

We attempt to extract as much heat as possible from the fire into the water, to store that heat and to use that heat later in a different location.

Radiant heated floors are thought to be a much more efficient method of home heating as compared to baseboards or forced air. The measured room air temperature is lower while maintaining 'comfort'. When your feet are warm, you feel warm.

A wall-mounted thermometer in our home might read 60F, but you would feel that it was at least 75F.



We also have a heated 'towel-rack'. It is fairly large and accommodates towels, clothes and jackets. It is in the loop with our radiant floor. Wet clothing can be hung on it and it slowly dries them. It also provides warm towels



Our house is 2400 sq ft, 60' by 40' with 12' to 14' ceilings. We consume 3 to 3 1/2 cords of firewood each year. There are much smaller homes in our town that consume much more firewood than we do. So I think that this system is working for us.
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Old 01-08-2016, 10:23 PM
 
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I know this is a little off topic but what about a geo thermal setup with a water furnace. will geo thermal work up there or should I save the 20-30 grand that it costs to install it
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Old 01-08-2016, 10:26 PM
 
1,080 posts, read 1,184,249 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
My woodstove heats water. That heated water circulates to a Thermal-Bank in our crawlspace. That heated water can then circulate from the Thermal-Bank through our radiant heated floor.

We attempt to extract as much heat as possible from the fire into the water, to store that heat and to use that heat later in a different location.

Radiant heated floors are thought to be a much more efficient method of home heating as compared to baseboards or forced air. The measured room air temperature is lower while maintaining 'comfort'. When your feet are warm, you feel warm.

A wall-mounted thermometer in our home might read 60F, but you would feel that it was at least 75F.



We also have a heated 'towel-rack'. It is fairly large and accommodates towels, clothes and jackets. It is in the loop with our radiant floor. Wet clothing can be hung on it and it slowly dries them. It also provides warm towels



Our house is 2400 sq ft, 60' by 40' with 12' to 14' ceilings. We consume 3 to 3 1/2 cords of firewood each year. There are much smaller homes in our town that consume much more firewood than we do. So I think that this system is working for us.
that's what I want to do after that water is heated then send it to a thermal bank for later use for heating the house or if possible send it out through tubbing and melt the ice and snow off my driveway.
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Old 01-09-2016, 06:47 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,277 posts, read 61,034,194 times
Reputation: 30164
Quote:
Originally Posted by ground_pounder View Post
I know this is a little off topic but what about a geo thermal setup with a water furnace. will geo thermal work up there or should I save the 20-30 grand that it costs to install it
The newest flavor of Heat-Pump is the 'mini-split with variable speed compressor'. They are supposed to work great during the shoulders [spring and fall]. They might not put out any heat during winter though. But if they can reduce your need for other sources of heat in the shoulders then there is an over all benefit having them.
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Old 01-09-2016, 06:59 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,277 posts, read 61,034,194 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ground_pounder View Post
that's what I want to do after that water is heated then send it to a thermal bank for later use for heating the house or if possible send it out through tubbing and melt the ice and snow off my driveway.
The site contractor who did some work for us, installed PEX tubing underneath his driveway and garage. So that entire area is heated and free of ice / snow.


One town that we adjoin had some workers ripping up a sidewalk one summer so I asked what they were doing. It seems the townhall has a private parking lot behind it for the town clerks and selectmen to use. The sidewalk leading from the back door to that parking lot is now heated. The main sidewalk in front of the building where customers park along the street is not heated. Just the sidewalk for the town clerk and selectmen.

It is a neat idea, though I suspect a oil furnace providing heat to warm a driveway or sidewalk would consume a lot of oil.
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Old 01-09-2016, 07:41 AM
 
973 posts, read 2,369,290 times
Reputation: 1322
Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
The newest flavor of Heat-Pump is the 'mini-split with variable speed compressor'. They are supposed to work great during the shoulders [spring and fall]. They might not put out any heat during winter though. But if they can reduce your need for other sources of heat in the shoulders then there is an over all benefit having them.
The mini-split heat pump works well in Aroostook County. I say so because I have two places, both heated with one. The Fujitsu is rated for -19 degrees, but last year when it was -30, they both were cranking out heat like crazy. What does happen is they have a defrost cycle that runs in cold temps to keep frost off the coils. The defrost cycle doesn't put heat into the space, but it might run for 90 seconds every half hour in real cold weather. As for cost to operate, I have electric hot water at both places. Instant on at one and electric water heater at other, so that chews up electricity, and I didn't have an electric bill over $90 a month at either place. Mini-split heat pumps work very well in Maine.
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Old 01-09-2016, 07:51 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,277 posts, read 61,034,194 times
Reputation: 30164
Quote:
Originally Posted by kellysmith View Post
The mini-split heat pump works well in Aroostook County. I say so because I have two places, both heated with one. The Fujitsu is rated for -19 degrees, but last year when it was -30, they both were cranking out heat like crazy. What does happen is they have a defrost cycle that runs in cold temps to keep frost off the coils. The defrost cycle doesn't put heat into the space, but it might run for 90 seconds every half hour in real cold weather. As for cost to operate, I have electric hot water at both places. Instant on at one and electric water heater at other, so that chews up electricity, and I didn't have an electric bill over $90 a month at either place. Mini-split heat pumps work very well in Maine.
That is great

I wonder then if beyond simply 'Mini-split with variable speed compressor', the addition of the defrost cycle is what makes the difference then?

I have been listening to 'Hot and Cold', Saturday mornings on 103.9FM with Dick Hill phd and Tom Gozce. It seems that contractors have been installing heat-pumps for years and there have been university studies done, as each improvement gets them closer to being functional year-round.

It sounds like there have been a lot of previous generations of heat-pumps installed that can not provide heat in winter. I am glad to hear that with the defrost cycle it works so well for you.
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