Karl White
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I would like to comment on obtaining hot water from a wood stove and my experience doing it. I have an Atlanta box stove with a coil in it hooked to a 50 gallon indirect hot water tank. I have used this system for 11 years and it works perfectly. I used thick walled brass pipe inside the stove and ran 22 inches of pipe on the side above the fire brick. Outside the stove I used copper to connect it to the water heater. It has an automatic fill, pressure guage, expansion tank and blow-off valve. No circulator needed as the loop circulates by itself. I also have a mixing valve for DHW. I have no excess creosote in the chimney, the smoke pipe & chimney are checked often and cleaned once a year.
The success of the system is relevant to the coil length. I experimented in the beginning by making a coil to long and way to much hot water was made. Adjusted the length twice to get the 22 inches. On the coldest days of the winter I can run the stove at maximum output without any problems.
I run the stove 8 months of the year and figure I save about 40 to 60 dollars a month using wood instead of electric or oil. It has paid for itself numerous times over and it is so nice to take a hot shower knowing where the water was heated from!
The success of the system is relevant to the coil length. I experimented in the beginning by making a coil to long and way to much hot water was made. Adjusted the length twice to get the 22 inches. On the coldest days of the winter I can run the stove at maximum output without any problems.
I run the stove 8 months of the year and figure I save about 40 to 60 dollars a month using wood instead of electric or oil. It has paid for itself numerous times over and it is so nice to take a hot shower knowing where the water was heated from!
