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www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk Forum Index -> Plumbing Forum
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bearfacedcheek
Junior Member
Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:54 pm Post subject: Wood burner with direct hot water cylinder? |
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Hi
forum newbie I'm afraid, looking for some help deciding what to do with my new wood burner.
My situation - I have just bought a small wood burner with integral back boiler that claims to have the power to heat DHW and one or two small radiators.
My existing hot water cylinder is a fortec dual tank plumbed into the back boiler of the open fire i plan to block up. There is no sign of a header tank for the system so I'm fairly sure that the cylinder is a direct type.
My question - can i simply disconnect the old back boiler and plumb in the wood burner boiler without making any modifications. Most of the advice I've found online talks about indirect heating systems in which case I realise I'd need a header tank. But in the case of a direct heating system is this needed?
My second question - If I can indeed plumb the wood burner directly into the cylinder without risk of explosion :-S is it then possible (advisable?) to draw off excess heat into a radiator? and how would i go about this? i suspect i would need a pump but i'm not sure about anything else, where would i tap into the direct system? would i need some sort of valve? I've also read on this forum about not being able to add inhibitors to direct systems, but honestly have know idea what that means :-S
Any advice anyone can throw my way would be greatly appreciated.
Oh and there's another problem... money! Don't have that much of it :( so i'm looking for a cheap and cheerful solution rather than the all singing all dancing variety
Thanks in advance
Charlie |
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thescruff
Senior Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 4657
Location: Bath
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:09 pm Post subject: |
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First thing to do is identify the cylinder, look around the the top rim, above the pipes for the word "Primatic"
Lets assume its an direct cylinder for now, in which case it can be connected the wood burner, but no radiators as you will contaminate the water, and the rads won't last 5mins anyway.
Next you need to confirm that the wood burner is suitable for a direct system.
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Scruff |
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bearfacedcheek
Junior Member
Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for that scruff that makes sense to my confuzzled brain.
Another question while i have the experts on 
If i were to fork out for a new indirect cylinder in order to have radiators i have another problem. I'm low on height in my house, very low.
Now i know that a header tank needs to be a certain distance above the cylinder (1m?) but i wonder if i can save height in other ways.
E.g. can i have my hot water cylinder on a similar level with my woodburner or does it need to be higher (how much higher?) than the boiler for convection?
With boiler and tank on a similar level (ground level) i understand i would have virtually no hot water pressure, can i get round this by using a pump?
Sorry for all the dumb questions, just trying to get my head around the problem
Thanks again
Charlie |
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thescruff
Senior Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 4657
Location: Bath
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| Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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If you changed the cylinder for an indirect one, the header tank needs to be a certain height above the highest radiator or pipe, E<G< 1m +.
The height of the storage tank is what gives you the pressure at the taps, not the height of the cylinder.
The primary pipes must be gravity so the cylinder will need to be above the fire, again a minimum of 1m.
The header tank must be metal, or high temperature plastic.
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Scruff |
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justlead1
Junior Member
Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:15 am Post subject: Wood burner |
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| Hi. Just a thought. Check the system as to direct or primatic and also the metal that forms the existing back boiler, on direct systems back boilers were often of copper or glass linned. If the system is direct a standard wood burner with a sheet metal fabricated water jacket will not last long. Good Luck |
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bearfacedcheek
Junior Member
Joined: 29 Sep 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 8:11 pm Post subject: |
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uh oh now i'm worried. the wood burner is cast and the boiler is integral so its cast as well. I got it from ebay so don't know much else about it, is that likely to be no good then with a direct system :-(
Thanks so much for help |
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thescruff
Senior Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2008
Posts: 4657
Location: Bath
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| Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:33 pm Post subject: |
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It really needs to be on an indirect system, the biggest problem you will have if you connect it to the existing cylinder will be the water jacket scaling up, how quickly depends on the water hardness.
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Scruff |
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