In my September 11, 2014, post about maintaining our dual hot water systems, I noted that we have trouble with the water in the electric hot water heater souring over the winter. I had written that my goal last winter was to cycle cold water through the electric water heater once per month by using it for laundry. I had hoped that this would prevent the water from souring and would thereby make the late spring ritual of putting the electric water heater back into service much easier.
Unfortunately, after writing that post, I totally forgot my good intentions until November, at which point the water in the water heater had already soured. There was no point in doing anything until spring then.
This year, I decided to do better. I wrote in my Sept. 30th post that I had turned off the electric water heater that day. Usually, when I do this, I use the last of the electrically heated hot water by doing laundry or taking a shower just so I don't feel like the energy used to heat it was wasted. This year, I thought that maybe if I didn't use the last of the hot water, it wouldn't sour as quickly.
No dice. Two weeks after turning off the electric hot water heater, I decided I'd flush it out by using my intended laundry method that I wrote about last year. I set all the valves appropriately and discovered that the water had already soured! Usually, this doesn't happen nearly as quickly as it did this year, and what is more baffling to me is that it has never happened in the wood-heated system. This last part is doubly confusing when I admit to you that the Margin Gem was not fired a single time for a space of nearly two months during the summer. I don't get it.
This is a blog about cooking on a woodburning cookstove. Here you will find recipes, methods, other uses, and miscellaneous information about using a woodburning range. I've searched the net for any and all information about cooking on one of these amazing appliances, and I've found a lot of interesting things, but none of them have been what I've been looking for. Therefore, this is my attempt at creating what I've been in search of.
Our dual hot water system is a thermal siphon, we have two hot water heaters, one electric, one wood heated. They are plumbed together, so the water is always circulated. During the wood burning season the wood preheats the water so the electric never has to come on. But if it's too warm to build a fire (and waste wood) the electric takes over. This system has been in place on our farm since before electricity, it originally was between the wood furnace and cook stove. Now we don't use the cookstove in the summer, so it's the old wood fired furnace with coils and the electric. Extra plumbing from the get-go but no yearly maintenance. The wood heated hot water tank has to be higher than the electric.
ReplyDeleteDear Throwback,
DeleteThanks for your comment! I had originally intended to have our plumber allow us the option to have the cookstove preheat water before it entered the electric water heater, too, but he couldn't understand how to do it. I could change the system to allow this myself, but haven't done so yet. You are right that that would solve the problem of the annual maintenance, though.
As a side note, I'm very honored to have you visit my blog. I have enjoyed your blog for several years now and love the pictures of your cookstove. I envy you your original wood-fired furnace. My grandparents took ours out in the late 1940s. Thanks for stopping by, and please feel free to comment often!
Jim,, I just found your website and have enjoyed reading your many posts on cookstove cooking/heating. I've had my Margin Gem since 2008 and it heats our modest 2600 sqft timber frame home in southern Maine 95% of the time. I have a question about the water jacket you use to heat your hot water. Mine does not have one ,, can that be added ? I do have the reservoir on the right side but rarely use it because it adds way too much moisture into the house.
ReplyDeleteWelcome to my blog, Eric!
DeleteIt is interesting to me that your reservoir adds too much humidity to your home. Our reservoir always has water in it, and we hang all of our laundry indoors in the winter time, and we still have trouble with static electricity. Oh well!
Thank you for your question about Margin Gem water jackets. I contacted Daniel Fenoff at Stoves and More Online, where we purchased our Margin Gem, and asked him your question. The answer is yes, a water jacket can be added to a Margin Gem cookstove that was not originally equipped with one. He said that the style of water jacket is dependent on which style firebox the stove has, either the old oval style or the new rectangular style. The left firebrick is removed and the water jacket replaces it.
I would recommend contacting him through the Stoves and More Online website.
Jim, I did contact Daniel and we discussed my project to use our Margin Gem for radiant floor heating in our distant bathroom. I'll let you know how the project goes next spring when I start. Thanks for the information. Have a Blessed CHRISTmas.
DeleteThat is an extremely cool looking old stove. Those must be really expensive to get now a days. It really is an antique. Hold on to it. My husband agrees with me that this is really something that can do well at our place too. We live outside of town and have a bit more space to put it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteKarla Foster @ South West Houston Plumbing
I used to have the same problem years ago. The guilt you feel about wasting energy when you dispose of water that is already heated can be a little upsetting. This is the reason my heating system is now manual. I only turn on the heater when I am ready to use the water. This way, I am sure I will not waste.
ReplyDelete