The WaterStove Newsletter

The WaterStove Newsletter
Short to-the-point articles for homeowners considering investing in a WaterStove
Written by: Mike Thompson publisher of the WaterStove Directory

WaterStove
Newsletter
Issue 3
June 2006

1) Building the perfect fire
2) Insulation Overview
3) What-If only 1% of the US families owned a WaterStove
Topics for next month's Newsletter

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Thank you for the kind words and support for the WaterStove Newsletter. Readership is growing rapidly which, in turn, is helping grow awareness and understanding of the WaterStove industry.

This month we are writing on two of the four topics we promised last month. Fifty percent isn't too bad. Next month's Newsletter promises to be the most interesting yet (check out the projected topics).

1) Building the Perfect Fire

We realize that every WaterStove owner has their own special way to build a fire. Here are some tips that might be helpful, even to the old pros.

1. Start by building a small fire with newspapers and kindling, or diesel soaked saw dust. Never use gasoline in or near a WaterStove.

Soon the kindling will turn to hot coals. 2. Stack 3-5 pieces of dry wood, on these hot coals, running lengthwise away from the air vents or the ventilation fan. An air tunnel is formed by making a pyramid with small gaps between the wood. Fresh air will be drawn down this tunnels through the vents or blown down the tunnels with the fan igniting the fire efficiently.

3. As soon as the fire is burning hot and strong stack your wood lengthwise on top of your fire. You can fill your firebox up to 2/3 full. For good air flow throughout the fire keep a 3-6" gap at both ends of the stack of wood.

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2) Insulation Overview

In our last newsletter we discussed the different types of heat transfer: Conduction, Convection and Radiation. Each of these can be your friend when heating a home but they can also be your enemy when storing or transferring the hot water in a WaterStove. Proper insulation of the WaterStove and its plumbing is essential when building an efficient heating system.

Insulation is any material that slows the rate of heat flow from a warm area to a cooler one. The more the rate is slowed, the better the insulative qualities of the material. Its ability to resist heat flow is measured as an R-value (resistance), the higher the R-value, the more the material will resist the flow of conductive heat.

Foil backed foam insulation boards totaling R-60 are often used to totally surround a WaterStove. Blown-in insulation (rock wool, fiberglass, etc.) is also popular as long as at least an R-60 rating can be established.

Protecting the loss of radiant heat is done with reflective materials like aluminum foil or special reflective coatings. These radiant barriers are used to redirect radiant heat back toward the source. In a WaterStove environment these reflectives are used under the hydronic heating tubes in the floor (both poured and in rafters) and on the insulation panels used to surround the WaterStove reservoir. Radiant barriers are most efficient if they do not come in direct contact with the heat source.

Convective heat loss can be a factor if there is moving air around the uninsulated heated WaterStove parts (the door, the control panel, some connections, etc.). It is important to protect these parts from air currents (fans, the outside wind, etc.).

There will always be some heat loss in any furnace environment but, by paying attention to the details during installation, this heat loss can be minimized.

In upcoming issues of the WaterStove Newsletter we will discuss specific insulation products and techniques that have shown extraordinary results.

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3) What-if only 1% of the US families owned a WaterStove

Let’s imagine for a moment that only 1% of the families in the United States heated their homes and domestic hot water with wood in a WaterStoves instead of a furnace that burns fuel oil.

The direct effect on our economy would be huge.

Here are some of the basic numbers to start with:
      US Population: 300,000,000
      US homes: 100,000,000 (Average 3 persons per home)
      Average fuel oil consumption per home per year: 730 gallons (DOE statistic)
      Average cost of a delivered gallon of fuel oil: $2.75 (winter of 2006)
      Currently there are less than 100,000 WaterStoves in operation in the US

Now let's calculate the savings:
      1% of the family homes in the US: 1,000,000 homes
      Total gallons of fuel oil saved per year: 730,000,000 gallons
      Total dollars not spent on fuel oil: $ 2,007,500,000

Advantages:
      US foreign oil dependence would be dramatically reduced.
      The US economy would be stimulated with the billions of dollars spent on
         something other than fuel oil.

Trade-off:
There would be more wood smoke in the air. But, keep in mind that most of
today’s WaterStoves burn very hot and expel only minor amounts of smoke.

Putting the emissions into perspective:
      Every year forest fires and the wind storms produce many times more “harmful”
        airborne particulates than a million efficient WaterStoves each burning 5 cords
        of wood a year.

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Coming in the July WaterStove Newsletter

Pertinent, timely and valuable information in the WaterStove industry
Intergalactic repercussions of WaterStove use
Survey results: How important is a warm home in the winter?
Does a WaterStove burn water?
Can WaterStoves cure cancer?

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Thank you for reading the WaterStove Newsletter.
Suggestions and comments to this Newsletter are welcome.
Unfortunately, time constraints will allow me to personally respond to few emails.
Mike@OmniM.com

This Newsletter is sponsored in part by the following businesses:

Northwest Alternative Energy

NCSS
North Coast Sales & Services, Inc