Yes, I agree. A toggle switch would be a really quick and easy solution for switching out my wire on the terminals. However, I should have been more specific with my question. I want a system where both can work simultaneously if need be. Say the fire goes out and the water temperature gets cold. Then I want the propane to take over. When the fire is going hot then I don't want the propane to work at all. Is there a system where they could both work off of each other and both be hooked up at the same time?
@@digdrivediy kinda of like emergency heat mode with a heart pump. I don't know what system you have I would ask your HVAC servicer about a duel fuel or a 2 stage thermostat.
@@muddpuppy07 Agreed 100%. I have a heat pump/oil burner system where it automatically kicks on the oil burner if the heat pump isn't heating the house. (Saves a lot on oil vs the previous oil-only system I had). A similar setup should work for what Neil's doing.
Can't believe I just watched a video on wood heating. As a kid I despised everything to do with this chore, primarily because "oh your friend is coming over to visit, guess its time to split/stack/chop/cut some wood" and of course you gotta go feed that thing at 6 am when its below zero... I swear as a kid nobody ever wanted to come visit my house more than a couple times, unless of course it was friends who's parents had the exact same idea about what kids visiting meant... FREE LABOR!! This all being said, it does bring back some memories and your adorable family manages to put a smile on my face even if I'm watching a video about a chore I despised. Cheers!
Easiest way I can think of to take care of your wiring issue on your furnace to wood boiler mode is to put a 3-way light switch in. Take the white wire from your thermostat that you always move and put that on the common terminal (usually the dark colored screw) . On one of the "traveler" screws (usually lighter colored screw) run a wire to WO for propane. The other "traveler" screw run a wire to GO for the boiler. Then label the switch.
Yeah I was thinking a simple double-throw switch would work too. Alternatively they make thermostats that can utilize two heat sources, primary (boiler) & emergency (propane).
I forgot to say Neal. They are having a forestry expo in Nashville Tennessee in August 2023. We used to go to the one in New Orleans, and for the past 25 plus years, it has been in Atlanta. I’m definitely going because Nashville is only a 2 hour drive from my home in Alabama.
Neil, those carpenter ants should be thanking you for bringing them in from the cold. Seeing your kindness extended to even the smallest creatures warmed my heart! I wish I could make it over to Louisville. No doubt it would be a fine-tastic experience. But, that just isn’t in the cards this year. Enjoy and tell us all about it!!! Tonight will be our first freeze. I have so much to do that there is no way I’ll be totally ready for it. Picking all the green tomatoes means… Fried Green Maters for the foreseeable future. Cleaning the fireplace and flue enables the start of feeding the fiery beast. That brings along the task of gathering wood to replace what I deplete. Draining and storing all of the garden hoses requires filling the birdbaths with 5 gallon buckets. And, please don’t remind me that leaf and acorn duties will begin to eat into my leisure time too! But, that’s just the chore side of it. The fun side also kicks into high gear. Fire pit warmed evenings become cozy enjoyable respites with friends and family… without the scourge of mosquitoes. Brush pile burning adds to that, with affairs for amateur frankfurter chefs to showcase their wiener and s’mores prowess. Hot tubbing, with a cup of warm cinnamon cider, under a moonlit sky is pure bliss. At least until you have to step out and make that towel clad run to the house! Pumpkin carving, hay rides, Trick or Treating, Apple Butter Making & Fall Festivals all converge to make this time of year a sweet spot for fondness in my heart. And, this year it is punctuated on November 1st when my wife and I will celebrate 48 years of marriage. So yes Neil… there is so much to do . Thanks for reminding me that and today is the day to begin to make it come off flawlessly. Enjoy your trip…
I will certainly miss seeing you at Louisville this your Dave. You were the one person that I knew that would be there the last time that I thought would recognize me! But I certainly understand how life could be busy, especially after that list of tasks you just reminded me of. Because of this comment, Kara and I remembered that we need to get the hose off the west side of the house that we tend to forget about. You were able to articulate exactly what I meant to convey with this video. How do you do that so well? 😋 It makes me feel good when you make comments like this that let me know some viewers thought of the things I wanted them to think of when trying to put this together. Thanks for the reflection and perfect take on why fall can be so enjoyable as well as demanding. Most importantly, congratulations on sealing up 48 years with the Mrs. That is no small feat and I hope to be there someday too. I'll be thinking of you when I get to Louisville this year. Enjoy the fall season and we'll catch up on another day.
Put a 3 way switch in line. The white wire will hook to the black screw them run a wire from each of the gold screw to each one of your terminals on the unit. Switch in one position will be furnace the other position will be wood burner.
Neil I’ll get right to it… 1) what I think you need is a ETC (same thing that your boiler is already using to register temp) or aquastat which will need to be installed on supply line of wood boiler. Set to say 130*f. You will also need a switching relay. Temp controller (master) will activate switching relay(slave). This will flip t stat control over to gas appliance when boiler temp is too low. When boiler is refired etc will flip relay back to wood appliance. I also like to control a 3 way zone valve on forced air furnace wood HX to negate cold boiler water robbing gas heat air in the furnace. Also it eliminates natural convection especially when HX are installed horizontal. One thing I forgot is you may need to wire your wood boiler blower fan in too to shut off blower as to not completely cool off boiler. Keep circs going though. Moving water won’t freeze. 2) I believe you would be an excellent candidate for a Garn wood boiler. With your knowledge, deweling setup, and channel exposure, this would be a home run for Garn and you. These boilers need a lot more exposure. 3) in your shop is your high mount HX with fan installed with fan sucking air through? You may want to reverse the air flow and HX orientation. Hot air over motor will shorten its life span. 4) Awesome fall festivities. My family just conquered a corn maze and haunted house this last Saturday. Fall really is the best time of year!
Thanks for all the great info! I'd love to partner up with a sponsor that could offer a better alternative. I'll have to look into that. The heater in my shop could use improvement. It is sucking air though as you say. I would like to change it up to have a slower, less noisy fan. What I am using was a hydraulic cooler for a large industrial machine cause I got it for nothing. Thanks again for the great comment!
