Heating boilers for wood: how to choose a quality product

Wood has been used since time immemorial as a means of heating a home. Previously, it was used inefficiently - for heating stoves and fireplaces, but now they have been replaced by modern economical and ergonomic heating boilers with wood.

If the main gas to your street has not yet been conducted, and the supply of electricity is unstable, then just such a unit will become almost the only way to heat the house during a long and cold winter.

Advantages of solid fuel heating equipment

The existing boilers for wood heating for the house, in contrast to those used earlier, are quite effective devices for heating. Their power is enough to maintain a comfortable temperature in large dwellings, their excessive strength makes their lifespan virtually endless, and their independence from the presence of gas and electricity makes it possible to equip a fully autonomous climate system.

The main thing is to ensure an adequate supply of wood.

In order to ensure safety and ease of use, wood heating boilers may have additional design features:

• devices that protect equipment from overheating;
• systems that automatically clean the ash chamber.

Note! Regardless of the model, the equipment in question cannot function without human intervention. To maintain combustion, it is necessary to constantly reload the fuel and control the process of its combustion, which is not always convenient (especially at night).

Classification of wood boilers

According to the material of the combustion chamber

Currently, there are two main types of devices on the market for climate control equipment:

1. Pig-iron heating boiler wood. Such models have a very long service life, but increased brittleness. Very sensitive to overheating, but almost no corrosion. They have a great inertia (slowly heat up), but also gradually give off thermal energy. Cast iron boilers consume less fuel. To generate 1 kW of energy you need from 1.1 to 1.4 liters of firewood.

Equipment is difficult to cool in case of overheating. For this is the heat exchanger connected to the pipeline that supplies water. To lower the temperature, it is necessary to drain the superheated coolant and pour a new one into the system.

Cast iron boilers for heating a house with wood are manually constructed from pre-cast parts. They are interconnected by studs and firmly tightened.

So that when loading firewood, do not burn yourself on the firebox door, the last one is pasted over with heat insulating material from the outside. The system for removing ash left over from the combustion of firewood is imperfect: you need to open the combustion chamber and choose solid residues with your own hands (with a spatula or a poker).

1. Steel solid fuel boilers wood. They have less weight and cost (you can find small-capacity models, the price of which does not exceed 29,000 rubles). Resistant to strong temperature fluctuations, not destroyed as a result of overheating. Less economical use of firewood. For the issuance of 1 kW of heat you need to burn up to 2.6 liters of firewood (depending on the model and manufacturer of the equipment). Unlike the cast-iron variety, here the coil through which the coolant flows is located inside the combustion chamber. The unit is saved from overheating by a special thermal valve, which, if necessary, supplies cold liquid. The assembly of steel boilers by welding. If the seam was made poorly, the boiler may break during operation.

To lower the temperature of the flap of the furnace chamber, a cooling circuit coil passes through it. The ash cleaning system has also been improved: special rotary grates are used, controlled by a special lever.

By the number of water circuits

As for this classification criterion, two main types are also distinguished here:

• single circuit;
• dual circuit.

The first type is designed exclusively for space heating. As for the second, in addition to heat, such boilers provide the residents of the house also with hot water. For this, there are two coils in the combustion chamber.

Note! Single-circuit boilers can also provide hot water. To do this, they are connected to indirect water heaters. The disadvantage of this method is the need to purchase additional equipment.

According to the method of organization of combustion

In classical heating boilers, wood is burned in the usual way, giving away its thermal energy to water circulating through pipes and radiators. But now the so-called pyrolysis models of solid fuel boilers with a higher efficiency are presented on the market.

Structurally, such heating boilers consist of cameras located one above the other, between which there is a special nozzle. The fuel is put in the upper bunker, where, as a result of burning, it releases gas. Thus double heating is carried out, as a result of which high efficiency is achieved.

In addition, the pyrolysis boiler has other advantages:

• requires more rare fuel loading into the combustion chamber;
• when using it, it is not necessary to clean the ash chamber often;
• in the course of work, a smaller amount of harmful combustion products is emitted into the atmosphere;
• the boiler is equipped with a fan, which improves the kindling and combustion of fuel, as well as prevents the smoke from the boiler room.

According to the need to connect to electricity

For obvious reasons, there are also two types of heaters:

• devices requiring electrical connection - as a rule, these are new models equipped with turbines for air injection;
• heaters operating completely autonomously - in most cases, these include boilers with a classic combustion chamber.

Note! Recently, models of boilers equipped with automatic fuel supply mechanisms are becoming increasingly common in the market of heating equipment. However, in this case for heating it is necessary to use not wood, but wood chips.

Instructions for the use of wood-fired boilers provide for a 10-year period of their operation. However, these are understated numbers. If the prescribed rules and regulations are observed, the climatic equipment can serve two or even three times longer. (See also the article Heating a private house with firewood: features.)

Rules of operation of the wood boiler

When using a wood-fired heater, the following precautions should be observed:

• under no circumstances should a working boiler be left unattended to avoid overheating;
• working with a firebox, do not forget to wear gloves that protect against burns;
• Do not allow children to service boilers;
• fuel must be stored no closer than 1 meter from the firebox, and better - in a specially equipped room.

Conclusion

Wood heating boilers are not the most efficient way to organize a heating system due to low efficiency. However, sometimes such equipment is the only way to keep the rooms warm.

For example, in case of impossibility to use other energy carriers. You can learn more about the different types of heaters in the video below.