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    Thread: Heating with wood

    1. #1
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      Heating with wood

      This is my first year heating a fish house. I am trying to do this on a budget. We have plenty of wood. Has anyone ever tried this? Working great so far just heating air space. Next year I may put in a wood boiler and heat the water. Outside temp is 26, inside temp varies 55-70, pond temp is 54. Heating about 18,000 gal.(2 ponds)Name:  015.jpg
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    2. #2
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      Here is a few of my fishName:  027.jpg
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    3. #3
      kdh is offline Senior Member
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      You are a koi nut. How about some more pics of koi and about your filter system. Some history also. Nice koi. Don't see why you should not heat with wood.

    4. #4
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      My filters are: a homemade 4x8x24" gravity fed biological using Mattala matt, bio balls,sponge media, and a Little Wonder 3200gph submersible. This filter box is made with plywood lined with leftover liner, and has an overflow,low point drain, and auto fill(using a toilet fill valve) I use a sand filter for mechanical filtration 3 times per week backwashing before and after each use(yes I am concerned with anoerobic bacteria) Both ponds have this setup. Both were built in May of this year. Never saw a sign of Ammonia or Nitrites from the start. Had trouble with suspended particles (tried using sponge in filter box, no good)until I began using sand filters about Sept. Ponds are crystal clear, PH stable at 7.8 Hardness is 10 grains 10% water change weekly with filter flush. Weekly test of all parameters. Lighting is with LED, and large 4x4 plexi windows around. Built the building with a salvaged barn for under $2500. Spent all my money on my fish, collected over several years all imported. Very healthy.Name:  035.jpg
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    5. #5
      ggmd is offline Senior Member
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      nice looking fish ...
      Where did you pick up the plexiglass for the viewing window?

    6. #6
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      I bought the plexi in 4x8 sheets and cut in half. 5 sheets total. Works good for light transmission, but lets cold through.

    7. #7
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      Maybe my wood stove isn't as efficient but I have to get up at least once in the middle of the night normally to
      feed with more wood or it's out by the morning... how often do you have to add wood?

      Do you ever get burn bans where you are? Maybe it's just us but there are times where the weather creates inversion
      layer so it traps all the pollution at the ground level and they'll not allow use of wood burning stoves.
      --Steve



      Koiphen 2021 Koi Person of the Year!

    8. #8
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      Quote Originally Posted by icu2 View Post
      Maybe my wood stove isn't as efficient but I have to get up at least once in the middle of the night normally to
      feed with more wood or it's out by the morning... how often do you have to add wood?

      Do you ever get burn bans where you are? Maybe it's just us but there are times where the weather creates inversion
      layer so it traps all the pollution at the ground level and they'll not allow use of wood burning stoves.
      we get inversions in utah
      James

    9. #9
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      Since you all ready are using a wood stove you could make it run double duty. Fabricate and run a stainless steel coil in the top of combustion chamber in the stove or in the pipe. Keep it simple and pull from behind the mechanical filtration and just put a pump on a switch (you monitor temp), step it up by putting it on a digital recycler (Dial in the timing and frequency) or go all fancy with a temp probe, thermostat, controller or all tech with a closed loop heat exchanger ..... really is a shame to lose all that heat up the stack ...if nothing else it could bump your temp so the regulated heat system did not have to work as hard and to be a buffer/backup.

      Search wood fired pool heaters .... a lot of DIY tinkerers are getting 10 deg in 24 hour on 10,000-15,000 gallon pools with some pretty simple systems.

      Lester
      Last edited by Mr Wags; 12-04-2014 at 03:41 AM.

    10. #10
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      icu2, yeah it is a pain in the butt to keep going, plus we burn wood in the house too(even though we have radiant) No inversions here. No crowds or people. Mr Wags, yes I thought of a wood pool heater but very difficult to control(dont want to cook them for dinner) Too much investment for retrifit on existing woodstove. But I thought in the future an outside wood boiler to feed everything(through plate exchangers) would be great. I purchased a Rinaii on demand to heat both ponds for the rest of the winter. Only need to keep it at 50 ...52 now.

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    11. #11
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      Not a problem, you just need a proper chambermaid!
      Regards,BarbJ
      Come on by and visit both club's websites!


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    12. #12
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      Hmmm..

    13. #13
      icu2's Avatar
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      Me too.
      --Steve



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    14. #14
      mtsklar is offline Senior Member
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      Hi Mark,

      If you heat the water the risk is running up the humidity in the build and then the exposed wood will start growing mold among other problems ....

      You are far better to continue with heating the air. This keeps the water in the tanks.

    15. #15
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      Yes humidity is already high.My plan is to install the Rinaii instant water heater tommorow to temper both ponds. I will still continue to use firewood but I dont want the temp to go much lower, 52 now. It has been in the single digits for about two weeks now overnight outside. The heater will heat water change water as well as a heat loop around perimeter of each pond using pex pipe.

    16. #16
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      It is a common misconception or myth that heating the air only or keeping the air warmer than the water prevents evaporation or condensation. Warmer air has the ability to hold more water vapor and just increases condensation if there are cold surfaces such as windows and behind insulation if there isn't a good vapor barrier. The hidden areas are where the true danger exists and might not be noticeable until the problem comes to a breaking point and is extremely costly to repair. Increasing any temperature, air or water, increases the evaporation rate.

      Venting a small amount of the moisture laden air and replacing it with some dryer outside air or a dehumidifier might help. The biggest problem with wood heating is keeping a reasonable temperature range and preventing large swings that impact the fish.

      Looks like a very interesting project that can save you money.

    17. #17
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      Thanks BWG the building is basically a pole frame of 6x6 PT down 4-5 ft. in concrete. It is built on a slope so the two ponds are at different levels. Has a slight roof pitch, but holds the snow well. All the walls are basically knock down barn boards lined inside with 2" blueboard(this was free from a jobsite!) It has kind of evolved from a workshed. At the rear of fish house a door leads to the 5 ponds that tier down through a series of springs dropping in elevation about 80'. that eventually leads through the Maple grove (makes good fertilizer) Right now it looks like a Nigata Koi farm ( the local weather and snow are the same)We have a total of 7 ponds, on 34 acres, with perfect water and weather conditions, seems like a perfect setup. Now just the details....Name:  030.jpg
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    18. #18
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      I installed the on demand water heater, and fitted both ponds with a heating system. Each pond has its own digital temp controller and relays to a closed loop through a stainless heat coil in filter box. This setup allows for heating two 9,000 gal. ponds, as well as heating water change water. Works great. The first pond behind the fish house has trouble holding water, and I was reading Kodamas book Kyugi2 where a breeder in Japan uses all liners! I might try this here in the first pond. When the snow melts all of our ponds run hard for about 2 months then the springs carry through till end of summer at which time I use pumps/ river/well to finish the season. In Oct. I drain all ponds down and remove fish. We have a natural clay in most areas and the fish really thrive. This is our third year doing this and it has a nice seasonal rythm to it. We have three pairs we are hoping to breed this year, cant wait.

    19. #19
      DieselPlower is offline Senior Member
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      I was wondering if it's normal that all the fish have clamped dorsals? I don't get to see my Koi much in the winter.

    20. #20
      Mark Anderson's Avatar
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      Yeah I was noticing that too, only in pics. I think the flash is spooking them, my camera has an infrared focus light before the flash.

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