I know someone has suggested adapting a partial roller tray into the lifting bed of the splitter bucket to make it easier to manipulate the rounds under the blade before, but I would be remiss if I didn't say something while I was watching and forgot about it. Old age and cocktails on a Sunday afternoon will have that effect on me. I'll be back for another post with the usual "tough love" that you have grown to secretly despise me for a bit later. Love home...
Not to be one of those you should do this and you should do that but... You really should change those thermostats out for a Nest. Especially the one in the shop. We did it here at my house and saved between 20 to 35% on our gas and electric bill. Not only that, let's say in the winter you know that you head into the shop around 6am to start work... their is a setting that is controlled by an app on your phone that you can have it kick on around 4:45am to start heating back up. It is the little things in life like that, that makes the start of our days feel amazing!! Just found your channel. Loving it!!
Hello from the Netherlands Koch Family . for that thermostat wire : a simple low voltage 3 way switch an ON - OFF - ON switch . with the connection diagram : 1 = WHITE to the LPG pole / 2 = WHITE IN from the thermostat / 3 = WHITE to the WOOD BOILER . hope it helps you . thanks for the video Neil . Sincerely, Hollandduck
My dad wired a separate thermostat to run the fan. Wish I could tell you how, but it only kicks the fan on in the furnace. When he changes from gas to the wood boiler, he just turns the gas thermostat off and the boiler one on. If you don't turn one off, it will run off the one that is set at the highest temp. So, he just turns the one off because my kids played with the gas one once and he was burning wood but still heating with gas. Luckly the kids turned it up high enough to notice and he caught it quickly. So, it just gets turned off now.
your water should be one big loop that goes everywhere and the separate propane heater should be in that loop . If the water drops too low the propane will cut in if it is turned on. That way the loop is always heated for all units.
My parents own a plumbing and heating business, when he hooked up the wood burner he just hooked it up separately and it has its own thermostat. Therefore, he just shuts one off and turns on the other (The are right next to each other).
That would be a good option. And I should have been more specific with my question but I am looking for something where the two can work simultaneously. If the fire goes out and the water temperature gets low then the propane would take over.
@@digdrivediy I wired two thermostats on a propane furnace. The one runs the propane burner and fan like normal and the other just controls the fan. I set the propane thermostat 7-10° cooler then the one controlling just the fan.
I usually see people using a second thermostat for the boiler. Not exactly sure how its all wired but a thermostat to control the furnace/AC and a thermostat that will control the boiler (by kicking on the furnace fan)
I have a switch controlled by the temp of the OWB line. It's strapped to the line going in. If that line dips below the set temp it flips the switch and the furnace burns LP. When it heats back up it will switch back.
I have also procrastinated the ash clean out many times. It can be a problem, to leave ash on metal during high humidity season though. I asked my furnace guy how I could wire my gas furnace fan, to come on with my corn burner add on(it was wood for 30 years) He didn't have an answer, so I wire in a different thermostat for the corn furnace. Then I added a relay too the corn stove, that closes when the fan motor runs, and use the relay to turn my gas furnace fan on, by running the continuous on wire from the gas furnace thermostat to the contacts on that relay. The continuous fan is also the higher speed used for AC, so I put a 3 way switch on my gas furnace, to flip from winter(wired thru the corn stove relay), to summer(bypassing the relay). I just have to flip that 3 way switch to 'corn', then turn my stat to continuous fan in the fall, and flip the switch back to 'AC' in the spring, turning the gas stat to 'auto'. 🙃😵🤪 I watched the MORR video yesterday of the million subs giveaway and love the part when Kara wheels the obstacle, again! What fun!
Awesome! Thanks for all the great suggestions. I think I'm going to probably do something like that. Yeah, wasn't it. Great to watch Kara do that? Thanks for the great comment.
I worked at the Allen County Highway Dept for 7 yrs. Seen 2 guys have kickback on the saw while out cutting downed tree's. It happens so quickly, there's no time to counteract. Seen how a saw cut into those safety chaps and stop the saw immediately....I personally never cut firewood without them now. I've cut firewood for 20 yrs without them and was very fortunate to never have an accident. But for $100.00, It's that sense of security to my legs especially because I cut alone. Love to ya brotha Neil and stay warm here in Indiana.
You need a Single Pole Double Throw switch to handle that white wire. Hook the wire up to the center connection, then connect the outside connections to each terminal. Then the switch controls which terminal the white wire goes to. I believe a 3 way light switch would work just fine. Holler out with any Q's
If your thermostat is heat pump capable, switch to that and shut off the breaker for the A/C. When it calls for heat it will bring on your fan (normally turning on the A/C in heat pump mode). Nice thing about this is if the boiler fire goes out, after a set amount of time of not raising the temp in the house it will bring on the propane. Use the emergency heat setting to just run the propane.
I had an outside boiler once, when I had access to firewood, and I used two thermostats. the one for the boiler to the furnace fan set where I wanted the inside temp to be, and the regular thermostat set 10 degrees lower so if the boiler temp ran low the house wouldn't get too cold. I had no way to regulate the boiler temp, except to stoke it when it ran down and no way to keep it from actually boiling , so I had to constantly monitor the water level. When I moved off the farm I lost access to wood and that changed my problems to how to pay for the electricity for the furnace.LOL
Started out watching box grader videos and now I’m hooked! Love the videos keep them coming. It’s pretty cool knowing you’re only about 70 miles west of me! Again thanks for the great content and keep it coming, God bless.
Thanks, I really appreciate hearing that. Matt! I'm so glad that people are willing to put up with me doing them. Weird variety of content. I couldn't just do one thing all the time, so I'm glad to hear you started on greater boxes, but you're willing to watch me split wood!
