Coalpail.com Forum

Hi everyone. My new boiler should be arriving this week and I had forgotten about the chimney prep. My boiler is going outside in a closed in shed. I was wondering if I can go straight up with it or do I need to go horizontal then up? I ask because all the pics I see they go horizontal then up. I don't know if this is because they are mostly in basements or if there is more to it. Any info would be much appreciated. Thanks

Having your boiler in an out building is smart, if your property can accomodate it. The chimney run should be just fine vertically, as this is the best way to deal with the combusion. A horizonatal run is merely to accomodate the installation, it does not contribute to any positive results.

Whatever is easiest for you to put up, and clean at a later date.

Should work better strait up, no flyash to accumilate in the horizontal run, as long as it's high enough to draft well. Being an outdoor boiler, the heat radiated by the unit itself will be a loss, and you will need to use boiler anti freeze.

AA130FIREMAN wrote:you will need to use boiler anti freeze

I don't. I just insulated the heck out of the outbuilding. I never run antifreeze unless it's absolutely necessary. Doing do brings with it maintenance & expense.

Freddy wrote:

AA130FIREMAN wrote:you will need to use boiler anti freeze

I don't. I just insulated the heck out of the outbuilding. I never run antifreeze unless it's absolutely necessary. Doing do brings with it maintenance & expense.

I wouldn't use anti-freeze either. Think about it...if the power goes out, you have to make arrangements to keep the house from freezing anyway...might as well just have a generator and keep everything running. Setup the boiler and piping so it can be easily drained, that way if something bad happens to the boiler and you have to switch to the backup system...the coal gun can be drained.

I guess the anti freeze would not be a necessity, but something to consider. My pipes run in the attic where temps go below freezing, so their is an aquastat to keep the pipes temp set at 50 with 120v line voltage going directly to the pump, if the fire would go out and the triple doesnt allow less than the low limit water to pump, things would freeze. Now my boiler in the basement would take along time to get to freezing (if ever) compared to an outbuilding. Have it set to keep the pumps circulating if temps in the outbuilding get to freezing. Just a thought. Ever go away for a couple days ?

Thanks for the info guys. I really like the ideal of the aquastat. As long as there's power the moving water would never freeze. I already have a generator wired up and my wife's an expert with it ( I'm a power lineman and am normally on the road when it's bad out) thanks once again everyone