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radiant heat in floor tube stuff
Eric, I have a small stainless steel 'eavestrough' under the lower edge of the radiator which drains out a 1/2" tube and into the top bung of a plastic 55 gallon drum which sits horizontally next to the unit, the lower bung has a tap and a piece of clear tubing going vertical as a level gauge. It provides me with all the water I neeed for rads, batteries, etc.
Because the radiator is out of a Powerstroke equipped Ford p/u it is far bigger than the plenum is, as a result it had to be mounted on a 45 deg. angle across the airflow in the plenum. This doesn't seem to affect the airflow to any noticeable degree.
I'm debating changing the system a bit. A neighbour of mine at the cottage has a coil of flexible copper tubing wound around the chimney of his woodstove, it leads to an old water heater, from there it gets pumped through insulated pipes out to his garage where it goes through an old car radiator. An old household furnace blower unit provides all the airflow. He runs a 50/50 water/glycol mixture for freeze-proofing. He says he scavenges enough heat out of 25' of uninsulated stovepipe to keep his (well insulated) 24'x24' shop/garage heated to a minimum of 45 degrees all winter.
In my case I'm thinking of an outdoors wood-fired boiler. In the winter it will heat the shop and greenhouse, in the summer it will heat the pool and a hot-tub.
Best of luck.
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radiant heat in floor tube stuff
My neighbours logic was that he didn't want to have to tend to two fires, and since he lives in a forest wood is free for the taking.
I agree that the theory of stealing heat from a dwelling is inefficient but in his case he measured the flue gas temp. as it left the building and it was still above 200 degrees, and this was after installing radiating fins on the pipe to scavenge heat for the house already. He figured if it was already leaving the house it was lost, so if he could reclaim some of the 'lost' heat it would be 'found' heat.
If it wasn't for the fact that I have more wood than I can ever burn I would be putting in a bio-mass pellet burner or corn stove before a wood pellet stove. In many areas local farmers will happily sell you corn at a VERY good price, delivered, and if you have a bin they will even load it. There was a story in a farm paper last year about a fellow in the mid-west who had a small feed bin (500 bushel ?) next to his house, it fed a corn-fired furnace through an automated auger. He claimed to be heating a big house and shop (via a water coil on the furnace) for about $500 a year worth of corn.
Best of luck.
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radiant heat in floor tube stuff
Michael, I'll bet the corn is plentiful & cheap 500'ish miles north-east of you. I'd also bet you could easily find a long line of farmers more than willing to drive it down to you.
I guess it depends on the local price of wood pellets or bio-mass pellets.
A local company up here makes a stove that quite readily burns wood chips, it has a gravity feed hopper so chip size is rather moot. If you could find a good supply of ground up pallets or other scrap wood you could get a lot of heat for not much cost.
IF your EPA reg.'s allow it waste motor oil is another good choice, lots of small shops are willing to pay to get rid of it.
Best of luck.
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radiant heat in floor tube stuff
Let's see now.
Wood pellets and corn ARE roughly the same size, and several makers advertise that their units can handle both, but I'm told (by a friend in the business) that there is a slight difference. I seem to recall that it was a) BTU's and b) the debris left behind, this mandated a difference in the fire pot between the two fuels.
ANY oil furnace can be adapted to burn waste oil. There are companies that make them, but I'm told (by the same friend as above) that the difference is that they have some sort of multiple nozzle burner so that the orifice size can be varied on the fly to match the heat value of the oil being burned. Extra filters, etc., are also required. I have seen a 'home-made' one, a mechanic up here made one for his shop. It is a standard oil furnace with a much larger nozzle & pump and multiple filters and sediment traps. He did a little 'experimenting' at first to get the nozzle size right, etc., but says it has been trouble-free for several years now. In fact he allows home-owners to bring their used oil to him since he doesn't generate enough to satisfy his heating needs. I know there are several manufacturers out there, if you do a search by "waste oil furnace" I'm sure you will find lots of them. I have linked to a 'home-brewed' oil stove a fellow is doing, I thought it might be of interest to you. I think you, like myself, are if nothing else interested in clever ideas and concepts.
Feel free to email me directly if you want a more detailed take on it.
Best of luck.
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