Hmmm. We have a heat pump that has 4 settings on the thermostat…off, cool, heat, and emergency heat. The emergency heat setting would traditionally be used for electric back up heat when the weather was cold enough where the heat pump couldn’t keep up. I had the emergency backup basically bypassed so it’s not even wired into the thermostat or the heating system at all. Now when I fire up the boiler, I turn the thermostat to “emergency heat” setting and it just kicks the fan on and off as needed. Probably contact a good hvac guy. I can give you my guys name if you want it. They do jobs all over the state. Contact me if you want their info. Nice help today! Firewood is fun, but much more fun with friends! Stay warm!
Thanks for sharing, Neil. Here in northeastern MD we haven’t started with fires in the stove yet. That will be a chore I look forward to in the fall and don’t miss by spring. We’ve been heating primarily with wood for 22 years at this location. It’s always interesting to see how others in different parts of the country approach the same challenges. Good luck to you and the family.
I put a second heat only thermostat next to your existing thermostat on the new heat only stat hook up to r and w run a 2 wire to your existing stat connect onto r and g soo on a call for wood heat it just turns your blower on your indoor furnace on if your wood heat doesent keep up then it will automatically turn your propane heat on just set your wood heat stat higher then your existing stat for your propane furnace
Great video Neil! Believe it or not, I rented a 24 ton wood splitter for the first time last week. We had always split with a splitting hammer or ripped big knotty pieces with a chainsaw. I couldn’t believe what it would bust in an hour. We had to take it back before we were finished, because my dad didn’t want to pay the half day late fee. When my mom saw us busting up big knotty beach and sweet gum, she said it was the best thing since sliced bread.
One normally closed thermostat on the water temp would disconnect the furnace when the water gets hot. One normally open contact would connect the wood blowers. Could probably add a cheap mechanical thermostat close to the furnace to cut down on wire length. If the fire goes out, propane is enabled automatically.
I like this line of thinking. I should have more specific with my question. I can solve for replacing with a switch like many have suggested. I want something more like your idea where they can both work together intelligently without a switch. A fail over for propane... Thanks Tony.
This brings me back memories my dad and grandfather teaching me how to use their coal furnaces. Most of the time we used wood to get it hot for coal or used wood if we only needed shor term heat. But I'm thankful I live in Georgia now so we don't use the furnace that much.
I love the way everyone helped gather the wood, and I love the wood boiler! By the way, It was great to get to meet you and the Equipment Expo in Louisville on Thursday, October 20th, 2022.
My brother simply has 2 thermostats. Both for the 1 furnace. 1 is set at 50°F which runs the propane & fan & the other only runs the fan to get heat from outdoor wood furnace. Advantage to this - if wood isn't reloaded (on vacation), the propane furnace will heat the water pumping through the heat exchange.
Looks like a well built old boiler, I bought a property where my shop is that was heated by an old hardy , I ran it for a year. It needed a few hundred dollars of repairs and new grates so I opted for a new gasification boiler. The new units, while more efficient and can be monitored by an app and other such technology improvements , they are very picky and high maintenance , I’d hang on the that boiler for as long as you can. The equivalent size gasification boiler will be $20k+. I enjoy your videos, best of luck for this burning season
My uncle calls those goofy pieces "burn me now" pieces. A phrase I think he got from my Grandpa and I now use it as it perfectly describes what to do with them lol.
With a programmable thermostat you can program your emergency heat as fan only , then set thermostat for emergency heat ( Honeywell brand is what I have). When I had a mercury bulb thermostat, I added a second thermostat hooked to the fan terminals on the primary thermostat.
Any smart thermostat, such as ecobee or nest can control multiple heat sources very similar to how people with 2 stage heat (heat pump & gas) do. They can also control the mutli zone application your garage and shop. That would allow for automated switching between the two
@@m9ovich785 I have no personal experience with Nest, but Ecobee I do and they work great for my dual heat situation. I purchased both of mine used without any issues for years now.
Outdoors with the Morgans can't make it this year. They were going to be at the Stihl booth. They have teamed up with someone else to make fire starter chips. Check out the video.
single pole double throw switch on the white wire and then you have a switch to change the wire instead of rewiring it every season. not handy enough with thermostats to help beyond that. and I'm sure you want something more integrated.
I have 2 thermostats in my house one is wired in to control the gas part of the furnace the other thermostat is wired for the fan only and works with my out door boiler
I have 2 separate thermostats. One for gas furnace, one for boiler. Same configuration as yours, boiler heat exchanger in top of furnace. Just kicks on the fan when need heat after boiler is going. Set boiler thermostat a few degrees warmer than gas, in case boiler cools off before load it or doesn’t catch.
I'm not very particular when it comes to collecting and burning wood (size, shape, species, etc), but even I wouldn't have bothered with some of the wood you were picking up with the grapple! 🤣🤣That stuff seemed to be more rotten than anything. Great video as always! 😁👨🚒
Hey Neil, I use two thermostats to control the whole propane furnace and just the blower. I set the wood stove thermostat for a warmer temp usually 75 and the propane is set at 55 so if the fire goes out on me the pipes won't freeze. I'm not an HVAC guy but I do know that most furnaces are capable of being hooked up with two thermostats to be able to either run just the blower or use propane.
Yes. My wood stove thermostat is connected to the furnace blower only. I set it to 75 and set the propane thermostat to 55. If I leave for the weekend I set the blower only thermostat at the minimum to let the propane take over.
One idea to help clean out that back baffle I might suggest is a tool box type battery powered vacuum. I have one for small clean out projects and it works great!! I know Milwaukee and DeWalt have them as part of their pack out kits. I got mine from Menards, and it is super convenient.
@@digdrivediy in would look for a brand that you already have a few tools for, I chose Masterforce, the Menards brand be use I had already invested in some of the tools and had the charging platform, also they don't hold a lot, maybe 2 gallons, but super handy.
I have a train heat pump that has oil back up on it and all I did was added a second thermostat to just run my wood boiler. All I did for the blower motor on my furnace is piggyback the motor from when heat switch to the boiler thermostat and turn off my heat pump system, the blower motor or fan motor kicks on when it calls for heat and nothing else comes on from the furnace.
