The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Firewood and Wood Heating => Topic started by: downs.garym on December 18, 2019, 10:49:07 AM

Title: Winterize house and water heater, still use the OWB for heat
Post by: downs.garym on December 18, 2019, 10:49:07 AM
Hello, New user here and newer owner of an OWB. Learning as I go. Long story short, we purchased property/house two years ago and it came with a Central Boiler. It is recreational property for us so arent there all the time. The house is not what I would call livable so wasnt staying in it all. I asked the local dealer who installed the OWB about winterizing and he suggested to just leave the pump run all winter. So I winterized the house, drained the WH and blew out the lines and kept the pump running. Everything was fine. This year, I intend to stay in the house occasionally while I work on it (without water) but would like to heat using the OWB. Should I be concerned about the side arm heat exchanger on the WH or the WH itself if the WH is drained? There are no isolation valves on the side arm so I have to run the water from the OWB through it. Anything else to think about? Thanks!
Title: Re: Winterize house and water heater, still use the OWB for heat
Post by: jgoodhart on December 18, 2019, 06:02:37 PM
No, it will just return the hot water to the stove.
Title: Re: Winterize house and water heater, still use the OWB for heat
Post by: Gearbox on December 18, 2019, 08:33:24 PM
It would help to know where this is at . Also let us know how cold it gets where you are at . If you are in northern MN just leaving the pumps run might be risky at -30 degrees .
Title: Re: Winterize house and water heater, still use the OWB for heat
Post by: downs.garym on December 19, 2019, 06:42:53 AM
Im in Southern Ohio. We get cold stretches here in the winter, but generally its not too bad. Our averages for jan are about 40 and 23.