Demos

This video shows the Viking Bio Pellet burner from Varmebaronen attached to the Vedolux 50 UB natural draft wood gasification boiler.  In the video I show the pellet head operating and the fire.  I also show how fast and easy it is to convert from pellets to wood.  I then demonstrate cleaning the boiler and finally lighting a fire.  Varmebaronen boiler products make alternative heating simple and economical.

I swapped out my EKO 60 for the Vedolux UB 50 (170K BTU) wood gasification boiler from Varmebaronen.  The Eko 60 worked well but I wanted to run the Vedolux natural draft model thru the paces. We have already established the effectiveness of Varmebaronen’s suction fan models. The coolest thing about the Vedolux 50 (other than the fact it is so easy to start and clean) is that it doesn’t need a draft fan for normal running and gasifying.  That’s right  - Natural Draft!!!  It’s a feat of engineering, but leave it up to the Swedes.

For this model you are supposed to have .096 inches of H20 water column.   It was a bit hard to get draft started at first as it was about the same temp inside as out at 75 deg F. I started a wad of cardboard near boiler tubes then surprisingly though it took off without too much effort.  After a few minutes there was .07 ” of water column and that held steady thru the burn till the wood was burned out.  My guess is that during the winter the draft won’t be an issue because of the temperature difference in my flue and outside. I plan to run it in the summer for domestic water every few days and will hook up a draft inducer for starting or for times when draft is bad. I’m at the bottom side of a hill and draft  isn’t always so good.

The first fire was small just to get the ceramics warmed up.  Still have some connections to be made till the system is all finished. The boiler is directly connected to an insulated vertical 250 gallon tank which had been a propane tank and can thermal siphon. The system is also connected to another 500 gal. tank in the residence. After all connections are made I’ll get more pictures of the install.

This unit will be tested for UL and CSA within a month.

Here’s a video of my first fire about after hour into the burn.  Check it out.

I purchased my EKO 60 a couple years ago before I began selling boilers.  The EKO 60 that I purchased was actually one of a few boilers that were designed and modified to be used as outdoor boilers.  The company that I bought it from was trying to take on some of the outdoor wood boiler market.  Unfortunately, due to high manufacturing costs, the units couldn’t be competitively priced.

These units were built with an insulated stainless frame and roof to house the boiler.  Inside the steel housing, the unit has a 100 gallon tank and circulating pump.  The boiler was designed to be a “plug and play” installation.  All you needed to do was connect the electric and plumbing on the two ports coming out of the 100 gallon tank.

When I first purchased the EKO 60, I used it outdoors for a cold season until I was able to build my barn.   I have installed a 500 gallon storage tank in my basement.  The tank is a used propane tank which was professionally inspected, cleaned and modified to add the plumbing ports. 

This summer I built my barn and replaced the 100 gallon tank that came with the boiler with a 250 gallon insulated tank placed just outside the boiler housing.  The 250 gallon tank is a used propane tank as well.  I had a base ring installed on one of the rounded ends; I did that so I could stand it up and save floor space.

When building the barn last summer, I left an opening the size of the face of the steel boiler housing.  I pulled the boiler flush with the outside wall and installed flashing to seal/connect it to the wood siding.  Having the boiler facing the outside is very convenient; I can load wood without worrying about smoke issues etc.  I can treat it more like I did my outdoor wood boiler with the exception of the dry wood needed for the gassifyer.

A couple of these photos show what it looks like inside the barn.  The one photo shows the boiler enclosure with the insulated removable side panels off.  There are removable panels on the opposite side as well.  The back side of the boiler has doors on it similarly to the front doors.

There is a draft meter mounted on the side wall of the boiler.  I have been experimenting with different draft control as I had lots of trouble with too much draft.  I’ve learned that without the draft meter (Dwyer Mark II), I wouldn’t have known what was going on in relation to my burn variation.  It has helped me to configure my boiler’s air mixtures to achieve great burns.