You still have a lot more wood to split for the winter months... Didn't I see a bunch of wood drying on one of the concrete silo rounds? At least you don't have to rent a wood splitter anymore! That Eastonmade Axis seems to be paying for itself. Have fun on your "Business" trip. Safe travels and see you in the next video!
Pick up a switch like this, this was on amazon IndusTec DPDT 20 Amp 12V 6 Pin Quick Plug On/Off/On 3 Position Maintained Latch Lock Toggle Switch Double Pole Double Throw KN3C- 203P Run the thermostat wires to the center posts and then run a wire from the terminal to one throw of the switch and then run jumper wires to cross the wires over to the other switch. Get back to me if I’m not clear
Another great video Neil! I am SO upset that I decided not to come to Equip Expo this year. I would love to meet and talk. Keep up the great videos and content!
Hi Neil, great video! Thinking about your thermostat wiring. The G terminal calls for the blower to come on and presumably your white wire calls for the burner to heat. It seems like you could just have a switch to disconnect the white wire when you want to use the boiler. You could test the theory by disconnecting the white wire and putting some electrical tape on it. (it will be live when the thermostat calls for heat)
@@digdrivediy Another option would be to buy a thermostat that supports backup heat and wire the furnace heat wire to the backup. You would need to run new thermostat wire. That way if your fire burns down or you have another issue with the boiler, the propane heat could kick in automatically.
We have a Welsh saying, you have to work dawn to dusk for 3 days in Summer to make enough firewood to carry you through winter. The knotty, mis-shaped logs we call dog's
Was you that said in a previous video that you’re either a firewood guy or you’re not? I am but it’s not nearly as cold here. Would love to be able to send you over some of our ‘Ironbark’. Best timber for burning.
Seems (did my research watching a couple of youtube videos:) that outdoor boilers are somewhat common there for wood central heating. I was wondering why outdoor? Would seem easier if the boiler was inside. Around here (Finland) to my knowledge all wood boilers are inside, either in the house or some other building in the yard.
Hi Neil, I am not as familiar with forced air wiring, but I have a newer Crown Royal with a boiler system. My installer put an aquastat that goes inline with the wire that fires my oil boiler. When the water temp in the pipe, feeding form the boiler, is above the set temp, it breaks the connection with the boiler. In the event my fire goes out and the water temp drops, the oil boiler fires up and takes over. Hope this helps. Another great video!
Neil, even though im a small timer, i just want you to know how tickled i am that you take the time to chat it up with us . Good stuff. I was splitting wood yesterday and doing leaves today,, busy busy. You need an Eithor or switch for your switch over.
Splitter seems to be well designed. It looked like the lifting mechanism can be fitted on either side, am I right? Btw, you really need to clean those gutters 0:40 Greetings from Finland!
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In the next episode Neil learns to setup and program a PLC...
I had to Google PLC.... :)
I may have to have a WWW consultation if I'm to attempt that!
Canadian made boiler and Canadian made wood splitter. Thank you for buying Canadian products my good neighbor to the south!👍
Put a toggle switch on the furnace to switch between the two without messing with the wires every time
jup
Yeeeep! Was looking for this comment. Approved from Romania! Have a nice winter, guys! ;)
Yes, I agree. A toggle switch would be a really quick and easy solution for switching out my wire on the terminals. However, I should have been more specific with my question. I want a system where both can work simultaneously if need be. Say the fire goes out and the water temperature gets cold. Then I want the propane to take over. When the fire is going hot then I don't want the propane to work at all. Is there a system where they could both work off of each other and both be hooked up at the same time?
@@digdrivediy kinda of like emergency heat mode with a heart pump. I don't know what system you have I would ask your HVAC servicer about a duel fuel or a 2 stage thermostat.
@@muddpuppy07 Agreed 100%. I have a heat pump/oil burner system where it automatically kicks on the oil burner if the heat pump isn't heating the house. (Saves a lot on oil vs the previous oil-only system I had). A similar setup should work for what Neil's doing.
Can't believe I just watched a video on wood heating. As a kid I despised everything to do with this chore, primarily because "oh your friend is coming over to visit, guess its time to split/stack/chop/cut some wood" and of course you gotta go feed that thing at 6 am when its below zero... I swear as a kid nobody ever wanted to come visit my house more than a couple times, unless of course it was friends who's parents had the exact same idea about what kids visiting meant... FREE LABOR!!
This all being said, it does bring back some memories and your adorable family manages to put a smile on my face even if I'm watching a video about a chore I despised. Cheers!
Thanks so much for watching!
You have some great Canadian 🇨🇦 made equipment, boiler and splitter 👍🏻. Have a great one 🙋🏼♂️🙂👍🏻
Easiest way I can think of to take care of your wiring issue on your furnace to wood boiler mode is to put a 3-way light switch in. Take the white wire from your thermostat that you always move and put that on the common terminal (usually the dark colored screw) . On one of the "traveler" screws (usually lighter colored screw) run a wire to WO for propane. The other "traveler" screw run a wire to GO for the boiler. Then label the switch.
Yeah I was thinking a simple double-throw switch would work too. Alternatively they make thermostats that can utilize two heat sources, primary (boiler) & emergency (propane).
Love the video Neil and Familysss .
Not often you see a cub lowboy pulling a hayride around!
That old chainsaw sounds so good
The ole reliable :)
I forgot to say Neal. They are having a forestry expo in Nashville Tennessee in August 2023. We used to go to the one in New Orleans, and for the past 25 plus years, it has been in Atlanta. I’m definitely going because Nashville is only a 2 hour drive from my home in Alabama.
buckin' added a rope and block to the lift table, made it a bit easier to put the pin in solo, great video man
Neil, those carpenter ants should be thanking you for bringing them in from the cold. Seeing your kindness extended to even the smallest creatures warmed my heart!
I wish I could make it over to Louisville. No doubt it would be a fine-tastic experience. But, that just isn’t in the cards this year. Enjoy and tell us all about it!!!
Tonight will be our first freeze. I have so much to do that there is no way I’ll be totally ready for it. Picking all the green tomatoes means… Fried Green Maters for the foreseeable future. Cleaning the fireplace and flue enables the start of feeding the fiery beast. That brings along the task of gathering wood to replace what I deplete.
