New guy with indoor boiler questions.

2broke2ride · Feb 92026

Hi therekinda new here looking for advice.
I am looking to install a used indoor wood boiler in conjunction with my oil boiler.
I have researched up and down but need someone to dumb it down for me lol as well as maybe provide some links to parts. AlsoI have not yet purchased a used boiler yet so any advice there's appreciated. I need this to be as inexpensive as possible while still being safe.
I understand the boiler needs to plumb in with my current boiler in parallel using "closely spaced tees" I assume that means the out and return from the wood boiler plumb into the main loop basically side by side????
I also understand i need a "heat dump" that can dissipate the full btu of the boiler in case of power outage or radiators not calling for heat. What would this look like? What parts are needed here?
Diagrams of how to plumb this would be super helpful. I am no dummy and I'm not scared to do thisjust want to make sure I do it right.
Thanks.

VirginiaIron · Feb 102026

Subscribed.

Once you determine what manufacturethe best thing is to follow the installation instructions. I’m sure you have also come across the DIY boiler and installation information in your searching.

Here is a thread specifically on your thermal dump question.

Thread 'Dump Zone design'

Nov 152012

Finally getting around to adding a thremalsyphone dump zone to my set up for a failsafe incase my back up power has an issue or if the circ on the boiler dies. Looking at baseboard outputlooks like 3/4" will get me 680 btu/ft @ 200*. I seem to remember reading somewhere on a post that the dump zone should handle 10% of boiler outputI have an EKO 25 so 10% is 10,000 btu's or about 15 ft of base boardI have plenty of base board so I will probably do 20 or 25 depending on space. Does this all seem reasonablealso is it worth adding some pitch to the dump zone to aid in the flow? If so...

There is also a lot of free manualsand online picturesfrom manufacturers on the plumbing setup regarding power failuresmost include a NO valve (opens on failure/power failure) along with a prescribed loop length.

brenndatomu · Feb 102026

I'd highly recommend installing storage...and that takes care of your heat dump issue too.

salecker · Feb 102026

My backup oil boiler is hooked up with close spaced tee's after my heat ex changer from storage. Storage is water. Underground lineshouse and backup boiler are on glycol

2broke2ride · Feb 102026

I downloaded an owners manual for a Kerr 101T that I am considering and it instructs to plumb in series???? Is that appropriate? Everything I've been reading says it should be plumbed in parallel.
Alsomy system is a monoflow system with one main loopis there a reason that big loop and all the baseboards wouldn't function as a "heat dump"
Sorry for all the questionsjust trying to understand this.

hobbyheater · Feb 102026

Storage with boiler protection is a must with this boiler.Plus dry wood 14/15 % moisture content. I had the forced air version of this boiler many years ago like 50 years !
Plumbing in series allows you to use the oil boilers controls but a t a big hit in wasted BTU's can be as high as 350,000 per day .

hobbyheater · Feb 112026

The Kerr Titan will not require a heat dump it puts water on the fire if things get to hot!

2broke2ride · Feb 112026

Are you joking??? Or does it really do that? SorryI'm super new to this boiler stuffI've had wood stoves and wood furnaces for 40 years but never a boiler so some things go over my head lol.

hobbyheater · Feb 122026

2broke2ride said:
Are you joking??? Or does it really do that? SorryI'm super new to this boiler stuffI've had wood stoves and wood furnaces for 40 years but never a boiler so some things go over my head

Several of the boilers from the 70's did that and the Kerr Titan did !

The gasifcation boilers of today require storage or a dump zone.
The Kerr Titan still may be available new from from Kerr Contols Turo Novia Scotia !

hyfire · Feb 142026

You need storageeven though the boiler will shut downit still smouldersyou need that heat somewhere to go or else your in big trouble. It still can be a problem once the storage is hot and you have no load on the systemdepends how full you loaded the boiler. You need to design to heat your space and load the tanks to temp in about an 8 hr burn works well.

salecker · Feb 152026

On a normal winter day -20C around 4 below F with my 1000 gallons of storage i fire from 5 PM to 11 PM when i go to bed i shut the boiler off.
According to the gauges the highest temp i have achieved at a regular burn is 186Fso there is still some room for BTU's

hyfire · Feb 172026

salecker said:
On a normal winter day -20C around 4 below F with my 1000 gallons of storage i fire from 5 PM to 11 PM when i go to bed i shut the boiler off.
According to the gauges the highest temp i have achieved at a regular burn is 186Fso there is still some room for BTU's

Storage is nice to have but it is not cheap to do.

