Wood Boiler Rambling Question

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Justin76

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Hong Kong wishing I was in Michigan
Background:

My wife and I recently purchased a house in Northern Michigan, 5 acres forest with 1/2 acre cleared where the house and barn sits.

The main source of heat is propane and an outdoor wood boiler. Being in Northern Michigan, the power goes out due to bad weather. Wood boiler needs electricity to run as does the propane heat. I plan on having backup kerosene and indoor propane heaters as well as wiring the place for generator hookup.
But...3 days with no power in the middle of winter you can't run a generator to keep the wood boiler or propane heater going all the time.
Is it possible to hook the boiler to a solar set up?
Or should I just invest in my back up to back up and buy a wood cook stove that I was planing on buying for a summer kitchen anyways? I know a wood stove/cooker will make the insurance go up substantially...

Thoughts? Ideas?
 
With enough money you can install a PV (photo Voltaic) system that will run your whole home. The money for that kind of system will require it to be off grid and have battery banks big enough to store power for the periods of little sunlight. If you are sure that it will be no more than a few days you could put the battery banks in without solar and just use the batteries and inverters without the solar. The batteries would be charged while the grid is up and then you would disconnect from the grid and use the batteries until the grid was restored. (the power company will likely require auto switching to prevent power going into the grid while it is being repaired)
A backup generator would be less expensive but if you are only worried about heat and not power for the fridge and lights the wood stove is the least expensive way to handle the problem.
A 6 to 10,000 watt generator is going to cost upwards of $12000 with installation, the battery backup will be close to twice that much and the PV whole house system will be close to $50,000 installed.
If the money was available the whole house PV would be the best long term option and you could stop having to pay the electric company anything.
 
There are so many options here.
Grundfos makes a 12V circulator. A regular 120V circulator doesn't use much electricity so a battery bank and an inverter are options.

A battery bank can be charged with a small generator, kept charged by a charger plugged into the grid, or by solar panels. You can start with a small battery bank and grow the system as your finances allow.

Here is one option. It is not the only option and I do not present it as even the best but just something to get you thinking in a different direction. Start with a small battery bank, a small inverter, and a battery charger. When the funds are available pick up a 2Kw generator and a supply of fuel to recharge the batteries. Enlarge the battery bank. Next might be a good time to start with solar panels and a charge controller.

Keep us informed on your decision and the progress.
 
Thank you for the replies.
I think a full solar set up wont really be that realistic. There just isnt that much open space.
So possibly a larger generator and a bank of bateries.
Wood stove or wood cook stove is probably the best option for heat in the winter.
Power for the summer is is going to be generator and batteries maybe a smaller solar set up just for the fridge and freezers.
I dint know our actual power usage at the moment because we dont actually live there yet.
So far its just $14 a month to keep the power connection and thermostat set to the lowest possible temperature to keep the house from freezing.
 
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most decent circulation pumps don't take a lot of power and if you adjust your selves to some temperature swing the pumps don't need to run a lot, ie hotter water in the tempering tank shorter circulation time. off the grid or just wood heat is greatly enhanced by loosing the central heating 2 degree swing mentality
 

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