Draining and storing all of the garden hoses requires filling the birdbaths with 5 gallon buckets. And, please don’t remind me that leaf and acorn duties will begin to eat into my leisure time too!
But, that’s just the chore side of it. The fun side also kicks into high gear. Fire pit warmed evenings become cozy enjoyable respites with friends and family… without the scourge of mosquitoes. Brush pile burning adds to that, with affairs for amateur frankfurter chefs to showcase their wiener and s’mores prowess.
Hot tubbing, with a cup of warm cinnamon cider, under a moonlit sky is pure bliss. At least until you have to step out and make that towel clad run to the house!
Pumpkin carving, hay rides, Trick or Treating, Apple Butter Making & Fall Festivals all converge to make this time of year a sweet spot for fondness in my heart.
And, this year it is punctuated on November 1st when my wife and I will celebrate 48 years of marriage.
So yes Neil… there is so much to do . Thanks for reminding me that and today is the day to begin to make it come off flawlessly. Enjoy your trip…
I will certainly miss seeing you at Louisville this your Dave. You were the one person that I knew that would be there the last time that I thought would recognize me!
But I certainly understand how life could be busy, especially after that list of tasks you just reminded me of. Because of this comment, Kara and I remembered that we need to get the hose off the west side of the house that we tend to forget about.
You were able to articulate exactly what I meant to convey with this video. How do you do that so well? 😋
It makes me feel good when you make comments like this that let me know some viewers thought of the things I wanted them to think of when trying to put this together. Thanks for the reflection and perfect take on why fall can be so enjoyable as well as demanding.
Most importantly, congratulations on sealing up 48 years with the Mrs. That is no small feat and I hope to be there someday too.
I'll be thinking of you when I get to Louisville this year. Enjoy the fall season and we'll catch up on another day.
Was jealous of ur workshop b4 I knew it had under floor heating but now I'm super jealous (always my feet that get cold first in winter ) 🙃
Put a 3 way switch in line. The white wire will hook to the black screw them run a wire from each of the gold screw to each one of your terminals on the unit. Switch in one position will be furnace the other position will be wood burner.
Neil I’ll get right to it…
1) what I think you need is a ETC (same thing that your boiler is already using to register temp) or aquastat which will need to be installed on supply line of wood boiler. Set to say 130*f. You will also need a switching relay. Temp controller (master) will activate switching relay(slave). This will flip t stat control over to gas appliance when boiler temp is too low. When boiler is refired etc will flip relay back to wood appliance.
I also like to control a 3 way zone valve on forced air furnace wood HX to negate cold boiler water robbing gas heat air in the furnace. Also it eliminates natural convection especially when HX are installed horizontal. One thing I forgot is you may need to wire your wood boiler blower fan in too to shut off blower as to not completely cool off boiler. Keep circs going though. Moving water won’t freeze.
2) I believe you would be an excellent candidate for a Garn wood boiler. With your knowledge, deweling setup, and channel exposure, this would be a home run for Garn and you. These boilers need a lot more exposure.
3) in your shop is your high mount HX with fan installed with fan sucking air through? You may want to reverse the air flow and HX orientation. Hot air over motor will shorten its life span.
4) Awesome fall festivities. My family just conquered a corn maze and haunted house this last Saturday. Fall really is the best time of year!
Thanks for all the great info! I'd love to partner up with a sponsor that could offer a better alternative. I'll have to look into that.
The heater in my shop could use improvement. It is sucking air though as you say. I would like to change it up to have a slower, less noisy fan. What I am using was a hydraulic cooler for a large industrial machine cause I got it for nothing.
Thanks again for the great comment!
I know someone has suggested adapting a partial roller tray into the lifting bed of the splitter bucket to make it easier to manipulate the rounds under the blade before, but I would be remiss if I didn't say something while I was watching and forgot about it. Old age and cocktails on a Sunday afternoon will have that effect on me. I'll be back for another post with the usual "tough love" that you have grown to secretly despise me for a bit later. Love home...
I wouldn't expect any less Greg! 😎
I like that roller table idea too by the way!
Not to be one of those you should do this and you should do that but... You really should change those thermostats out for a Nest. Especially the one in the shop. We did it here at my house and saved between 20 to 35% on our gas and electric bill. Not only that, let's say in the winter you know that you head into the shop around 6am to start work... their is a setting that is controlled by an app on your phone that you can have it kick on around 4:45am to start heating back up. It is the little things in life like that, that makes the start of our days feel amazing!! Just found your channel. Loving it!!
Really appreciate the suggestion Robert. I've wanted to look into a nest but never followed through. Thanks for checking out the channel!
Thank for the update.. I'm in the louisville area!
If I’m lucky I’ll catch your next video! Have a good week everyone. From Northwestern Vermont
Single pole, double pole switch. Up for your propane, down for your boiler
16:15 Another way to do that: Install a switch!
hi there got to think about the heating season here as well . good show john
Hello from the Netherlands Koch Family .
for that thermostat wire : a simple low voltage 3 way switch an ON - OFF - ON switch .
with the connection diagram : 1 = WHITE to the LPG pole / 2 = WHITE IN from the thermostat / 3 = WHITE to the WOOD BOILER .
hope it helps you .
thanks for the video Neil .
Sincerely, Hollandduck
Thanks Hollanduck!
@@digdrivediy
you're welcome Neil
My dad wired a separate thermostat to run the fan. Wish I could tell you how, but it only kicks the fan on in the furnace. When he changes from gas to the wood boiler, he just turns the gas thermostat off and the boiler one on. If you don't turn one off, it will run off the one that is set at the highest temp. So, he just turns the one off because my kids played with the gas one once and he was burning wood but still heating with gas. Luckly the kids turned it up high enough to notice and he caught it quickly. So, it just gets turned off now.
your water should be one big loop that goes everywhere and the separate propane heater should be in that loop . If the water drops too low the propane will cut in if it is turned on. That way the loop is always heated for all units.
