Soooooooooo
How do you guys go about testing one of these units? It is 80 degrees here and i am guessing i am going to have to throw some wood in her and fire it up? I have been procrastinating on going and educating myself on these but now is the time. I have an inspection tuesday with a exterior wood burning furnace. I plan on driving by the place tomorrow and finding out the brand and then go visit some local place or researching online or asking my brotherhood here.
Let me know anything and everything. You can link me to something or email me at bishophomeinspection@charter.net or do it however you like!
Thanks
Andy B
Inspectors do not light pilots or initiate power or fuel to appliances. Verify and test operation by controls only.
Are you going to take your chain saw to cut wood also? If so, please come by and test my firepalce; we need firewood for winter
This unit most likely would be an outdoor wood boiler with insulated under ground supply/return lines. These units are “smoke generators” and there are some quite strict regs in some states about their installation. About 1.5 years ago NY state released a study on them that appeared laws would slam them. If you’ve ever inspected an oil or gas heating boiler, you’d have some idea of their operation.
-look inside for warped fire chamber if it’s steel- lot’s of heavy use
-look for signs of running creosote or heavy creosote buildup- may indicate an oversized unit run with low draft to “idle” while waiting for heat call.
- wihout firing up check for pump operation and draft damper or fan operation by calling for heat
- if chimney is accessible, check for creosote buildup
I don’t think I personally would be building a fire I would just check the unit for rust or thin type metal in the fire box. The blower motors that I am familiar with are either temperature activated or have a manual switch for the blower. I would make an effort to operate the blower if possible and check the vent height and location in reference to the structure and call it good. Just my thoughts.
Personally, I would probably build a fire, do a load of laundry and hell, while Im at it, I could whip up a batch of Toll House cookies.
Awesome info. I did think about it after and thought about just reviewing everything and trying to run the fan and also review boiler area like standard boilers.
Keep info coming. Can’t hurt to be over educated!
Thanks!!!
lol…you got it.