Tonty · Feb 182026

I think thermal storage is the best way to gobut for different reasons some may decide or not be able to put it in. There are a few units that are advertised to work without thermal storagesuch as Polar and Woodgunand they both make indoor units. But the high efficient units that can get by without thermal storage are mostly newer modelsI believeso you may have a difficult time finding a suitableefficient unit that will work well without storage. If you don't care about the efficiencythen you will have an easier time finding a unit. PersonallyI like the thermal storage from a couple of standpointsefficiency being onebut another is safety. With my Switzermy burns take in the 2 hour time frameand usually I do those at a time when I am at home. Outside thatthere is no fire in the unit.

salecker · Feb 182026

hyfire said:
Storage is nice to have but it is not cheap to do.

All mine cost me was my time and spray foam
Tanks were freehad salvage steel for the mounts. I made a steel frame that held both tanks upright and together. Spray foamed then and slid the tank assembly into the corner of the boiler building.
Every time i go to the junk yard i see numerous tanks for storage. I took 5 pressure tanks to the dump here before that started charging tipping fees

cumminstinkerer · Feb 192026

The Polars will work good without storage but they get even better with it. Mine is the G2+ and I have 1500 gallon of nonpressurized storagemy folks have a G3 with no storagemy burns are still cleaner and even accounting for load differences mine uses less wood per day than theirs. I run mine like a conventional i guess you would sayor as if it didn't have storagethe boiler still controls itself and my homemade control board runs the circsit also has an overheat protection built in so that if the boiler goes above 187 the boiler to storage circ kicks on to dump that heat to the storagehave never had any issues with getting way to hoteven in a power failure situation because the air manifolds close with no power and the draft fan dies. It will once in a while shoot a bit high to where the protect circuit comes in if the storage is satisfied before the boiler gets therebut that protect circuit kicks in and cools the boiler down and only raises storage maybe 2 degrees above setpoint so not a big deal.

DSSA · Feb 192026

hyfire said:
Storage is nice to have but it is not cheap to do.

I missed out on an Eko 60 setup with 1000 gallons of pressurized storage a while backbut it was just not the right timing (I had just bought an Eko 40and was still learning the basics of setting up a system). Talking to the guyhe was telling me how expensive the tanks were (pressurized storage)and how I wouldn't find one for under $10K used (his was a bare tank as well--no insulation)so I thought I was screwed on the storage aspect....

A couple of weeks laterI happened upon a 1040 galloncertified tank for $900unused from an industrial heating project that got cancelledabout an hour away from meso I picked that up and am working on it. The tank goes new for around $18K. I also just came across another tank local to me that's 2400 gallonsfor $600but the certs are questionable (mine was certified to 125psi @ 200F which covers both pressure and temp for my system quite readilythe 2400 gallon was something like 100psi @ 150Fand I didn't know how that affected higher temps at lower pressures..).

Certainly ways to do it *cheaper* (I still have money/work needed to be spent on setting the tank up and insulating it) but it takes some time searching for the deals and putting in the work on something that's not just 'turn-key'.

I get what *YOU* area sayingand you're absolutely rightbut if OP is willing to put the time into to searching for solutions and can make it work (I'm semi-handy and can weld)storage can absolutely be achieved for a reasonable price and quickly pay for itself.

hobbyheater · Feb 202026

GREAT FIND !!!

airlina · Feb 202026

storage doesnt have to be crazy expensive . while i only have 500 gallons it works well for my 1700 sq ft home. Found a used propane tank for $200 cleaned it ,then trailered it to the Econoburn factory (my boiler manuf.) and had the necessary ports welded on and 6" insulated for $600. This was in 2014 and in todays inflationary world prices would certainly be higher but not 10K!

cumminstinkerer · Feb 202026

my storage tank is an anhydrous ammonia tank that got decommissioned because one of the brackets that mount to the axle cracked off for some reasonI bought it for 150 bucksI installed my own plumbing fitting and pipesits 1500 gallons

salecker · Feb 202026

The tanks i used were old propane tanksi still have a couple that may get used for my new shop if i go that route.
There is an Econoburn 300 sitting plugged solid and unused for the last 5 years i am hoping to get close to the free price.

New guy with indoor boiler questions.

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