My parents own a plumbing and heating business, when he hooked up the wood burner he just hooked it up separately and it has its own thermostat. Therefore, he just shuts one off and turns on the other (The are right next to each other).
That would be a good option. And I should have been more specific with my question but I am looking for something where the two can work simultaneously. If the fire goes out and the water temperature gets low then the propane would take over.
@@digdrivediy I wired two thermostats on a propane furnace. The one runs the propane burner and fan like normal and the other just controls the fan. I set the propane thermostat 7-10° cooler then the one controlling just the fan.
Jeff Brooks has the answer that's how mine and my dad's are both hooked up.
I usually see people using a second thermostat for the boiler. Not exactly sure how its all wired but a thermostat to control the furnace/AC and a thermostat that will control the boiler (by kicking on the furnace fan)
Great story, kinda made me think of apple cores paint and a fence.
Thanks for sharing with us in Scotland 😊
I have a switch controlled by the temp of the OWB line. It's strapped to the line going in. If that line dips below the set temp it flips the switch and the furnace burns LP. When it heats back up it will switch back.
I have also procrastinated the ash clean out many times. It can be a problem, to leave ash on metal during high humidity season though.
I asked my furnace guy how I could wire my gas furnace fan, to come on with my corn burner add on(it was wood for 30 years) He didn't have an answer, so I wire in a different thermostat for the corn furnace.
Then I added a relay too the corn stove, that closes when the fan motor runs, and use the relay to turn my gas furnace fan on, by running the continuous on wire from the gas furnace thermostat to the contacts on that relay.
The continuous fan is also the higher speed used for AC, so I put a 3 way switch on my gas furnace, to flip from winter(wired thru the corn stove relay), to summer(bypassing the relay).
I just have to flip that 3 way switch to 'corn', then turn my stat to continuous fan in the fall, and flip the switch back to 'AC' in the spring, turning the gas stat to 'auto'. 🙃😵🤪
I watched the MORR video yesterday of the million subs giveaway and love the part when Kara wheels the obstacle, again! What fun!
Awesome! Thanks for all the great suggestions. I think I'm going to probably do something like that. Yeah, wasn't it. Great to watch Kara do that? Thanks for the great comment.
Use a 3 way light switch to switch from propane to boiler.
Your town looks like heaven, God Bless our farmers 🥰🇺🇸💪
Always look forward to your videos Neil. Appreciate you taking time to create your content and sharing. Your lawn is always inspiring!! 😉😂
Appreciate it Heath!
I worked at the Allen County Highway Dept for 7 yrs. Seen 2 guys have kickback on the saw while out cutting downed tree's. It happens so quickly, there's no time to counteract. Seen how a saw cut into those safety chaps and stop the saw immediately....I personally never cut firewood without them now. I've cut firewood for 20 yrs without them and was very fortunate to never have an accident. But for $100.00,
It's that sense of security to my legs especially because I cut alone. Love to ya brotha Neil and stay warm here in Indiana.
Agreed. The saws are too easy to fire up and use without the protection, especially for 5-6 cuts. It can happen so quickly!
You need a Single Pole Double Throw switch to handle that white wire. Hook the wire up to the center connection, then connect the outside connections to each terminal. Then the switch controls which terminal the white wire goes to. I believe a 3 way light switch would work just fine. Holler out with any Q's
If your thermostat is heat pump capable, switch to that and shut off the breaker for the A/C. When it calls for heat it will bring on your fan (normally turning on the A/C in heat pump mode). Nice thing about this is if the boiler fire goes out, after a set amount of time of not raising the temp in the house it will bring on the propane. Use the emergency heat setting to just run the propane.
I had an outside boiler once, when I had access to firewood, and I used two thermostats. the one for the boiler to the furnace fan set where I wanted the inside temp to be, and the regular thermostat set 10 degrees lower so if the boiler temp ran low the house wouldn't get too cold. I had no way to regulate the boiler temp, except to stoke it when it ran down and no way to keep it from actually boiling , so I had to constantly monitor the water level. When I moved off the farm I lost access to wood and that changed my problems to how to pay for the electricity for the furnace.LOL
Nice looking boiler no wonder you need so much wood 🪵👍👍👍👍👍👍💯😎💪🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Started out watching box grader videos and now I’m hooked! Love the videos keep them coming. It’s pretty cool knowing you’re only about 70 miles west of me! Again thanks for the great content and keep it coming, God bless.
Thanks, I really appreciate hearing that. Matt! I'm so glad that people are willing to put up with me doing them. Weird variety of content. I couldn't just do one thing all the time, so I'm glad to hear you started on greater boxes, but you're willing to watch me split wood!
Nail try silicone spray on your deck for the wood it will make it slide easier and won't build up like oil just a suggestion
Good idea!
I enjoyed the video. That radiant floor heat seems like a great set up
Thanks Brock! Yes the radiant is the way to go. Wish I had sprung for it in my shop.
Hmmm. We have a heat pump that has 4 settings on the thermostat…off, cool, heat, and emergency heat. The emergency heat setting would traditionally be used for electric back up heat when the weather was cold enough where the heat pump couldn’t keep up. I had the emergency backup basically bypassed so it’s not even wired into the thermostat or the heating system at all. Now when I fire up the boiler, I turn the thermostat to “emergency heat” setting and it just kicks the fan on and off as needed. Probably contact a good hvac guy. I can give you my guys name if you want it. They do jobs all over the state. Contact me if you want their info. Nice help today! Firewood is fun, but much more fun with friends! Stay warm!
Thanks! I've got someone looking into it for me now. I might be able to use my current thermostat. We'll see.
Thanks
Thanks for sharing, Neil. Here in northeastern MD we haven’t started with fires in the stove yet. That will be a chore I look forward to in the fall and don’t miss by spring. We’ve been heating primarily with wood for 22 years at this location. It’s always interesting to see how others in different parts of the country approach the same challenges. Good luck to you and the family.
Thanks so much Frank! Great to hear from you there in Maryland.
