Hi Alistair, read your tale of wood burner / hot water chaos and smiled. We HAD exactly the same problem here in Odeceixe on our wood burner heating system, which was also professionally installed and which kept boiling over. Luckily it never exploded but we had a few near misses. The chaps here could not identify the problem so, we took matters into our own hands and tinkered. More by luck than any skill we worked it out. If your system is similar to ours, there will be a "heat sensor" slipped into the pipe insulation on the outlet pipe at near the top of the boiler. The problem is simple in that, this sensor is always fitted too far away from the top of the water outlet pipe. The sensor does not therefore tell the pumps that the temperature is quickly rising and need to turn on or, for that matter go faster as the heat increases. So we moved the sensor virtually to the top of the outlet and cable tied it in place, with some additional pipe insultation (photos available on request!). If you also want to save money, we fitted a Grundfos Alpha 2 Adapta Flow pump (about EUR250) which is very clever and to learns your system requirements and which most importantly, significantly reduces your electricity bill. Good luck in all. Andrew and Jody Church
I love the idea of the wood heated hot water system. I hope you are able to get it fixed and worked out. We've been dealing with figuring out our hot water system which runs on boring old propane but apparently has special needs in high altitude. Took the best hot shower ever in our house since moving in a year and a half ago. These things take time, I guess.
Hi Alistair, read your tale of wood burner / hot water chaos and smiled. We HAD exactly the same problem here in Odeceixe on our wood burner heating system, which was also professionally installed and which kept boiling over. Luckily it never exploded but we had a few near misses. The chaps here could not identify the problem so, we took matters into our own hands and tinkered. More by luck than any skill we worked it out. If your system is similar to ours, there will be a "heat sensor" slipped into the pipe insulation on the outlet pipe at near the top of the boiler. The problem is simple in that, this sensor is always fitted too far away from the top of the water outlet pipe. The sensor does not therefore tell the pumps that the temperature is quickly rising and need to turn on or, for that matter go faster as the heat increases. So we moved the sensor virtually to the top of the outlet and cable tied it in place, with some additional pipe insultation (photos available on request!). If you also want to save money, we fitted a Grundfos Alpha 2 Adapta Flow pump (about EUR250) which is very clever and to learns your system requirements and which most importantly, significantly reduces your electricity bill. Good luck in all. Andrew and Jody Church
I love the idea of the wood heated hot water system. I hope you are able to get it fixed and worked out. We've been dealing with figuring out our hot water system which runs on boring old propane but apparently has special needs in high altitude. Took the best hot shower ever in our house since moving in a year and a half ago. These things take time, I guess.
Some lovely pictures there.