Category Archives: Fireplace Boiler

Wood burning fireplace boiler

Snug as a Bug

Posted on March 26, 2019 by ellen

Facebook reminded me that it has been seven years since we had our energy audit. Seven years since I retired. A bit over seven years since we purchased the house. The good news is that the property values have escalated, … Continue reading →

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Wood fired boiler!

Posted on October 30, 2018 by ellen

It works! I’m so pleased with the wood boiler system. This fall it was easy to start up. Just a few steps and it was all working as designed. I recorded the steps I took to get the first fire … Continue reading →

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Safety for the Birdies

Posted on May 1, 2017 by ellen

Covering the chimney opening with barrier wire has been on the to do list for some time. Luckily some square wire mesh was accessible in the full garage so I cut some and installed it on the chimney. Every spring … Continue reading →

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Another Flaw in Boiler Piping Redesigned

Posted on January 20, 2016 by ellen

The placement of the Taco iSeries mixing valve is designed to temper the water going into the stove, however, that valve also limits the flow of water returning from the storage loop. I realized this in the middle of the … Continue reading →

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Fireplace Boiler System Re-design

Posted on January 19, 2016 by ellen

During our first fire in the fireplace boiler the hot water was not getting out of the stove. I took some thermal photos to try to capture where the heat was going. The photo appears to show that the hot … Continue reading →

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Fireplace Boiler in Action

Posted on January 3, 2016 by ellen

On Christmas Eve it was cold outside and we finally made a fire in the fireplace boiler. The fireplace outside air draft worked perfectly, and the glass door makes a spectacular fire show. The fireplace water got very hot but … Continue reading →

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Storage Switch Outlet Wiring for Fireplace Boiler

Posted on December 18, 2014 by ellen

The wiring on the storage side became a little tricky when I decided to use a switch/outlet combo to allow both the transformer to be switched on and off and the Taco Relay to energize an outlet, since the pump … Continue reading →

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Diagrams for Fireplace Boiler Wiring

Posted on December 17, 2014 by ellen

These are diagrams of the parts and functions for the fireplace boiler wiring. The storage side is powered by a 24 Volt transformer. Wired with 120 on one side, 24 volt is delivered on the other. This is one 24 … Continue reading →

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Wiring Plan for Fireplace Boiler

Posted on December 16, 2014 by ellen

The fireplace boiler wiring has to control the water circulation through the boiler on one side–in the living room, and the circulation through the storage and heat exchanger on the other–in the utility room. The piping diagram shows some of … Continue reading →

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Wood Boiler Clarification

Posted on December 4, 2014 by ellen

The “Boiler Room” forum on Hearth.com had some folks willing to try to answer my concerns about the system pump overcoming the vent pipe and pushing boiler water into the overflow tank. Unfortunately they had some concerns of their own, … Continue reading →

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Wood Boiler Confusion

Posted on December 2, 2014 by ellen

There is a problem with the piping design for the wood boiler. I finally got all the leaks fixed and the system holds air pressure, but I had the vent pipe plugged so that air would not escape up into … Continue reading →

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Leaks!

Posted on November 21, 2014 by ellen

The wood boiler is completely plumbed now on the storage side–have not wired anything yet. But I’m having trouble with leaks. I used the air compressor to look for leaks and found a couple of places that I had forgotten … Continue reading →

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Wood Boiler–EPA Exempt–plus Safety Certification

Posted on November 19, 2014 by ellen

I didn’t get any comments on the piping layouts at hearth.com, but I did have a forum disagreement with a poster about the safety certification of this foreign made stove. The statement was made that stoves that are not UL/CSA … Continue reading →

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On Second Thought…

Posted on November 19, 2014 by ellen

After working with the components, I changed the wood boiler layout a bit. This is really the 14th version of the piping layout. The wood boiler plumbing is installed and set up for air testing before filling with water. The … Continue reading →

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