I put a second heat only thermostat next to your existing thermostat on the new heat only stat hook up to r and w run a 2 wire to your existing stat connect onto r and g soo on a call for wood heat it just turns your blower on your indoor furnace on if your wood heat doesent keep up then it will automatically turn your propane heat on just set your wood heat stat higher then your existing stat for your propane furnace
I gotcha. Thanks 👍🏻
Making these ants unhappy. Not as unhappy as they will be going into a wood boiler haha!
Yeah no doubt!
Enjoying your channel. Sorry I can not be at the meet and greet.
It is a long drive from Chile. Jim
Oh my! I guess that would be a bit of a drive 😉
@@digdrivediy Yep it would. Especially with the gas prices like they are. Jim 😀
Great video Neil!
Believe it or not, I rented a 24 ton wood splitter for the first time last week. We had always split with a splitting hammer or ripped big knotty pieces with a chainsaw. I couldn’t believe what it would bust in an hour. We had to take it back before we were finished, because my dad didn’t want to pay the half day late fee. When my mom saw us busting up big knotty beach and sweet gum, she said it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Sounds great! I'm glad you got to experience working with that splitter! I'll need to check out that forestry show sometime too.
When I was a kid I wanted a Cub Low-Boy just like the one pulling the hay ride wagon.
I know those things are still super cool!
One normally closed thermostat on the water temp would disconnect the furnace when the water gets hot. One normally open contact would connect the wood blowers. Could probably add a cheap mechanical thermostat close to the furnace to cut down on wire length. If the fire goes out, propane is enabled automatically.
I like this line of thinking. I should have more specific with my question. I can solve for replacing with a switch like many have suggested. I want something more like your idea where they can both work together intelligently without a switch. A fail over for propane... Thanks Tony.
It's a matter of time before your channel blows up. I love all your videos. Great job
I appreciate that very much Adam. I have my fingers crossed.
Try chipping your wood into a hopper that could automatically feed into your wood boiler.
I LOVE THIS CHANNEL! So wholesome and informative. Teamwork, Family, and love. Can not get better!🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏
Thanks! Really appreciate that 👍🏻
This brings me back memories my dad and grandfather teaching me how to use their coal furnaces. Most of the time we used wood to get it hot for coal or used wood if we only needed shor term heat. But I'm thankful I live in Georgia now so we don't use the furnace that much.
I love the way everyone helped gather the wood, and I love the wood boiler! By the way, It was great to get to meet you and the Equipment Expo in Louisville on Thursday, October 20th, 2022.
Great meeting you as well. Hope you enjoyed yourself at the show. Thanks for watching the video!
My brother simply has 2 thermostats. Both for the 1 furnace. 1 is set at 50°F which runs the propane & fan & the other only runs the fan to get heat from outdoor wood furnace.
Advantage to this - if wood isn't reloaded (on vacation), the propane furnace will heat the water pumping through the heat exchange.
That's a good idea. I wonder if there are enough wires present in my current thermostat wiring to support a second thermostat?
13:27 a piece of wood this size in brasil would weight a least 20 kilos, we have some very heavy woods over here
Looks like the firewood is doing it’s job keeping you warm twice a fall party always the best and I don’t care how old you are hay rides are good fun
Simple would be a two position toggle switch
Love u and your family...enjoy the firewood season..
Thanks so much Bill!
I’m glad to see you and your family enjoying the Fall season!
Definitely! We've been outside all weekend.
Gotta say this is some of your best camera work yet!!
Hey thanks! My nephew Trent did some of the shooting for me.
Love how you always share the family. I will look to see if they make a transfer switch that small. ❤ thank you for sharing.
Thanks, I really appreciate it TJ!
I've been looking for one can't even do that
Looks like a well built old boiler, I bought a property where my shop is that was heated by an old hardy , I ran it for a year. It needed a few hundred dollars of repairs and new grates so I opted for a new gasification boiler. The new units, while more efficient and can be monitored by an app and other such technology improvements , they are very picky and high maintenance , I’d hang on the that boiler for as long as you can. The equivalent size gasification boiler will be $20k+. I enjoy your videos, best of luck for this burning season
Appreciate that Christian! I'll hold onto it for sure!
My uncle calls those goofy pieces "burn me now" pieces. A phrase I think he got from my Grandpa and I now use it as it perfectly describes what to do with them lol.
I like that very much. I think I may start calling on that as well. They are just in the way until you get them burnt up.
@@digdrivediy I'll be looking forward to hearing that phrase spread! A little bit of far Northern WI working it's way around lol.
With a programmable thermostat you can program your emergency heat as fan only , then set thermostat for emergency heat ( Honeywell brand is what I have). When I had a mercury bulb thermostat, I added a second thermostat hooked to the fan terminals on the primary thermostat.
Look forward to you starting this “chore” every year. 👍😁
Any smart thermostat, such as ecobee or nest can control multiple heat sources very similar to how people with 2 stage heat (heat pump & gas) do. They can also control the mutli zone application your garage and shop. That would allow for automated switching between the two
Those NEST T-Stats are getting a bad Rap from HVAC guys.
@@m9ovich785 I have no personal experience with Nest, but Ecobee I do and they work great for my dual heat situation. I purchased both of mine used without any issues for years now.
Thanks! That may be the solution I'm looking for!
Outdoors with the Morgans can't make it this year. They were going to be at the Stihl booth.
They have teamed up with someone else to make fire starter chips. Check out the video.
I saw that they had trouble at the airport. Bummer.
single pole double throw switch on the white wire and then you have a switch to change the wire instead of rewiring it every season. not handy enough with thermostats to help beyond that. and I'm sure you want something more integrated.
Nice job Trent!! Trent's always do good work!!!
He did a great job with this! He helped me with the rough cut edit too!
I have 2 thermostats in my house one is wired in to control the gas part of the furnace the other thermostat is wired for the fan only and works with my out door boiler
Simple and effective!
I have 2 separate thermostats. One for gas furnace, one for boiler. Same configuration as yours, boiler heat exchanger in top of furnace. Just kicks on the fan when need heat after boiler is going. Set boiler thermostat a few degrees warmer than gas, in case boiler cools off before load it or doesn’t catch.
