[AT] TEST? NOW Ramble! (long)

Steve W. falcon at telenet.net
Mon Feb 11 06:07:35 PST 2008


How about connecting up a line into your shop and heating it with the 
same boiler? That way your shop gets heat and your boiler doesn't 
overheat. Plus you would save on the propane, which tosses a LOT of 
water vapor into the air if it is the unvented style.
-- 
Steve W.
Firefighter,EMT,Fire Police
VanHornesville Vol. Fire Dept

Greg Hass wrote:
> Charlie:
> Just returned from the shop. It has now dropped to -3 F with a 25 mph wind 
> added in.  Wasn't too bad out there, as I keep it heated to 42 degrees with 
> an LP wall furnace.  Because I was only going to be in there for an hour I 
> didn't turn it up.
> 
> The corn furnace is an closed system and is tied in with my fuel oil boiler. 
> It uses the registers, thermostats and zone valves of the original system. 
> I have hooked it in with shut-off valves so that by closing one valve and 
> opening another, and flipping a couple of switches, I can switch from one 
> boiler to the other.  Because it is a closed system you cannot let water run 
> through it or it would soon fill up with mineral.  The only thing I could do 
> to solve the overheating problem would be to install an interval timer on 
> the main floor thermostat and set it so that on warm days it would circulate 
> the water throughout the lower floor for 2 minutes out of every 10, thus 
> limiting the temperature rise in the water.  The only problem then is that 
> it may get the lower floor too hot, in which case one might have to open a 
> window or door.
> 
> The way it works is that at the beginning of the season you light the fire 
> much like you would a wood stove.  When the thermostat calls for heat the 
> augers start feeding in corn and the blower comes on to make the corn burn 
> hot.  When the house reaches desired temperature, the thermostat shuts off 
> the blower and the augers and the fire drops to a low flame.  However, the 
> augers and blowers start up for 2 minutes out of 10 to maintain the fire. 
> When the house again calls for heat, the process is repeated.  Refer to: 
> www.cornheat.com
> 
> I have the 100,000 btu model.  As for the problem with the overheating, I 
> knew up front that this would happen so it was not a surprise.  When we were 
> looking at them, we were told that basically you run it from Thanksgiving to 
> April (the months where it is consistently  +40 degrees F or lower).  During 
> the spring and fall changeable weather, you run your normal heat, in our 
> case fuel oil.
> 
> As for cost, the last barrel of oil we got was $3.20/gal.   I raise 20+ 
> acres of corn a year, which I have dried and stored at the local elevator 
> and get a wagon load as needed.  I figure my cost at $4.50/bu, the amount I 
> could sell it for.  Over the past 62 days, I averaged 2.25 bu/day.  One 
> bushel of corn = 3.25 gal. of fuel oil.   Or ...$10.13/day for corn compare 
> to $23.04 for fuel oil.  A savings of $12.91/day or $387.30 per month.  Mind 
> you, we are in a much colder climate than you are.
> 
> Greg Hass
> Michigan's Thumb
> 
> 
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