Heat loss?

[Dale Sparrow]

Has anybody considered insulating the sides of the evaporator pans, float boxes and steam hoods? As a refrigeration guy it seems to me there is a lot of heat loss in these areas. Thoughts?

[treehugger]

I have insulated my float boxes and tubing associated with the evaporator. I think it helps, especially with the pre-heated sap.

[Dale Sparrow]

I have only been a hobbyist till now. Just bought a used 2004 leader 3x10, no hood or preheater. Will be firing with oil, building a new reverse fired arch that will have 4" insulation sides, ramp and back 3" on the bottom and 6" on the front. Want to make it as efficient as possible, will be insulating all exposed metal surfaces that are hot to the touch including wrapping stack with exhaust wrap. Shooting for 300-400 degree stack temp. Will add preheater and hood as soon as I can. Steam away at some point in the future.

[wiam]

I have only been a hobbyist till now. Just bought a used 2004 leader 3x10, no hood or preheater. Will be firing with oil, building a new reverse fired arch that will have 4" insulation sides, ramp and back 3" on the bottom and 6" on the front. Want to make it as efficient as possible, will be insulating all exposed metal surfaces that are hot to the touch including wrapping stack with exhaust wrap. Shooting for 300-400 degree stack temp. Will add preheater and hood as soon as I can. Steam away at some point in the future.

I have 2" of insulation throughout my home built 3x12 oil fired. No surface is over 65 degrees. I would save some of the money on insulation.

[Dale Sparrow]

If you don't mind me asking how many gph sap to gph oil are you running? Spoke to a gentleman in NH today with a 3x8 arch insulated only no preheat said he was doing around 10to1 (4 gph oil 40gph sap).

[wiam]

I am burning 10.75gph. I have not run this enough to get accurate evaporation. I am pretty sure that I am over 150. I do have a home built preheater, but it seems to be undersized.

[wiam]

Just to be clear I am feeding over 180gph and drawing somewhere around 30gpm. So I am guessing around 150 evaporation.

[Dale Sparrow]

Correction man in NH has a 2x8 not a 3x8.

[Sugarmaker]

Dale,
Welcome!
Insulating the arch and or pans wont hurt. You go to far and you might need a heater to stay warm in the sugarhouse?:)
Same size rig as mine! Good luck with the set up.
Regards,
Chris

[motowbrowne]

Dale,
Welcome!
Insulating the arch and or pans wont hurt. You go to far and you might need a heater to stay warm in the sugarhouse?:)
Same size rig as mine! Good luck with the set up.
Regards,
Chris

I often wish my rig wasted a little more heat. The only place to keep warm by the darned thing is right in front of the doors. If it's chilly out and I have visitors, everyone gets in my way cause they all want to stand in the warm spot. Guess I should consider adding a woodstove in the plans for my remodel.

[mellondome]

Put seating on the stack end.

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[Michael Greer]

Dale, I think you have some interesting ideas. Clearly the sides of the pans and the firebox itself are losing precious heat for no gain whatsoever, and lost heat isn't doing the work we're after here. On the other hand, I'm not sure insulating the stack will save anything but the building. Keep us posted if you notice any energy savings.

[Dale Sparrow]

Theory behind wrapping exhaust is to keep stack temp up for stronger natural draft.

[mellondome]

If your using oil, you dont need natural draft.. actually too much natural draft is bad for oil. This is why you use a barometric damper in your stack with oil. To control the draft.

[Dale Sparrow]

Thank you for that, I was wondering about that after seeing several rigs with damper plates on them.