Car Radiator Key To This Heating System

Car Radiator Key To This Heating System FARM HOME Cars 4-5-30 An old car radiator is the ingenious part of a home-made heating system invented by Cliff Hylden of Silver Bay in Northern Minnesota. Hylden, an electrician by trade, burned wood in a double-barrel stove in his basement for several years, then purchased a wood-fired boiler, placed it in his garage and piped the hot water underground to his house basement. There, the pipes connect to the old car radiator in front of Hylden's hot air furnace. The radiator transfers hot water heat to hot air so he can distribute it throughout his house via the existing forced air duct system, "I learned that a radiator on a car engine disposes of about 200,000 btu's of heat while the car is running," explains Hylden. "So, I figured a radiator should be capable of keeping up with the 100,000 btu capacity of my wood-burning boiler. "I spent $25 on a used radiator. The alternative - converting to a baseboard water heating system for the house - would have cost me $1,200." The house's conventional furnace is disconnected, and the pilot light has been turned off. Insulated underground pipe circulates water between the garage and house. Also, through a separate system, the boiler provides hot water for the Hylden household. The benefits of having the woodfired boiler in the nearby unattached garage, instead of in the house, include fire safety, less wood and ashes mess in the house, and no smoke in the house. Hylden purchased a new woodfired boiler. It was manufactured locally, and is sized for home use. For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Cliff Hylden, 62 Horn Blvd., Silver Bay, Minn. 55614 (ph 218 226-4178).

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