Perfect idea👍🏻
Hubby suggested putting your "white wire" on a switch then all you have to do is flip the switch 😁.
I'm not very particular when it comes to collecting and burning wood (size, shape, species, etc), but even I wouldn't have bothered with some of the wood you were picking up with the grapple! 🤣🤣That stuff seemed to be more rotten than anything. Great video as always! 😁👨🚒
Haha! We certainly missed the window on that stuff 😅
Hey Neil,
I use two thermostats to control the whole propane furnace and just the blower. I set the wood stove thermostat for a warmer temp usually 75 and the propane is set at 55 so if the fire goes out on me the pipes won't freeze. I'm not an HVAC guy but I do know that most furnaces are capable of being hooked up with two thermostats to be able to either run just the blower or use propane.
Perfect! Thanks
Yes. My wood stove thermostat is connected to the furnace blower only. I set it to 75 and set the propane thermostat to 55. If I leave for the weekend I set the blower only thermostat at the minimum to let the propane take over.
I use a switch i mounted on my furnace
Great video as always!
Neil, get your shop vac out for all that!
One idea to help clean out that back baffle I might suggest is a tool box type battery powered vacuum. I have one for small clean out projects and it works great!! I know Milwaukee and DeWalt have them as part of their pack out kits. I got mine from Menards, and it is super convenient.
That's a great idea. I've been wanting to get one of those myself.
@@digdrivediy in would look for a brand that you already have a few tools for, I chose Masterforce, the Menards brand be use I had already invested in some of the tools and had the charging platform, also they don't hold a lot, maybe 2
gallons, but super handy.
I have a train heat pump that has oil back up on it and all I did was added a second thermostat to just run my wood boiler. All I did for the blower motor on my furnace is piggyback the motor from when heat switch to the boiler thermostat and turn off my heat pump system, the blower motor or fan motor kicks on when it calls for heat and nothing else comes on from the furnace.
Great video!👍🏻
Great video. I've never seen how the outdoor wood stoves work. Have a good trip to Louisville!
Thanks Bryce! I'm looking forward to seeing the show down there.
You still have a lot more wood to split for the winter months... Didn't I see a bunch of wood drying on one of the concrete silo rounds? At least you don't have to rent a wood splitter anymore! That Eastonmade Axis seems to be paying for itself.
Have fun on your "Business" trip. Safe travels and see you in the next video!
Thanks so much Susan! Yes there is way more wood to get through yet this fall/winter!
Pick up a switch like this, this was on amazon
IndusTec DPDT 20 Amp 12V 6 Pin Quick Plug On/Off/On 3 Position Maintained Latch Lock Toggle Switch Double Pole Double Throw KN3C- 203P
Run the thermostat wires to the center posts and then run a wire from the terminal to one throw of the switch and then run jumper wires to cross the wires over to the other switch. Get back to me if I’m not clear
Another great video Neil! I am SO upset that I decided not to come to Equip Expo this year. I would love to meet and talk. Keep up the great videos and content!
Sorry to hear you won't be able to make it.
Hi Neil, great video! Thinking about your thermostat wiring. The G terminal calls for the blower to come on and presumably your white wire calls for the burner to heat. It seems like you could just have a switch to disconnect the white wire when you want to use the boiler. You could test the theory by disconnecting the white wire and putting some electrical tape on it. (it will be live when the thermostat calls for heat)
Awesome. Thanks Brian!
@@digdrivediy Another option would be to buy a thermostat that supports backup heat and wire the furnace heat wire to the backup. You would need to run new thermostat wire. That way if your fire burns down or you have another issue with the boiler, the propane heat could kick in automatically.
We have a Welsh saying, you have to work dawn to dusk for 3 days in Summer to make enough firewood to carry you through winter. The knotty, mis-shaped logs we call dog's
Nice! I hadn't heard any of that!
Double poll on off on toggle switch
Was you that said in a previous video that you’re either a firewood guy or you’re not? I am but it’s not nearly as cold here. Would love to be able to send you over some of our ‘Ironbark’. Best timber for burning.
Yes, I believe I have said that! Thanks so much for watching.
👍🏻good luck at the expo
Thanks a lot Mike!
"LIKE" button torqued to manufacturer's recommended specification. "CLICK"
😅Love it!
The camera shake is a nice approach - let's see if you can work in some JJ Abrams lens flare next video...
Ha!
Seems (did my research watching a couple of youtube videos:) that outdoor boilers are somewhat common there for wood central heating. I was wondering why outdoor? Would seem easier if the boiler was inside. Around here (Finland) to my knowledge all wood boilers are inside, either in the house or some other building in the yard.
Keeps the mess and Smoke outside. Some Ins Co's will not insure or a really high Rate for a house with Wood Burning equipment inside.
@@m9ovich785 that was another thing I wondered, why so much smoke. For example ruclips.net/video/khT9X3KZ8F0/видео.html there's only little.
Another !
Hi Neil, I am not as familiar with forced air wiring, but I have a newer Crown Royal with a boiler system. My installer put an aquastat that goes inline with the wire that fires my oil boiler. When the water temp in the pipe, feeding form the boiler, is above the set temp, it breaks the connection with the boiler. In the event my fire goes out and the water temp drops, the oil boiler fires up and takes over. Hope this helps. Another great video!
Thanks! That's a great way to do it 👍🏻
Neil, even though im a small timer, i just want you to know how tickled i am that you take the time to chat it up with us . Good stuff. I was splitting wood yesterday and doing leaves today,, busy busy. You need an Eithor or switch for your switch over.
Tis the season for leaves! Our leaf harvest looks to be plentiful this year 😋
Thanks for the switch tip. I need to get to work on that!
Splitter seems to be well designed. It looked like the lifting mechanism can be fitted on either side, am I right? Btw, you really need to clean those gutters 0:40 Greetings from Finland!
Someone spotted my gutters! Just cleaned them out this morning!
Add a Aquastat