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Post by scottwojo on Oct 25, 2017 3:55:41 GMT -8
Need Links for the threads you have read.
I am in the initial stage of learning this technology. I am a welder, plumber, electrician, tinkerer. I would like to eventually build a system that would also heat water for distribution to a floor radiant heater.
I feel I have knowledge that would further this technology once brought up to speed. You, knowing the learning process, can help speed this process.
If you can see your way to list high quality threads that concisely contain the information I am seeking, I would greatly appreciate it. And once I have more educated questions I will be seeking you again.
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Post by pinhead on Oct 26, 2017 11:04:31 GMT -8
I've stayed away from heating water because if done incorrectly, it's literally a ticking time bomb; turning off the fire is much more difficult with wood than gas, and water flashes to steam virtually instantly when the flash temperature is reached.
Having said that, in-floor radiant heat runs at much lower temperatures than boiling water which should enable the project to be a little safer. I don't believe anyone on the forum has done a full-fledged heated water distribution system thread to my knowledge, though there are bits and pieces sprinkled around the forum.
I would suggest, however, to learn and build the core of the system long before you start dabbling with hot water; there are a lot of subtle nuances in building the stove core, itself, that is often overlooked and can make or break a system - without adding the complexity of heating water.
Unfortunately, the first thing you'll likely have to do is forget everything you saw on Youtube... And remember the phrase "metal is doomed."
The basic guideline: Burn as hot as possible, and extract heat only after the burn is complete.
For the first part, insulation is paramount. The entire flame path should be insulated as well as possible. I suggest ceramic fiber blanket for the riser and ceramic fiber board for the "core" of the stove. You can use more DIY materials which are much cheaper and can be effective, but will increase the time spent building a working stove.
For the second part, you'll want to reduce the heat intensity before introducing water. This could be in the form of a large volume/bell or some other heat dissipation before that point. This is only a general guideline, as I don't know where/how to implement water heat safely.
DO NOT run a pressured system; you want as much protection against flash-boiling as possible. In fact, I would likely directly heat use some type of large open (unpressurized) water tank and circulate that pre-heated water through the system (as opposed to trying to pump water through a piped heat exchanger).
Having said all of that, take a poke around the forum and I'm sure you'll find a lot of really good information. There are plenty of knowledgeable users that will surely offer advice!
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Post by scottwojo on Oct 27, 2017 17:14:03 GMT -8
Thank you. Understood everything you said.
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Post by DCish on Oct 27, 2017 17:47:37 GMT -8
I live in an 1100 sq foot split level. I currently have a standard box stove with a dead end bell bench after it in the lowest level. It works great, but the stove doesn't have enough oomph to really make the most of the bench. I have been iterating on a Peterberg batch box outdoors and getting closer to bringing it inside. If you search my threads it is documented here. No water heating, though that was a very reluctantly relinquished early dream. After reading through basically this entire site over the course of a couple of years and after finding that I could move warmth from my box stove around to where I needed it with a couple of fans, I embraced waterless simplicity and added the bench. I don't have much down time to devote to it, but I'm slowly crawling along. Best of luck, and do share whatever you end up doing!
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Post by permaculturebob on Oct 29, 2017 16:55:50 GMT -8
Hi, you might get some hints from a thread I put up a little while ago donkey32.proboards.com/thread/2337/development-rocket-water-heating-system. I have a radiant floor also, and if you read the abbreviated tale of my journey over about four years and still have specific questions I'm happy to offer any experience if it might help. Since I wrote that post, I just added a batch box onto the existing j channel system today, so i'm still in the early stages of playing with that new toy. I think it will work out ok, but till I'm done changing stuff I'm sure it would've been easier to build a batch box from the beginning rather than a traditional J channel. The biggest issue I see is simply volume of fuel needed to heat water and size of the J's firebox. The batch box seems to solve that pretty well. Also, of course from a safety perspective, heating an unpressurized system will always be safest but with the right emergency valves there's no reason a rocket water heater has to be any more dangerous than any other, and heating might be done with the system under pressure.
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