8 replies to this topic

[cradley-heathen]

hi all, i have mentioned elsewhere that i recently finished the instalation of a solid fuel stove central heating system in my house, i also mentioned that the other day it cracked and leaked all over my new lounge carpet (i have welded it up now, and its back on line!)

 

anyway, has anyone else got a solid fuel boiler?

 

how long do you find it takes to get the system up to temperature?

 

does anyone know what the maximum safe temperature the water in the system can go up to?

 

how pleasing do you find it having a lovely warm home, and knowing your not paying for gas!!! its great isnt it! i cant believe the abundance of free wood there is available when you do a bit of searching. there are tons of businesses around here that pay to get rid of it, they are only too glad to have someone turn up and take a load of it!

[ShaunaFTW]

I don't really do any solid fuel but on a condensing boiler it usually hits 80 before knocking out I would imagine solid fuel is quite a bit higher. With solid fuel it's harder to regulate the temperature as it's bound to fluctuate. Hot water cylinders need to store water above 60 to kill off any legionella if you are using it to heat up any hot water.
I'd love a log burner, it's so much nicer than wet heating systems. I get wood from work for one of our friends for free so would be handy if I ever got one.

http://www.hse.gov.u...ent/boilers.htm

Says here normal systems go up to 124 degrees maximum.

Edited by ShaunaFTW, 05 December 2013 - 08:40 PM.

[cradley-heathen]

the reason i ask about the safe working temperature is that when the fire is really blazing away, it sounds like the water is boiling in the back of the boiler, i wasnt sure if it should be or not.

 

i have been up into the loft a few times now to check the expansion/header tank and the water in there is still cold. its an open vent system and i ahvnt seen any water coming up out of the open vent, so i guess its all running as it should be.

 

i need to get a temperature gauge for on the flow pipe coming out the boiler so i can see exactly what temp it is reaching.

[FlyingScot]

I don't really do any solid fuel but on a condensing boiler it usually hits 80 before knocking out I would imagine solid fuel is quite a bit higher. With solid fuel it's harder to regulate the temperature as it's bound to fluctuate. Hot water cylinders need to store water above 60 to kill off any legionella if you are using it to heat up any hot water.
I'd love a log burner, it's so much nicer than wet heating systems. I get wood from work for one of our friends for free so would be handy if I ever got one.http://www.hse.gov.u...ent/boilers.htm
Says here normal systems go up to 124 degrees maximum.

You won't get 124 degrees on a open system..... Water boils at 100.
Solid fuel systems normally have a header tank and are open vented for safety separately so even if the pump fails they don't go pop!

FS

[ShaunaFTW]

 

I don't really do any solid fuel but on a condensing boiler it usually hits 80 before knocking out I would imagine solid fuel is quite a bit higher. With solid fuel it's harder to regulate the temperature as it's bound to fluctuate. Hot water cylinders need to store water above 60 to kill off any legionella if you are using it to heat up any hot water.
I'd love a log burner, it's so much nicer than wet heating systems. I get wood from work for one of our friends for free so would be handy if I ever got one.http://www.hse.gov.u...ent/boilers.htm
Says here normal systems go up to 124 degrees maximum.

You won't get 124 degrees on a open system..... Water boils at 100.
Solid fuel systems normally have a header tank and are open vented for safety separately so even if the pump fails they don't go pop!

FS

 

I was just linking what I found online.. Plus if the fire is burning at 124 degrees, the water passing through wont be that temperature. 

[mingy]

I assume you are running a gravity flow and return pipework system to your cylinder, if so then a decent sized radiator connected to the two cylinder flow and return pipes would help reduce the kettling effect.
You mentioned an expansion tank in the loft which indicates you are running an indirect system ?.Have you got some radiators on the system ?.
An adjustable pipe stat on the flow pipe from the boiler connected to a circulator (central heating pump ) would allow you to dissipate some of the excess heat away from the cylinder etc but, a solid fuel hot water system is always a tricky one to get right at the best of times.
A bit more info and i should be able to work out a suitable setup for you.

[Dan]

I was just linking what I found online.. Plus if the fire is burning at 124 degrees, the water passing through wont be that temperature.

 

  What it's saying is the temperature of the back boiler's external surfaces will normally be at bout 124 degrees with a fire burning and water circulating through the boiler, it's not talking about water temperature.  Although bear in mind that the system pressure is not atmospheric even if it isn't sealed so the boiling point will be increased.

 

  My in-laws had a back boiler solid fuel system in a house they lived in briefly about 10 years ago.  The water can conceivably boil in the boiler without expanding enough to discharge, because the flow of cooler water (assuming you have a decent heat dump radiator somewhere) will be constant.  It's only when the system can't dump enough heat fast enough that the boiling will spread.  If you are putting more heat in than you are taking out then the system temperature will escalate until some has to discharge.  So if it's a gravity system getting the flow right is essential.  As I said above the boiling point will be slightly escalated though, assuming a 2 story house with the header in the attic and the back boiler on the ground floor the boiling point would be around 10 degrees higher even when the water is cold just down to the 6m column of water above it.

 

  You say you installed and repaired it yourself, I assume you have had the installation inspected by the council.  Not sure if the welded repair would be notifiable too but I suspect it would be if not carried out by a HETAS engineer.  If the council approved it then it must comply with regs and so it must be safe.  Providing you operate it properly and the flow through the boiler isn't interrupted at any point it'll be fine.

Edited by Dan, 05 December 2013 - 10:07 PM.

[cradley-heathen]

i had the system designed by a local central heating specialist, he did a really fantastic job, i got 3 different sets of drawings showing the exact pipe layout etc. the. guy who designed it said we could have had a gravity fed system if we wanted but we went with a pump in the end so that i knew it would be circulating

 

both the bathrooms and the second bedrooms radiators are the heat dump radiators.

 

it is indeed a 2 floor house, and the tank is in the loft. the boiler doesn't do our DHW, we have got under sink water heaters for that, otherwise we would have to have the stove lit in the middle of summer just to have a shower!

 

a friend of mine has been over and checked it all out, he works on industrial heating systems (as did i a few years ago, only i worked on hot air blowers, not boilers) and he assured me it looked right.

 

as regards welding the crack in the water jacket, it was made in china by some poor bleeder who was probably earning next to nothing, im pretty sure my welding is better than what i found when i opened it up! i did pressure test it from my air compressor, and leak tested it, it was holding up to 3 bar when the safety regulator on the back of the boiler blew and scared me to death!

[reallybig]

people i know got their water connected to an arga' when the boiler boils they have to turn on the underfloor heating and open the windows