The purpose of this site is to chronicle and share experience in developing a domestic wood boiler / solar heating system. The hope is that this might evolve into a helpful resource for others who are undertaking similar projects. Welcome, and please feel free to contribute, ask questions, or just poke around. You may contact us by email at .

The cartoon is by Rex May (Baloo). I identify with the caveman. I was just having fun and it somehow turned out to be useful.

This site espouses no particular social or political agenda, other than a belief in the idea that it's good for people to be able to take control of meeting their own needs.

The focus is practical alternatives to fossil fuels for residential space and water heating. The information here is based on our needs and experience, and may not represent the best approach in this or any other situation. This site is not intended to replace the advice of professionals. In particular, code and insurance requirements vary by locale.

The primary system documented here consists of an Orlan EKO 25 wood gasification boiler, a heat storage tank, a traditional oil boiler, solar hot water panels, an indirect domestic hot water tank, a hot tub, and a home-brewed controller.

Site Organization

This site is organized by topic. Major topics are listed as links on the left side, and some topic pages contain links to additional details.

• Introduction & Data
• Home This page. General welcome and introduction.
• Wood Heating A short discussion of factors and issues associated with the decision to heat with wood.
• Choices A more detailed discussion of key decisions that are involved in planning for wood heat.
• Data Live and archived system performance data.
• Design
• System Design The plumbing design of our particular installation, with some discussion of key components.
• Controller Details on the hardware and software used for the system controller.
• Schematic Details of the electrical schematic for system control.
• Simple system with pressurized storage Plumbing, controls, schematics, and theory of operation.
• Subsystems
• Domestic Hot Water Evolution of the system solution for providing domestic hot water for both winter and summer seasons.
• Heat Storage Our approach to heat storage and heat exchangers.
• Solar Hot Water Evolution, design, and performance of our solar hot water panels.
• NoFossil Control System
• Introduction The 'NoFossil Control System' explained and promoted.
• Failsafe Design Failsafe design philosophy applied to hydronic heating system control.
• Sample Application Step-by-step sample application using the NFCS.
• Projects
• Poor Man's VS Circulator Variable speed circulators cost hundreds of dollars. Here's how to modify an inexpensive circulator.
• Journal Some notes about living with the system.
• Plastic Pipe Collector Ultimate low budget approach - my brother's black plastic pipe solar collector, with design and performance data.
• Thermistors Dealing with thermistors as temperature sensors.