Wood-Stove Hot-Water Systems. Final Report

摘要

The objective of this grant was to evaluate the efficiency and economics of installing hot water heating systems or wood stoves. To evaluate the efficiency, six systems were installed in North Florida households and monitored over two heating systems. Three of the systems installed were placed in the flue pipe and three in the stove box. Tests indicate the in-pipe systems yielded on an average 1575 to 1675 Btu/hour, while in-stove systems yielded from 1850 to 2700 Btu/hour on the average. A detailed analysis of the economics of system performance concluded that the installation of wood-stove hot water heating systems is a marginal investment for the Tallahassee area without the current energy tax credit program and a reasonably good investment with it. It was determined that if a person used the stove as a regular heat source in the Tallahassee area and system cost was near $400.00 that person was guaranteed to recover their investment in current dollars within the useful life of the system. As a person travels north to areas where the heating season is longer, these systems become more justified. (ERA citation 08:057261)