Wood Burner/Heat Exchanger

BradyW · May 31, 2016

Finishing my farm shop and looking for help finding a heat exchanger, I have the outside wood burn now that heats the house and I'm trying to find an exchanger with blower fan to hang form the ceiling. shop size is 28x32 16 high.

Any ideas/do-don'ts/tried that's/f-that's/won't work/save money/save time/trust me/ etc............

Would be helpful, Thanks

Janicholson · May 31, 2016

Google Steam/Hot water Unit Heaters. Modine makes a Bunch. Jim

dzc3 · May 31, 2016

Would a tractor radiator work? Hang the grill and everything with a electric fan behind it?

Pair-a-dice farm · May 31, 2016

I'm sure there are others that have more experience but here is my opinion. I would search the internet and see what size heat exchange is recommended for the cubic feet in your shop. I would put in a duct work that would spread the heat out to the most used areas of the shop. I have a local sheet metal shop that will make anything I want. I buy my heat exchangers on Ebay. Don't forget your return air and size it accordingly. There are youtube videos that can help you figure the correct size.

JD630-2520 · May 31, 2016

A lot of people use a tractor trailer radiator with a fan and thermostat. We used that setup with an old Toyota radiator, it worked but it started leaking. We ended up with a new Modine heater for free and it works great.

4520BW · May 31, 2016

I bought my two from the central boiler dealer for about $300 total. These were the ones that went into my return air. I also put a old cast iron radiator in my basement.

Stephen Newell · May 31, 2016

My shop is 32'x42'x12'. I made a small room 5'x5'x8'with steel studs and sheetrock and put a wood stove made from a 55 gal drum in it. Up next to the top I put a furnace blower to blow air through the room into the shop. It heats the building 30 degrees above what is outside.

PJH · Jun 1, 2016

A local mechanic used a truck radiator. He plumbed it so the boiler water went through the radiator in his shop before it went on to the house, then rigged a window fan behind it on a thermostat to kick on when he needed more heat. It worked pretty good. I thought it would starve the house for heat, but they got along well with it.

David G · Jun 1, 2016

They are really cheap out of the box, look up iodine

Brian G. NY · Jun 1, 2016

We placed a unit (I think a Modine) in my son's basement a few years ago.
He has one zone in the whole house and the unit in the basement is the last thing on the line.
We simply wired the fan to a line voltage thermostat from an electric heat system. Works fine and easily keeps his 24 X 60 basement at 65 degrees using 170 to 180 boiler water. I never checked to see what the water temp is as it enters the unit though.
There is also a homemade "sidearm" heat exchanger connected to an electric hot water heater. Had to put a tempering valve on it to keep the hot water in a safe to use range.

Wood Burner/Heat Exchanger

BradyW

Member

Janicholson

Well-known Member

dzc3

Member

Pair-a-dice farm

Well-known Member

JD630-2520

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4520BW

Well-known Member

Stephen Newell

Well-known Member

PJH

Well-known Member

David G

Well-known Member

Brian G. NY

Well-known Member

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