The Forestry Forum

General Forestry => Firewood and Wood Heating => Topic started by: mad dog on March 13, 2008, 09:07:19 AM

Title: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: mad dog on March 13, 2008, 09:07:19 AM
                                                                                                                                                   Does  anyone still make a wood fired hot water heater for home use? Or a wood stove with a water jacket?
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: StorminN on March 13, 2008, 12:05:18 PM
mad dog,

I'm not sure about here in the US, but where my Dad retired to in southern Mexico, wood-fired hot water heaters are still very common... any plumbing store will have a couple of different models. I have pictures somewhere, I will try and find and post them...

-N.
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: sawdust on March 13, 2008, 03:31:20 PM
mad Dog, have a look in my images there are a few photos on the one I built. Actually I had built for me I used bout a dozen of these things over the years.

sawdust

edit... sorry maddog my brain was thinking hot tub heater. You are talking domestic hot water.
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: jpgreen on March 16, 2008, 01:09:12 PM
I've built them and will be building them to offer for sale come next winter, and maybe this summer for the outdoor models, but depends on how buys I get with other stuff..  8)
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: RSteiner on March 16, 2008, 08:52:29 PM
A number of years ago I purchased a wood stove that had a hot water heating coil in the fire box.  It worked pretty good when the stove was used in the winter for heating the house.  I moved the hot water tank close to the stove so I wouldn't need a pump to circulate the water.  The original coil was mild steel so it lasted about 10 years before the creosote ate a hole in it.  I was given a stainless steel coil but never installed it.  With the kids out of the house we would have too much hot water.

When the kids were home in the morning we would have a 40 gallon tank full of
180 F hot water.  This was enough for the 5 of us to take quick showers before getting to cool. 

Randy
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: slowzuki on March 17, 2008, 10:30:17 AM
I've got a swedish aguatherm heater kicking around.  Brand spanking new but 30+ years old!  I once filled it up with water and lit a little fire to see how quick it got hot.  Had steam and water gushing all over the shop!
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: Fla._Deadheader on March 17, 2008, 03:35:21 PM

These are easy to build. I used a used GAS waterheater tank, and cut the center out of 2 car wheels. Put a bottom in one wheel, welded it to the other, for a firebox, cut an opening for a door, and fabbed a door.

   Used TWIGS and cereal boxes to get a fire going. ONE fill of that small firebox, would supply hot water for the 4 of us, + a baby. Never had a problem, then built the water heater over the Propane tank woodstove, and gave the wood fired heater to our STOOPID neighbor. He blew the crapper out from under him one cold morning, with hot water going into the ceramic crapper tank.  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
Title: Re: wood fired hot waterheater
Post by: RSteiner on March 18, 2008, 06:18:19 AM
Quote from: Fla._Deadheader on March 17, 2008, 03:35:21 PM

These are easy to build. I used a used GAS waterheater tank, and cut the center out of 2 car wheels. Put a bottom in one wheel, welded it to the other, for a firebox, cut an opening for a door, and fabbed a door.

   Used TWIGS and cereal boxes to get a fire going. ONE fill of that small firebox, would supply hot water for the 4 of us, + a baby. Never had a problem, then built the water heater over the Propane tank woodstove, and gave the wood fired heater to our STOOPID neighbor. He blew the crapper out from under him one cold morning, with hot water going into the ceramic crapper tank.  ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Now, there is where a picture would be worth a thousand words !  :D

I installed two high temp./ pressure blow-off valves on my system, one on the outlet of the coil at the back of the stove and the other on the top of the hot water tank.  Many times with a good fire going the blow-off valve at the back of the stove would go off, I ran a hose from it to the sink in the cellar to avoid a flood of water on the floor.

Randy