You just bought or are thinking of buying an outdoor wood boiler. How do you integrate that boiler into your existing home heating system? The guy selling you the boiler wants the sale and tells you that hooking it into your system is very simple.
Outdoor wood boilers come in many shapes and sizes. For the most part bigger is better for these things. The next thing you need to consider is whether the boiler is open or closed. It does make a difference in the way it gets hooked up. Closed systems can be hooked right up to your existing boiler system in a primary secondary configuration. This means that the wood boiler circulates to two tees in your home system and the home system circulates the water through the home. The two waters mix through the tees.
If your wood boiler is an open system then you need to install a stainless steel flat plate heat exchanger to divide the two waters. The hookup of the heat exchanger is not that hard if you follow the instructions properly. This heat exchanger is very effect in transferring the heat from the wood boiler to the inside heating system. It also keeps the water of the inside system pressurized and isolated.
If you are installing your outdoor furnace to a hot air heating system then you need to buy a coil similar to your car radiator to install in the plenum on the supply side of your existing hot air furnace. To this coil you will hookup the water pipes from the outdoor boiler. The water running through the coil will heat it up so that the air going through from the hot air furnace will be warmed. The water hookup for this style of heat is very simple, but the electrical hookup of the blower, pump, and circulator may not be as simple. You may need someone with a good electrical knowledge to make everything happen in the right sequence.
Outdoor wood boilers can heat your home effectively if they are installed to your existing heating system properly. If they are installed properly you will notice no difference in the heating of your home. It will be warm and comfortable. Make sue that you do your research properly before trying to install your outdoor wood boiler.