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Double Barrelled Remote Hot Water Furnace
When Paul Jaecques and his wife bought a rural Indiana home a few years ago, they weren't prepared for the high cost of running electric-baseboard heating through even a mild winter. Clearly something had to be done.
Because the land around the house is heavily wooded, Paul decided that supplementary wood heat w
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Double barrelled remote hot water furnace ENERGY Wood Burners (65) 9-6-11 When Paul Jaecques and his wife bought a rural Indiana home a few years ago, they weren't prepared for the high cost of running electric-baseboard heating through even a mild winter. Clearly something had to be done.
Because the land around the house is heavily wooded, Paul decided that supplementary wood heat was the best answer. As a professional firefighter, however, he was well acquainted with the fire and smoke hazard that indoor wood stoves present. His solution? He built a wood-fired outdoor heating plant 80 ft. behind the house.
By welding together two used 500-gal. diesel-fuel tanks, Jaecques made a 1,000-gal. hot-water storage tank. Into the lower half of this tank he welded a salvaged 100-gal. tank to serve as a wood-burning firebox. The end of this tank was cut out to make a door for loading firewood, and a heavy-wall flue pipe was run from the top of the burner up through the water-filled main tank fo the atmosphere.
Inside the large hot-water tank, he suspended two car radiators. These homemade water-to-water heat exchangers carry a heated mixture of 50% automotive antifreeze and 50% water to the house basement through two buried and insulated 1-in. pipes.
Once indoors, the hot solution runs through a water-to-air heat exchanger he built from a third car radiator enclosed in a metal cabinet and ventilated with an electric blower. A water pump controlled by the house thermostat circulates the heated solution through the system.
Because Jaecques cut his own firewood, his only energy costs are for electricity. Now, with the outdoor-furnace system heating the house, he's found that his electric bill runs about $10 less per month in the winter than it does in the summer, when he operates a dehumidifier. During the winter of 1984-'85 he burned about six cords of wood, keeping a hot fire going for six to 10 hours, then warming the house with stored heat for 14 hours to five days, depending on the weather.
For more information, send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul M. Jaecques, 9679 W. 150th St., Russiaville, Ind. 46979.
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